Tooling-Free Forming Enables Flexible Factories

Machina Labs is a manufacturer that uses robots to fabricate sheet metal parts without the use of specialized tooling. This enables it to handle high-mix, low-volume work just as easily as it handles low-mix, high-volume work. Images provided by Machina Labs. 

Tooling makes high-mix, low-volume manufacturing a challenge. “Every time you have to build a hardware product, you have to build a factory, and there's a lot of tooling, equipment, machinery that goes into the factory that's very closely tied to the product you're trying to build,” points out Edward Mehr. Mehr is the founder and CEO of Machina Labs, a manufacturing company that uses AI-powered robots to fabricate sheet metal parts without the use of specialized tooling.

Machina Labs founder Edward Mehr started exploring the intersection of AI, robotics and manufacturing at SpaceX and Relativity Space. He was inspired by 3D printing’s ability to produce parts without tooling and wanted to bring that ability to applications where 3D printing isn’t physically or economically feasible.

Software to Hardware

Mehr started his career focusing on AI at companies including Google and Microsoft. Eventually he joined SpaceX, where he started to apply AI to the challenges of manufacturing. “Since then, I have been in the intersection of using software and advanced techniques like machine learning and robotics to create more agile manufacturing technology,” he says. He was a member of the founding team at Relativity Space, where he gained experience in tool-less manufacturing via 3D printing. This experience also taught him that 3D printing, “even though it's a great solution, it's either physics-wise or economic-wise not available to all types of parts. And that became kind of the genesis of Machina.”

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But his new venture isn’t abandoning 3D printing completely — it’s looking to expand tool-less manufacturing to a wider range of parts. “The goal of Machina is to build a platform that can do different types of manufacturing operations autonomously,” he explains. “If you have a platform that can do welding, forming, 3D printing, all different types of operations autonomously, then you can scale that in a factory and have a factory that can do different types of products just through change in software. It can make car panels in the morning and then missile airframes in the afternoon.”

Machina Labs’ platform is enabled by advancements such as robotics and AI, which according to Mehr, have brought the manufacturing industry to an inflection point. “I think now we're going to see a new wave of companies who are actually building factories with these new technologies,” he says. “Traditionally, companies have been selling these technologies to traditional manufacturers and OEMs. I think for the first time, we're seeing that you are almost required to build a factory from the ground up with these technologies in mind.” As such, Machina Labs sees itself not as a technology supplier, but as a manufacturer of metal structures. 

Machina Labs’ production system, the RoboCraftsman, consists of two robots with styli-like end effectors that form sheet metal parts. The robots can also pick up other end effectors for scanning, trimming and drilling. End effectors for heat treatment, welding and 3D printing are in development.

Crafting a Robotic Solution

Machina Labs’ core technology is what it calls the RoboCraftsman, which uses AI-powered robots to form sheet metal parts and perform other manufacturing operations such as scanning, trimming and drilling. Mehr says that when the company was founded in 2019, not only had robotics become precise and dexterous enough to fabricate sheet metal without specialized tooling, but AI had advanced to where it could be used to determine how the robot should manipulate the part to get it to the correct shape. Mehr says each cell has two robots on a platform that can fit into a shipping container for easy transportation, if needed. “It can get deployed to any warehouse floor, as long as there's power, and within the same day, it can self-calibrate and start manufacturing parts,” he says.

For now, the RoboCraftsman primarily performs sheet metal fabrication using different forming end effectors designed by Machina Labs. Mehr describes them as styli in a range of sizes and shapes. “Two robots come from two sides, and pinch and deform the sheet into shape, like a potter would do to a clay bowl,” he says.

Compared to traditional metal-forming processes, cycle times for the RoboCraftsman are longer. “In stamping, once you have your tool and die set up, you're looking at seconds to minutes before you go through a part,” Mehr says. “With us, it depends on the size and complexity. A part can take somewhere from half an hour to a few hours.” But when the time and cost to produce the die are taken into account, the equation changes, particularly for low-volume parts. “If you count the process of making the mold, then depending on the volume, we might have a better takt time,” he continues. “And then when you start thinking about all the cost that goes into building a mold and a stamping press, how many of our systems can run in parallel with the same investment, then the number goes even further up.” He says Machina Labs works with some order quantities in the tens of thousands of parts, and with opportunities to increase the speeds of the robots inside the cell, he expects even larger batches of parts.

In addition to not needing to worry about the time and cost involved in producing a stamping die, the RoboCraftsman doesn’t need to change tools when switching from one part to another. “From design to design is just a few minutes,” Mehr says. This is particularly useful for design iteration.

While sheet metal forming is the RoboCraftsman’s main specialty, the cell’s robots have the ability to pick up end effectors other than the forming styli. The robots can use scanners to inspect parts and spindles to trim them or add features such as holes or slots. Mehr says the company is working on additional capabilities for the cell, including heat treatment, welding and 3D printing.

Machina Labs’ production system, the RoboCraftsman, consists of two robots with styli-like end effectors that form sheet metal parts. The robots can also pick up other end effectors for scanning, trimming and drilling. End effectors for heat treatment, welding and 3D printing are in development.

Controlling the Cell

Machina Labs has developed a software stack to operate its RoboCraftsman cells, including offline preparation and real-time control in the cell. At the front end is a software studio called Architect, which enables engineers to translate digital designs into instructions for the RoboCraftsman system. Because the tool paths and forming strategies for complex sheet metal geometries are often not intuitive, the company incorporates algorithms and machine learning to help engineers develop part programs. As more parts are produced, the system improves, reducing the number of iterations required to achieve production-ready parts.

On the shop floor, RoboCraftsman is controlled by a system that monitors robotic motion, force application, and execution. This system integrates sensor feedback, including force, displacement and in-process geometry measurement via 3D scanning, to continuously monitor and adjust how the part is being formed. These closed-loop adjustments enable the system to maintain accuracy and consistency across a wide range of geometries and materials. Over time, data collected from both in-process sensing and post-process inspection is used to further refine performance, enabling continuous improvement in how parts are formed and assembled.

In Practice

Machina Labs has two facilities, one of which is dedicated to production. It has 16 RoboCraftsman cells and runs two shifts per day. Each shift is staffed with three technicians, who are mostly dedicated to material handling and part loading/unloading. Mehr says the goal is to automate these tasks as well, enabling one technician to run 10 cells.

Machina Labs’ focus on sheet metal fabrication means much of its work so far has been for large parts with metal “skins.” Mehr lists industries including “aircraft, missile bodies, fuel tanks, even some areas of automotive, heavy equipment and machinery.” The tooling-free process has also found a niche in repair applications for old aircraft where stamping dies for parts no longer exist. “They cannot even stamp them if they want to,” he says.

A recently announced partnership with Toyota will expand the company’s work in the automotive sector, enabling mass customization for Tacoma trucks. “The tailgate is custom designed. The hood has a pattern that you want. And they don't have to go make $100,000 molds for every one of those trucks,” Mehr explains.

The company is also in the process of deploying a third facility, which Mehr says will have 50 RoboCraftsman cells. In addition to providing production capacity, the facility will have additional capabilities, including welding and machining (outside the RoboCraftsman cells). “We can actually build full-on assemblies,” Mehr says. “We can do internal structures as well as the airframes.” The third factory is expected to create approximately 115 new jobs, bringing the company’s total headcount to around 250 employees — a figure that could grow further with plans for a fourth factory.