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Category: 3D printing

by — 3Dprint.com

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When it comes to 3D printing, new breakthroughs and new achievements are being realized almost on a daily basis. From 3D printable human tissue, to a 3D printed life-size castle, and now a 3D printed automobile, the technology never seizes to amaze.

This week, at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, Arizona-based automobile manufacturer Local Motors stole the show. Over the six day span of the IMTS, the company managed to 3D print, and assemble an entire automobile, called the ‘Strati’, live in front of spectators.

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by — 3Dprint.com

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The ability to 3D print objects of all shapes, and many sizes, has enabled individuals to take at least some control of their lives away from the large manufacturers and corporations out there. We can now become the makers of what we consumer. 3D printing has been touted as a way to cut back on waste. Additive manufacturing is clearly a much better fabrication method than that of subtractive manufacturing. These new processes are certainly saving materials for the large manufacturers out there who may be printing in metals, or other materials instead of using milling techniques. For those of us who use ordinary FDM-based desktop 3D printers to make trinkets and little doo-dads, let’s be honest, we are probably causing more plastic waste than we were prior to purchasing these machines. How many 3D prints have you had which have failed and you simply end up throwing away? Half of the stuff you print, you likely would never have purchased anyway, right?

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TJ McCue — Forbes

Image Courtesy of Melissa Ng website.

Depending on where you get your statistics, there are between 10 and 15 million amputees in the world. People who lose a limb go through a lot of pain obviously and the challenge to get a prosthetic limb that allows them to fully function again often doesn’t lessen the emotional pain aspect. It is a difficult process. Plus, it is not inexpensive. In this week’s news, there is a post about a young man in Ottawa who needs help to purchase a new prosthetic leg and he’s taken his need to crowdfunding on YouCaring.com.

Selvan Mohan is a PhD candidate at Carleton University. The university will help cover $10,000 of the $22,000 needed. His campaign is almost 50 percent funded. A group of people, friends included, got together to help him create the video which you can watch here. I found Mr. Mohan’s story compelling and worthy (check out the video), but what do you do if you cannot take your case to the powerful crowd-funding platforms?

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By Adrian Mars — ZDNet
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Cheap 3D printers have had a bad rap. Seen as toys for enthusiasts, most work by squeezing melted plastic filament through a thin nozzle (Fused Filament Fabrication, or FFF), producing what is often dismissed as tat.

The reality is far more exciting: these devices are revolutionising the world of product development, are set to educate a generation and are home to some of the most innovative developments in the 3D printing world.

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— Singularity Hub

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Consumer 3D printing has been creeping into mainstream awareness. Last year, office supply chain Staples announced they’d sell 3D Systems Cube 3D printers in stores, and UPS began offering 3D printing services at select locations.

Not to be outdone, massive online retailer Amazon dedicated an online storefront to 3D printers and supplies. And most recently, the firm added another storefront selling 3D printed products—bobbleheads, jewelry, smartphone cases.

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Written By: — Singularity Hub
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Robots come in all shapes and sizes—some are mechanical, and some aren’t. Last year, a team of scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign made a seven-millimeter-long 3D printed robot powered by the heart cells of a rat.

The device, made of 3D printed hydrogel—a water-based, biologically compatible gel—had two feet, one bigger than the other. The smaller, longer foot was coated in heart cells. Each time the cells contracted, the robot would crawl forward a few millimeters.

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Written by — Inside 3DP

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Forget those eight-inch mini-me models you can get for £60 if you happen to live near an Asda in Manchester, offering the service. Now, thanks to a firm in China, you can actually own a fully life-sized replica of yourself.

The company is called Qingdao Unique Products Develop Co. Ltd, and in order to print a life-size model, they have developed the world’s largest 3D printer. The Chinese company revealed their life-size 3D printed model and their 3D Wax Statue Printer at the World 3D printing technology Industry Conference and Exposition held in Qingdao in June.

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by — 3DPrint.com
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It’s always fun predicting the future. People do it all the time because it is entertaining to imagine a world that we or our children will one day have the chance to experience. We’ve seen fictitious movies do this from time to time since the beginning of film. There was the hoverboard in ‘Back to the Future’, the jet packs in ‘The Rocketeer’, teleportation in Star Trek, and the list goes on. Some of these inventions have already become a reality, while we are still awaiting the arrival of others.

Another Star Trek prediction, was that of the Replicator, which was used to basically 3D print objects, especially food. These have already begun to take shape in current times, in the form of 3D printers. MakerBot even calls their consumer level 3D printer the ‘Replicator’. Sure it may not work the exact same way, but its close enough.

Now, one video game development company, Sledgehammer Games, is trying to predict the future in their upcoming video game. We’re sure that most of you are well aware of the Call of Duty video game series. ‘Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’ is currently scheduled for release this coming Novembmer. In the game, which takes place in the year 2054, Sledgehammer Games will try their hands at predicting the future themselves. One of the more notable futuristic ideas in the game, is that of the 3D-Printer Rifle.

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By Randy Rieland — Smithsonian.com

These days, 3D printing seems to be at the core of most new new research ventures, whether it’s developing ways to print entire meals or recreating facial features to repair a patient’s face.

But Skylar Tibbits wants to up the ante: He’s hoping 4D printing will be the thing of the not-so-far future.

The name for his concept, Tibbits admits, was a bit lighthearted at first. At the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tibbits and researchers from the firms Stratasys and Autodesk Inc were trying to come up with a way of describing the objects they were creating on 3D printers—objects that not only could be printed, but thanks to geometric code, could also later change shape and transform on their own.

The name stuck, and now the process they developed—which turns code into “smart objects” that can self-assemble or change shape when confronted with a change in its environment—could very well pop up in a number of industries, from construction to athletic wear.

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