The HippoCampus is a micro Autonomous Underwater Vehicle which is manufactured with 3D printing. We decided to use 3D printing because of its flexibility. The base part of HippoCampus is a complex part whose manufacturing would be hardly possible with conventional techniques such as milling.

The base part consists of a cylindrical section which houses the electronics and the arms to which motors are attached.

We use a 3D printer based on the Stereolithography (SLA) method instead of the more common Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) method. Unlike parts created with FDM printers which are porous, SLA allows for water sealed parts without pores.

The parts to be 3D printed are designed in a specialized software. Afterwards, they are sent to the printer.

The base part and the above parts are essential parts of the HippoCampus AUV: