The ORGANIC European Project aims to combine nature structures and additive manufacturing to improve the future recyclability of products. Based on bio-intelligence, the initiative also seeks to enhance efficiency and sustainability in the industrial production through cutting-edge technologies.
The consortium, comprising thirteen organisations from eight countries, has embarked on an ambitious EU-funded research initiative aimed at integrating principles form nature, artificial intelligence and bio-based materials into advanced additive manufacturing. Coordinated by the AIM Technology Centre, the project was launched in June with an inaugural meeting in Vigo.
ORGANIC seeks to transfer the structural logic of living organisms into industrial processes. In this context, it will 3D-printing components using sustainable materials while simultaneously developing an intelligent manufacturing system capable of self-correction and learning through artificial intelligence.
“Additive manufacturing is very promising, but it still faces challenges”, explains Andrea Fernández Martínez, AI researcher at AIMEN and project coordinator. “It is a young technology that needs to improve in order to deliver right-first-time products. The ‘bio-intelligent’ approach we are adopting in ORGANIG is data-driven and will allows us to create a system that self-corrects by comparing the manufactured product with its ideal state, moving towards flawless production from the outset”.
The first application will focus on redesigning the structural core of wind turbine blades. At present, these are made from synthetic foams of balsa wood, which will be replaced by a 3D-printed bio-based material. This will improve their recyclability without compromising the blade’s technical properties.
Testing will take place in the Additive Manufacturing Pilot Line of AIMEN’s Laser Applications Centre. There, a print head equipped with sensors and an evolving cognitive control system will be trialled. On the digital side, standard digital twins based on Asset Administration Shells will be employed to enable interoperability and real-time analysis.
The ORGANIC consortium brings together component manufacturers, 3D printing companies, universities, technology centres, hardware and software developers, innovation consultancies and European networks. All share a common goal: to make manufacturing more sustainable, intelligent and adaptable to new value chains.
“The project has the potential to enable the biological transformation of additive manufacturing and become a benchmark in the next manufacturing revolution,” says Alexandre Cunha, project manager at AIMEN and within ORGANIC. “Its multidisciplinary approach is highly ambitious: we draw inspiration form nature, design new structures with bio-based materials, develop both hardware and software, and aim for results that can be adapted to different manufacturing value chains. The wind energy use case is just our starting point”.