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UK large-format additive manufacturing (LFAM) specialist Rapid Fusion has installed a £450,000 Zeus robotic manufacturing cell at Kingston University, combining pellet-extrusion 3D printing, scanning and CNC milling for research, teaching and industrial projects.
Located at the university’s Roehampton Vale campus, the system is Rapid Fusion’s first Zeus installation at a university. The Exeter-based company will also train staff and explore student work placements, Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) opportunities and contributions to future teaching.
Rapid Fusion CEO Jake Hand said the partnership responds to a UK skills shortage in robotics and 3D printing. The company plans to work with Kingston’s education staff on how the technology could be incorporated into the curriculum.
Kingston University’s operations manager Lesley Stigling said the relationship originated through university graduate Raghav, who joined Rapid Fusion and connected the two organizations. The university expects the equipment to support research projects and collaborations with industrial partners.
Combining additive and subtractive manufacturing
Zeus combines pellet-extrusion additive manufacturing with industrial 3D scanning and CNC machining in a single robotic cell.
The system first produces a near-net-shape component, leaving material for subsequent machining. A Zivid industrial 3D camera can then scan the printed geometry, while Ency AI-driven CAD/CAM robot-programming software is used to generate the machining workflow.
Combining these stages within one cell is intended to reduce the transfers and repeated set-ups required when printing and machining are performed on separate equipment. Scanning the as-built component also allows the machining stage to account for differences between the digital model and printed geometry.
Rapid Fusion says this approach can reduce outsourcing and improve repeatability for prototypes and low-volume complex components. However, the Kingston announcement provides no comparative figures for cycle time, machining accuracy, production costs or outsourcing reductions.
The company describes its scanning and software integration as generating toolpaths with minimal manual involvement, rather than establishing a fully autonomous print-to-machining workflow.
Hybrid manufacturing and university research
Zeus builds on Rapid Fusion’s development of robotic LFAM systems, including Apollo, Medusa, and the containerized Cerberus platform for manufacturing parts in remote locations.
In June 2025, Rapid Fusion, announced that Zeus has won a TCT Award in the polymer hardware category. The company described the system as combining pellet extrusion and CNC machining within a 6m x 6m cell, targeting mold production for automotive, aerospace, construction and marine applications.
More recently, Rapid Fusion installed a customized Zeus system at Canada’s INNOV Advanced Materials Centre. During commissioning, the team printed a component and used 3D scanning to align it for machining. Rapid Fusion said the workforce could reduce alignment time from approximately one day to 20 minutes, although the final milling stage had not been completed during the demonstration.
Kingston also joins Rapid Fusion’s existing academic partnership. An April 2026 company case study identified collaborations with University College London, the University of Exeter, Manchester Metropolitan University, the University of Bristol and the University of Lancashire involving Zeus and PE320 extrusion technology. The case study does not establish which institutions received complete Zeus cells.
At Kingston, Rapid Fusion plans to complement the Zeus installation with staff training, potential student placements and curriculum development. No confirmed KTP arrangements or placement number have been disclosed.
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Featured image shows Rapid Fusion’s Zeus robotic manufacturing cell at Kingston University. Photo via Rapid Fusion.
