One Step Fabrication: Software-Automated Printed Circuits via Multi-material Additive Manufacturing

As of now, the creation of 3D printed components faces many issues regarding stability, repeatability, and manual labor. Existing methods lack an integrated software framework that automates circuit generation while ensuring predictable behavior in printed geometries. In this work, circuits are modeled by leveraging distributed equations that reduce to lumped approximations when the printed geometry remains uniform. The system is implemented through a parametric, domain-specific programming workflow and evaluated across 100 Hz to 100 kHz to assess the accuracy of the predicted electrical values. Printed results were validated by empirical studies involving an RLC meter and by comparing both theoretical and actual values. Results proved consistent software reliability independent of material resistivity variation across samples. This framework aims to establish a practical approach for local fabrication of reliable printed circuits, positioning multi-material FDM printing as a viable candidate for on demand circuit printing.