The partnership will see engineering teams from Rapid Fusion and Applied Automation aim to turn the current prototype into a machine ready for shopfloor use, with interest already coming from companies in the automotive, aerospace, construction, medical and renewables sectors.
Design for manufacture and supply chain management will be the first tasks, whilst experts from Applied Automation will create a dedicated assembly line and testing area at its facility in Plymouth to help meet the target of an early 2026 release.
This new technology is expected to generate over £5m of revenue from first year sales and could create up to ten jobs across the two firms.
Backed by a £1.2m grant from Innovate UK, Medusa is said to be three times faster than conventional machines, twice as accurate and promises to reduce training and maintenance costs by 30 per cent.
The gantry-style machine combines pellet extruder, filament and a CNC machining tool to provide a single-source solution for large moulds and tooling typically used by aerospace, automotive, marine and construction companies.
Latest AI and Siemens motion control technologies have been integrated into the design, with the system boasting a 1.2m3 volume build and able to move at 1200mm per second speeds.
Key features of Medusa
Read the full report on the extended partnership here.
