Divergent Now Has Six 12-Laser Metal 3D Printers to Produce its Supercars

Divergent Technologies, well-known for its 3D printed contributions to the automotive industry, announced that it has developed what it calls the “state-of-the-art” Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS^®), an end-to-end digital manufacturing platform that uses a data-driven method to design and print structures and components for vehicles. The company says its new solution, which represents its additive manufacturing ramp-up, could drastically transform the environmental impact and economics of auto manufacturing. This platform now has some extra oomph as well, since Divergent Technologies has purchased three NXG XII 600 production printers from SLM Solutions.

“The Divergent Adaptive Production System (DAPS) is a complete software hardware solution designed to replace traditional vehicle manufacturing,” the Divergent Technologies website explains. “To make the complex simple, it is a complete modular digital factory for complex structures. Given a set of digital requirements as input, the machine automatically computationally engineers, additively manufactures,  and assembles any complex structure.  The system is able to move seamlessly between manufacturing different vehicle models.”

Divergent Technologies and SLM Solutions have had a joint development partnership going since 2017, and Divergent has been using three of SLM Solutions’ pre-production selective laser melting systems in its Los Angeles showcase facility for nearly two years. As Divergent already had three of the NXG XII 600 systems before, that number of installed printers has now gone up to six, making the company the model’s largest shareholder in the US. In addition, the company also has seven seven SLM®500 systems, three SLM®280 systems, and one SLM®125.

“The purchase of the SLM NXG XII 600 is the culmination of years of intensive joint development that completes the shift from prototyping to production of complex structures, when combined with the Divergent Adaptive Production System as the future of human-AI design and sustainable systems,” stated Kevin Czinger, Founder and CEO of Divergent and SLM Solutions Supervisory Board member.

Divergent’s Blade supercar chassis. Image courtesy of Divergent Technologies.

The NXG XII 600, with a 600 x 600 x 600 mm³ build envelope, is said to be one of the fastest printers on the market: thanks to its twelve 1kW lasers, SLM Solutions says it’s able to print 5 to 20 times faster than its competitor systems. With that level of speed, the system can efficiently print large and consolidate components, in addition to smaller components, in one step, and Sam O’Leary, CEO of SLM Solutions, said that the NXG XII 600 was designed specifically “to be used in serial production for high-volume applications as well as for printing large parts.”

“The NXG XII 600 is the modern day “da vinci”, crafting masterpieces at serial production scale, making it the ideal choice for advancing Divergent’s unique digital manufacturing platform for the automotive industry,” O’Leary continued.

SLM Solutions new NXG XII 600 system. Image courtesy of SLM Solutions.

With its three new advanced NXG XII 600 3D printers, set to be delivered in Q1 of 2022, Divergent Technologies will be better able to support the growing demand from global automotive manufacturers using its DAPS. Initially, the company’s factory deployment will focus on 3D printing thousands of tons of automatically assembled, complex automotive structures, which are slated to be on the road within two years. Then, Divergent will scale its advanced facilities, which were designed—using DAPS—for sustainable production, starting with “fab-less” vehicle manufacturing. This second step will start with the officially approved Czinger Vehicles 21C hypercar.