3D Printing Flies High now. Articles on three-dimensional printers are popping up everywhere these days. And nowadays there are many 3D printer products. Some are small enough to fit in a briefcase and others are large enough to print houses.
Everything you ever wanted to know about 3D printing article tells that 3D printing is having its “Macintosh moment,” declares Wired editor -in-chief Chris Anderson in cover story on the subject. 3D printers are now where the PC was 30 years ago. They are just becoming affordable and accessible to non-geeks, will be maybe able to democratize manufacturing the same way that PCs democratized publishing.
Gartner’s 2012 Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies Identifies “Tipping Point” Technologies That Will Unlock Long-Awaited Technology Scenarios lists 3D Print It at Home as important topic. In this scenario, 3D printing allows consumers to print physical objects, such as toys or housewares, at home, just as they print digital photos today. Combined with 3D scanning, it may be possible to scan certain objects with a smartphone and print a near-duplicate. Analysts predict that 3D printing will take more than five years to mature beyond the niche market. Eventually, 3D printing will enable individuals to print just about anything from the comfort of their own homes.Slideshow: 3D Printers Make Prototypes Pop article tells that advances in performance, and the durability and range of materials used in additive manufacturing and stereolithography offerings, are enabling companies to produce highly durable prototypes and parts, while also cost-effectively churning out manufactured products in limited production runs.
3D printing can have implications to manufacturers of some expensive products. The Pirate Bay declares 3D printed “physibles” as the next frontier of piracy. Pirate Bay Launches 3D-Printed ‘Physibles’ Downloads. The idea is to have freely available designs for different products that you can print at home with your 3D printer. Here a video demonstrating 3D home printing in operation.
Shapeways is a marketplace and community that encourages the making and sharing of 3D-printed designs. 3D Printing Shapes Factory of the Future article tells that recently New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg cut the Shapeways‘ Factory (filled with industrial-sized 3D printers) ribbon using a pair of 3D-printed scissors.
The Next Battle for Internet Freedom Could Be Over 3D Printing article tells up to date, 3D printing has primarily been used for rapid commercial prototyping largely because of its associated high costs. Now, companies such as MakerBot are selling 3D printers for under $2,000. Slideshow: 3D Printers Make Prototypes Pop article gives view a wide range of 3D printers, from half-million-dollar rapid prototyping systems to $1,000 home units. Cheapest 3D printers (with quite limited performance) now start from 500-1000 US dollars. It is rather expensive or inexpensive is how you view that.
RepRap Project is a cheap 3D printer that started huge 3D printing buzz. RepRap Project is an initiative to develop an open design 3D printer that can print most of its own components. RepRap (short for replicating rapid prototyper) uses a variant of fused deposition modeling, an additive manufacturing technique (The project calls it Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to avoid trademark issues around the “fused deposition modeling” term). It is almost like a small hot glue gun that melts special plastic is moved around to make the printout. I saw RepRap (Mendel) and Cupcake CNC 3D printers in operation at at Assembly Summer 2010.
There has been some time been trials to make 3D-Printed Circuit Boards. 3D Printers Will Build Circuit Boards ‘In Two Years’ article tells that printing actual electronics circuit boards is very close. Most of the assembly tools are already completely automated anyway.
3D printing can be used to prototype things like entire cars or planes. The makers of James Bond’s latest outing, Skyfall, cut a couple corners in production and used modern 3D printing techniques to fake the decimation of a classic 1960s Aston Martin DB5 (made1:3 scale replicas of the car for use in explosive scenes). The world’s first 3D printed racing car can pace at 140 km/h article tells that a group of 16 engineers named “Group T” has unveiled a racing car “Areion” that is competing in Formula Student 2012 challenge. It is described as the world’s first 3D printed race car. The Areion is not fully 3D printed but most of it is.
Student Engineers Design, Build, Fly ‘Printed’ Airplane article tells that when University of Virginia engineering students posted a YouTube video last spring of a plastic turbofan engine they had designed and built using 3-D printing technology, they didn’t expect it to lead to anything except some page views. But it lead to something bigger. 3-D Printing Enables UVA Student-Built Unmanned Plane article tells that in an effort that took four months and $2000, instead of the quarter million dollars and two years they estimate it would have using conventional design methods, a group of University of Virginia engineering students has built and flown an airplane of parts created on a 3-D printer. The plane is 6.5 feet in wingspan, and cruises at 45 mph.
3D printers can also print guns and synthetic chemical compounds (aka drugs). The potential policy implications are obvious. US Army Deploys 3D Printing Labs to Battlefield to print different things army needs. ‘Wiki Weapon Project’ Aims To Create A Gun Anyone Can 3D-Print At Home. If high-quality weapons can be printed by anyone with a 3D printer, and 3D printers are widely available, then law enforcement agencies will be forced to monitor what you’re printing in order to maintain current gun control laws.
Software Advances Do Their Part to Spur 3D Print Revolution article tells that much of the recent hype around 3D printing has been focused on the bevy of new, lower-cost printer models. Yet, significant improvements to content creation software on both the low and high end of the spectrum are also helping to advance the cause, making the technology more accessible and appealing to a broader audience. Slideshow: Content Creation Tools Push 3D Printing Mainstream article tells that there is still a sizeable bottleneck standing in the way of mainstream adoption of 3D printing: the easy to use software used to create the 3D content. Enter a new genre of low-cost (many even free like Tikercad) and easy-to-use 3D content creation tools. By putting the tools in reach, anyone with a compelling idea will be able to easily translate that concept into a physical working prototype without the baggage of full-blown CAD and without having to make the huge capital investments required for traditional manufacturing.
Finally when you have reached the end of the article there is time for some fun. Check out this 3D printing on Dilbert strip so see a creative use of 3D printing.
2,037 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
ZEUS
SCAN | PRINT | COPY | FAX
The world’s first ALL-in-One 3D Printer for professional use
http://www.zeus.aiorobotics.com/
Tomi Engdahl says:
CastAR and Holographic Print Preview for 3D Printers!
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/23/castar-and-holographic-print-preview-for-3d-printers/
Here’s a really cool concept [Ryan Smith] came up for 3D printing. Using [Jeri Ellsworth's] CastAR, [Ryan Smith] has created a really cool technical illusion to demonstrate visual prototyping on his Makerbot. Using a laser cutter he’s perforated the front plastic panel of the Makerbot, which allows a semi-transparent overlay that when you use the CastAR’s projector it gives you a holographic visual effect.
it can help give you a 3D preview of your part, for example if you’re not fully sure what scale you want it to print at, you could actually put a mating object, or your hand, behind the screen and visually see the interface
Tomi Engdahl says:
MakerBot Files Patents, Internet Goes Crazy
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/24/makerbot-files-patents-internet-goes-crazy/
In the past month, a few patent applications from MakerBot were published, and like everything tangentially related to the prodigal son of the 3D printer world, the Internet arose in a clamor
The first patent, titled, Three-dimensional printer with force detection was filed on October 29th, 2013. It describes a 3D printer with a sensor coupled to the hot end able to sense a contact force between the nozzle and build plate. It’s a rather clever idea that will allow any 3D printer to perform software calibration of the build plate, ensuring everything is printed on a nice, level surface.
When it rains it pours, and the Quick-release extruder patent application, filed on October 28, 2013, bears this out.
It is important to note that these are patent applications. Nothing has been patented yet.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Hour of the 3D Printed Clock Draws Nigh
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/24/the-hour-of-the-3d-printed-clock-draws-nigh/
Many have tried, but [Christoph Laimer] has succeeded in designing a working, (relatively) accurate clock nearly completely from 3D printed parts. Every gear, pulley, wheel and hand of [Christoph's] clock is printed. Only a few screws, axles, a weight, and a string are non-printed. Even the crank to wind the clock is a 3D printed part.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Adding Copper Wire To A 3D Print
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/25/adding-copper-wire-to-a-3d-print/
Conductive filaments and printing solder are one thing, but what if you could spice up your 3D prints by embedding wire right inside the filament? That’s what [Bas] is doing, paving the way for printable electronics, PCBs, coils, and odd-shaped antenna.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Servo Stock, The Future Of 3D Printers
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/26/servo-stock-the-future-of-3d-printers/
If you think about it, the RepRaps and other commercial 3D printers we have today are nothing like the printers that will be found in the workshops of the future. They’re more expensive than they need to be, and despite the RepRap project being around for a few years now, no one has cracked the nut of closed loop control yet.
[mad hephaestus], [Alex], and [Will] over on the Hackaday Projects site are working on the future of 3D printing with the Servo Stock, a delta printer using servos and closed loop control to build a printer for about a quarter of the price as a traditional 3D printer.
On each axis is a small board containing a magnetic encoder, and a continuous rotation servo. With this setup, the guys are able to get 4096 steps per revolution with closed loop control that can drive the servo to with ±2 ticks.
The motherboard uses a Pic32 running at 80MHz.
Instead of Gcode, the team is using the Bowler protocol
ServoStock interpreting Gcode on a computer and sending the codes and kinematics to the printer
Tomi Engdahl says:
Cambridge company Dovetailed launches 3D printer that creates fruit you can eat
Why pick fruit? These days you can PRINT it.
Cambridge design company Dovetailed is today launching its 3D fruit printer, creating ‘fruit’ you can eat.
The printer uses a molecular-gastronomy technique called spherification. It combines individual liquid droplets with different flavours into a fruit shape.
It is aimed at chefs, foodies and anyone interested in making creative dining experiences
“The taste, texture, size and shape of the fruit can all be customised.”
Read more: http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Business/Business-News/Unveiled-the-3D-printer-that-creates-fruit-you-can-eat-20140524070245.htm#ixzz32pQB06xB
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printed Fruit is Here, Thanks to Cambridge Company Dovetailed
http://3dprint.com/4314/3d-printed-fruit-microsoft/
Spherification is a molecular gastronomy technique in which liquids are shaped into tiny spheres, in one of two different ways. The process was originally discovered by Unilever in the 50′s, however it wasn’t until this last decade that the process began to be used within modern cuisine. One method can be used for shaping liquids which have a high calcium content like milk, while the other is perfect for liquids like fruit juice or puree, which contain little to no calcium.
What the 3D printer does is combine these little spheres of flavor with other spheres of the same or varying flavor, to form customized ‘fruits’, which can taste and look however the the user desires.
Would you consider eating 3D printed fruits, created with the processes described above?
Tomi Engdahl says:
Print Instagram pics onto your Adidas with new app
http://www.electronicproducts.com/Packaging_and_Hardware/Prototyping_Tools_Equipment_Services/Print_Instagram_pics_onto_your_Adidas_with_new_app.aspx
Adidas is really, really trying to make Instagram into a fashion statement, literally. The shoe company has come up with a new way to share Instagram photos, by allowing users to print any picture they want onto a pair of their sneakers.
Whether the app will add to the price of the shoes is unclear at the moment
While it’s been possible for a couple of years to customize phone cases and the like with social media photos, this is the first time somebody has thought to print them on shoes
Tomi Engdahl says:
Printed Circuits as Part of a 3-D Printed Object (Video)
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/05/27/2044212/printed-circuits-as-part-of-a-3-d-printed-object-video
With the system they’re working on, a filament printer is used to fabricate the object itself, but at the same time, both capacitive and conductive features can be baked — or rather printed — right in, with a separate print head.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Man Builds Concrete 3D Printer in His Garage
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/29/man-builds-concrete-3d-printer-in-his-garage/
[Andrey] started with an Arduino Mega 2560 based RepRap RAMPS style controller. His big printer needed big NEMA34 stepper motors, far beyond the current capacity of the stock RAMPS stepper drivers.
The printer’s great unveiling will be this summer. [Andrey] plans to print a playhouse sized castle over the course of a week. He’s looking to collaborate with architects, builders, and other like-minded folks.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Curiosity’ Lead Engineer Suggests Printing Humans On Other Planets:
Our Best Bet for Colonizing Space May Be Printing Humans on Other Planets
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/our-best-bet-for-colonizing-space-may-be-printing-humans-on-other-planets
Adam Steltzner, the lead engineer on the NASA JPL’s Curiosity rover mission, believes that to send humans to distant planets, we may need to do one of two things: look for ways to game space-time—traveling through wormholes and whatnot—or rethink the fundamental idea of “ourselves.”
“Our best bet for space exploration could be printing humans, organically, on another planet,” said Steltzner on stage at Smithsonian Magazine’s Future Is Now conference in Washington, DC this month.
The “printing” idea starts out by encoding human genetic information in bacteria so that our DNA can hitch a ride to another planet.
“The idea of 3D printing is, something’s created out of matter at the location, just with the information. And that’s kind of what we’re talking about here,” Steltzner said. “That kind of feels like a very fancy 3D printing to me.”
It sounds far-fetched, but it’s an area of biotech geneticists are currently exploring.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Poor Man’s 3D Printer Looks Rough, Prints Great!
http://hackaday.com/2014/05/31/poor-mans-3d-printer-looks-rough-prints-great/
In this Instructable, [Gelstronic] proves anyone can afford a 3D printer. Why? Because you can literally build one out of computer e-waste — specifically, DVD/CD drives.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Poor-Mans-3D-Printer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Interesting 3D printer news source
http://www.adafruit.com/blog/category/3d-printing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
THE WORLD’S CHEAPEST 3D PRINTER
IT’S THE POWER TO CREATE | IT’S LIGHTWEIGHT AND PORTABLE | IT’S ONLY $100 | AND YES, IT’S REAL.
http://www.peachyprinter.com/
Smartphones, radios, stereos, and mp3 players that have DC coupled audio will be capable of controlling the X and Y axises of the printer.
We plan to ship a DC coupled USB Soundcard with each printer, or we can use an amplitude modulation circut to convert an AC Coupled signal into a DC signal.
Our current beta version of the kit and assembled Peachy Printers can print with the following properties:
Minimum wall thickness: 0.2 mm
Thanks to Josh Ellis and his company Maker Juice, we now have a fast acting resin that only costs $60/litre!
We estimate that the kit can be assembled in about 1 hour!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Automated Home Manufacturing Combining 3D Printing With Robotics
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/01/automated-home-manufacturing-combining-3d-printing-with-robotics/
automated setup to queue jobs for his 3D printer
He’s using the uArm, which was a highly successful kickstarter earlier this year – it’s an Arduino-compatible microcontroller driven 4-axis parallel-mechanism robot arm, based off of the industrial ABB PalletPack robot.
Tomi Engdahl says:
SpaceX 3D Prints Rocket Thruster
Just print it
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1322566&
No longer are 3D printers a novelty for kids, or even just a tool for prototyping, now that the world’s first production rocket thruster to be qualified for space flight was certified today by Space Exploration Technologies Corp. in SpaceX, Hawthorne, Calif. According to SpaceX, 3D printing can drastically cut the cost and time of manufacturing finished parts for space vehicles and by implication for any vehicle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Turning A Laser Cutter Into A 3D Printer With OpenSLS
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/turning-a-laser-cutter-into-a-3d-printer-with-opensls/
[Andreas Bastian] has been working on a device that turns an off-the-shelf laser cutter into something capable of selective laser sintering of powdered plastics into 3D objects. He’s put in a lot of work, but now he gets to see the fruits of his labor: he’s successfully printed a few objects out of wax and powdered nylon.
a fine layer of powder is spread over a build platform and melted with a laser. The melted layer drops down, another layer of powder is applied, and the cycle repeats until the part is finished.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Laser Cutter Attachment For A 3D Printer
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/02/the-laser-cutter-attachment-for-a-3d-printer/
If you already have a 3D printer, you already have a machine that will trace out gears, cogs, and enclosures over an XY plane. How about strapping a laser to your extruder and turning your printer into a laser cutter? That’s what [Spiritplumber] did, and he’s actually cutting 3/16″ wood and 1/4″ acrylic with his 3D printer.
[Spiritplumber] is using a 445nm laser diode attached directly to his extruder mount to turn his 3D printer into a laser cutter.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Plater Makes It Easy To Fill Your Bed Plate
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/plater-makes-it-easy-to-fill-your-bed-plate/
If you’re a 3D printing power user, you probably try to fit as many parts onto a single print job as possible. Most printing software has this built in to let you do that, but [Grégoire Passault] and his team thought they could do it better with their program Plater — it’s open source too.
They decided to make Plater after designing Spidey: an open-source 4-legged robot that makes use of 22 3D printed parts.
Tomi Engdahl says:
THP Entry: A $300 Pick & Place 3D Printer
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/04/thp-entry-a-300-pick-place-3d-printer/
With the advent of cheap PCB fabrication, (relatively) easy to use layout tools, and a whole host of prototypes for nearly any device imaginable, the age of custom circuits is upon us. The tools to make these custom circuits, though, are usually hilariously expensive or simply unavailable to all but the most resourceful hackerspace. It would be great if every workshop in the country had a pick and place machine, and the $300 Pick and Place / 3D printer would be a great way to introduce this tech to millions of electronic tinkerers around the world. It also makes for a great entry to The Hackaday Prize
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fuel 3-D Claims to be a High-Res, Point and Shoot 3-D Scanner (Video)
http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/14/06/04/1830240/fuel-3-d-claims-to-be-a-high-res-point-and-shoot-3-d-scanner-video
“The world’s first handheld point-and-shoot, full color 3D scanner. Our planned list price is $1500 but by placing your advanced order now you pay only $1,250. Fire up your creativity!”
There is no doubt a healthy market for 3-D scanners to use in commercial applications where $1250 (or even $1500) is hardly worth noticing.
DAVID website which describes their device as an “Incredibly Low-Cost 3D Scanner for Everyone!” Their 3-D starter kit is only $529
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fuel3D
http://www.fuel-3d.com/
Point and shoot
Use Fuel3D just like a digital camera to capture accurate 3D models in seconds.
The first scanner to combine pre-calibrated stereo cameras with photometric imaging.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Inside Ford’s 3D Printing Lab, where thousands of parts are made
Many of the nylon printed motor parts are used in working prototype vehicles
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9248818/Inside_Ford_s_3D_Printing_Lab_where_thousands_of_parts_are_made
Ten years ago, Ford 3D printed perhaps 4,000 prototype parts for its vehicles. Today, just one of its five 3D prototyping centers churns out more than 20,000 parts annually.
The reason for the explosion in 3D printed (or additive manufacturing) of vehicle parts is two-fold: As consumer 3D printers have grown in popularity, printer makers have been infused with fresh revenue, which has been used to improve industrial machines and processes. And secondly, manufacturers have become proficient at creating prototype parts, so much so that the work can be done in hours instead of the four to six weeks needed with traditional machine tooling processes.
And time is money.
“Companies like 3D Systems and Stratasys are spending huge amounts of money on development.”
“Everybody wants to know how much 3D printing has saved in dollars, but when you’re talking prototypes, it’s time,” Sears said. “What would bringing a product to market a month early do for you? That’s millions of dollars. It’s not something that’s easily measured.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
Designing And Printing A Custom Enclosure
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/05/designing-and-printing-a-custom-enclosure/
It’s actually not that hard to design a custom enclosure for you board, as [Glen] demonstrates with a custom 3D printed project box.
There are a vast array of scripts and plugins for this kind of mechanical design work, including the EagleUP plugins that turn an Eagle PCB into a 3D object that can be imported into SketchUp.
Taking measurements from Eagle, [Glen] designed a small project box that fits the PCB.
Once the enclosure was complete, [Glen] exported the design as an STL, ready for 3D printing or in his case, sending off to Shapeways. Either way, the result is a custom enclosure with a perfect fit.
Tomi Engdahl says:
This Printable Lamp Can Fold Itself Up for You
http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/diy/harvard-self-folding-printable-lamp
Being able to print out a functional robot is a beautiful dream of cheap, accessible robotics for everyone. And right now, it’s impossible.
But we’re making progress fast. A few years ago, we took a look at a project from MIT, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania that was developing soft robots with flexible, printed circuits. Last year, we met a robot that could be printed out flat, fold itself up, and then crawl around with the addition of a motor and battery.
And this year at the IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), Harvard researchers demonstrated a proof-of-concept lamp that can be printed out, folds itself, and includes both a mechanical switch and a capacitive touch sensor.
Obviously, not every single part of this lamp was printed. Discrete components like the LED were manually soldered to the composite before folding, and the lamp was wired into an Arduino to get the capacitive touch sensor to properly control the LED.
Grover says:
Can I simply just say what a comfort to find someone that really knows what they’re discussing online.
You actually realize how to bring an issue to light and make it important.
A lot more people must look at this and understand this side of your story.
It’s surprising you are not more popular since you surely have the
gift.
Simone says:
Superb website you have here but I was wondering if you knew
of any user discussion forums that cover the same topics discussed in this
article? I’d really love to be a part of community where
I can get comments from other knowledgeable people that share the same interest.
If you have any suggestions, please let me know.
Many thanks!
Tomi Engdahl says:
Strategy Boutique ultimate ‘tech’-gasm: 3D printer drone GoPro vid stream QR code
They forgot ‘as a Service’ though. Maybe Cloud’s over?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/09/game_changing_flying_3d_printer/
Make no mistake: the game has changed and if you’re not on board the ultra engagement bus, then you’ll be yesterday before it’s tomorrow.
That’s the astounding message from a video designed to attract world-weary media types to the Creative Fuel Conference, set to redefine paradigms in Sydney on 28 July.
Tomi Engdahl says:
$470 RepRap Derived 3D Printer Going Into Production:
New low cost, SA-designed 3D printer to go into production
http://www.htxt.co.za/2014/06/09/new-low-cost-sa-designed-3d-printer-to-go-into-production/
Don’t buy a 3D printer. You won’t see me write that often, but right now there is a good reason: there’s a new South African-designed 3D printer in town, which will be going on sale within the next few weeks. And if all goes according to plan, says its creator, it’ll be bigger, stronger and cheaper than existing 3D printer designs – and it will be available through OpenHardware.co.za and other stores for around R5 000 or less.
“We set ourselves a goal in 2012 to become ‘the’ organisation in South Africa to promote open source hardware,” says van der Walt, “That means we need to pull up our socks, stop “hacking” and start thinking of things like “sustainability”, “growth” and protecting our
relationships with resellers.”
“Demand started to overtake supply using the RepRap production methods we were using too,” he says, “It became more and more clear that we need to start looking at an alternate production method or we’d need to invest in at least 4 more printers to keep up with the demand in a reasonable lead time.”
“[Selling 3D printers in] kit form saves on assembly labour but the support load does take its toll,” says van den Walt, “When you work on the low markup we were using one broken controller can eat all the profit on one kit in a minute. Not offering a warranty is the standard open source hardware backup plan – but it should not be like that.”
Tomi Engdahl says:
THP Entry: An Affordable Metal 3D Printer
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/thp-entry-an-affordable-metal-3d-printer-2/
For years now, people have been trying to develop an affordable, RepRap-derived 3D printer that will create objects in metal. There has been a lot of work with crazy devices
[Sagar] is taking a different tack for his metal 3D printer: he’s extruding low temperature alloys just like a normal 3D printer would extrude plastic.
Sagar]‘s printer is pretty much a carbon copy of one of the many ‘plastic-only’ 3D printers out there, the only change being in the extruder and hot end. As a material, he’s using an alloy of 95.8% tin, 4% copper, and 0.2% silver in a 3mm diameter spool. This alloy melts at 235° C, about the same temperature as the ABS plastic these printers normally use.
The only real problems with this build are the extruder and nozzle.
Tomi Engdahl says:
A closer look at New Matter’s MOD-t 3d printer
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/09/a-closer-look-at-newmatters-mod-t-3d-printer/
Thankfully Pasadena is full of 3d printer people! Within a few blocks of our office we have New Matter, DeezMaker, and a soon to be announced 3d printer from ToyBuilderLabs.
The one everyone is talking about right now is New Matter who recently announced an already successful fundraising campaign for the first run of their $250 3d printer, the MOD-t. This has been making the rounds recently due to its low price and stated aim of bringing 3d printing into the home of the masses (a tale as old as time, right?).
Their key mechanical design breakthrough is their rack and pinion driven XY bed,
The removable bed really is a great benefit of the rack and pinion design, no more struggling with the printer to remove a part, just pop the bed off, set it aside to cool and pop another bed in to get started printing again straight away.
The software side of things is still in heavy development, they plan ultimately to have a single ‘push button print’ approach from their store in the browser. This really is a necessity for the device to reach the mass market as we really don’t think you can get a wider consumer market to use Slic3r or Skeinforge! So they are keeping the store very tightly controlled, everything on the store should print perfectly out of the box, no calibration, no messing with settings etc. As such the store is essentially DRM controlled, more out of necessity than anything else.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Matter MOD-t: a 3D printer for everyone
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/new-matter-mod-t-a-3d-printer-for-everyone
New Matter makes 3D printing way easy. Low price. Wireless connectivity. And an online store full of cool designs that you can buy, customize, print, and share.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Mechanical Clock Designed For a CNC Router Gets New Life Using a 3D Printer
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/10/mechanical-clock-designed-for-a-cnc-router-gets-new-life-using-a-3d-printer/
He had originally intended for it to be cut out using a CNC router or with a laser cutter, but when discovered he could use the university’s 3D printer he decided to give it a shot — it’s actually the very first thing he’s ever printed! The designs had to be modified a little bit for 3D printing, but now that it’s done he’s also uploaded them to Thingiverse for anyone to use.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Formlabs’ second-gen pro 3D printer is 50 percent faster
http://www.engadget.com/2014/06/10/formlabs-form1plus/
Formlabs’ Form 1 was a top dog among 3D printers when it first shipped, but others have stepped up their game in the past year. It’s about time for an upgrade, don’t you think? Appropriately, the company has just unveiled the Form 1+, a big improvement to its now-familiar design.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Wind Powered Strandbeest Could Roam the Land Indefinitely
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/11/wind-powered-strandbeest-could-roam-the-land-indefinitely/
The very idea of the Strandbeest is to have it move by itself with autonomy — no electronics allowed! [Theo] has designed a propeller attachment for one of his 3D printable Strandbeests to do this, but [Eric] wanted to take it a step further.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing with the Galaxy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyk5sqyazBs
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Bioprinters Could Make Enhanced, Electricity-Generating ‘Superorgans’
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/3d-bioprinters-could-make-enhanced-electricity-generating-superorgans
Bioprinting technology is advancing so quickly that some scientists believe 3D printing an entire artificial human organ is only five to ten years off. That alone is pretty bonkers, science-wise, and could save many lives. But why stop there? Once you start talking about manufacturing body parts, the inevitable lurking question is: Can we go beyond just mimicking biology to make technologically improved humans?
At least one scientist, Ibrahim Ozbolat from the University of Iowa, believes that 3D bioprinting will pave the road to this posthuman future.
“The pacemaker runs with batteries, and when the battery needs to be replaced, surgery is needed,” he said. You can prevent that by printing “an organ that is going to be part of the human body and generates electricity that can run the heart.”
artistbreed.com says:
What’s up mates, good article and pleasant urging commented here,
I am actually enjoying by these.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printer Files Get ITC Protection
http://www.eetimes.com/author.asp?section_id=36&doc_id=1322749&
Data files for 3D printers have property rights similar to those of movies, music, and games, according to an April decision by the International Trade Commission (ITC). But enforcing those rights will mainly fall to the vigilance of the files’ owners
The ITC ultimately found that electronic transmissions are within its statutory authority. It ruled a transmitted digital data file used for 3D printing was a non-tangible imported good within the scope of articles protected by the Tariff statute. The Commission determined that an infringing imported article may be tangible or electronic.
The ITC has another remedy. It may issue a cease-and-desist order prohibiting the infringer from importing, distributing, selling, and marketing in the United States. In the Align case, the infringers were ordered to cease and desist from importing (through electronic transmission or otherwise) digital data files that infringe the claims of the patents. That order is currently stayed, pending an appeal.
Watchdog services are available to detect the transmission of pirated movies and music via the Internet. However, it is difficult to detect the electronic transmission of 3D print files to a server, because the transmission most often occurs over a secure private network.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Printrbot Heated Bed Upgrade
http://www.integerlabs.net/blog/2014/6/13/9z1ne6hrqluhy3flw5f987jitd6g9b
A heated print bed helps prevent curling and warping. When a part is sitting on a cold print bed with hot plastic being applied on top, there is a significant temperature gradient within the part. Because plastic shrinks as it cools this can be a big problem, especially with plastics like ABS that shrink more than PLA. The result is that the corners of the object will pull off the bed and warp.
Printrbot sells a heated build plate.
While I was at it, I upgraded the heating element in the extruder. The one that came with the printrbot was 25 watt. I swapped it with a 40 watt heater and adjusted the PID parameters.
Tomi Engdahl says:
MakerBot Now Shipping Massive Z18 3D Printer
http://techcrunch.com/2014/06/16/makerbot-now-shipping-massive-z18-3d-printer/
When MakerBot announced the Z18 printer last January at CES, there wasn’t much of a shipping date. Now, however, the company has begun shipping the massive 3D printer to customers
The $6,499 Z18 is most notable for its 18-inch build height, allowing you to print surprisingly large items including life-sized helmets and cohesive industrial prototypes for vehicles and the like.
Who needs a Z18? Designers of large-scale items, obviously, as well as engineers and anyone looking to prototype large objects without having to snap them into smaller pieces in software and then glue them together
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing Directly Onto Your iPad Screen
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/18/3d-printing-directly-onto-your-ipad-screen/
One of the biggest problems people encounter with 3D printing usually involves the print bed. Sometimes the prints don’t stick, the edges peel, or it even gets stuck on there too well when it’s done! A popular solution is a borosilicate glass bed
Corning’s Gorilla Glass is very scratch resistant, shatter resistant, heat resistant, and even flexible material — it’s actually a perfect candidate to be used as a print bed material.
Using an iPad’s screen (only about $15 on eBay), means you can hack and jab at the print bed all you want without fear of breaking it
Unfortunately it’s not quite as simple as just buying one and attaching it to your build plate with binder clips
Tomi Engdahl says:
3-D Printing with Molten Steel (Video)
http://build.slashdot.org/story/14/06/18/1853208/3-d-printing-with-molten-steel-video
Steve Delaire is making a 3-D printer that uses steel instead of plastic. Specifically, he’s using TIG welding to build up layers of steel, just as most 3-D printers build up layers of plastic. He says he’s “still working it out,” but eventually hopes to use 3-D welding to make larger than life art pieces
Tomi Engdahl says:
Liquid Metal Jetting for Printing Metal Parts
http://utwired.engr.utexas.edu/lff/symposium/proceedingsArchive/pubs/Manuscripts/1997/1997-01-Priest.pdf
Liquid Metal Jetting (LMJ) is solid freeform fabrication process for producing metal mechanical parts and electronic interconnects. It is a technology similar to ink jet printing where individual molten droplets are accurately printed.
Tomi Engdahl says:
The Beginning Of The Age Of 3D Resin Printers
http://hackaday.com/2014/06/21/the-beginning-of-the-age-of-3d-resin-printers/
For several years now, filament-based plastic printers have ruled the hobbyist market, with a new iteration on squirting plastic appearing on Kickstarter every week. SLA printers, with their higher resolution and historically higher price for raw materials, have sat in the background, waiting for their time to come.
Now, with the Sedgwick printer now available on Kickstarter, we may finally be seeing some resin printers make their way into hackerspaces and workshops the world over.
There are a few other resin printers coming on the scene – the LittleSLA will soon see its own Kickstarter, the mUVe 1 is already shipping, and over on Hackaday Projects, the OpenExposer project is coming along nicely.
Tomi Engdahl says:
‘Jimmy’ the 3D-printed robot coming soon from Intel
The company is developing 3D-printed robots that mimic humans
http://www.itworld.com/hardware/424468/jimmy-3d-printed-robot-coming-soon-intel
A family of robot kits for 3D printers is being developed by Intel, with the first, named “Jimmy,” due out in September.
The 45-centimeter-tall “social robot” will cost US$1,500. The walking robot, developed in conjunction with Trossen Robotics, is a smaller version of a $16,000 robot shown by Intel CEO Brian Krzanich during a keynote at the Re/code conference in May.
The two-legged Jimmy will be one in a line of robots that Intel hopes do-it-yourself enthusiasts will embrace, developing more functionality for the robots, which will be able to handle tasks such as turning on lights, picking up newspapers and even having conversations, researchers said at the Intel Future Showcase 2014 in New York City Tuesday. Intel and its robotics partners will sell kits with servo motors, batteries, boards, a frame and other internal parts. Using 3D printers, users can create robot designs and place them on the exoskeleton.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D printer constructs 10 buildings in one day from recycled materials
The 3D printers could someday be used to build skyscrapers from the recycled materials of other buildings
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9249532/3D_printer_constructs_10_buildings_in_one_day_from_recycled_materials
A Chinese company has become the first to construct multiple buildings using 3D printers that extrude recycled building materials at breakneck speed.
Using four huge 3D printers, Yingchuang New Materials Inc. was able to print the shells of 10 one-room structures in 24 hours and at a cost of only about $5,000 per building. The buildings had to harden at the factory and then be transported and assembled on site.
The 3D printed buildings will be used as offices at a Shanghai industrial park.
The printers, supplied by WinSun Decoration Design Engineering, are 20 feet tall, 33 feet wide and 132 feet long.
Like their desktop counterparts, the construction-grade WinSun 3D printers use a fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology
The buildings are constructed in parts inside a Yingchuang New Materials factory, one wall at a time. The pieces are subsequently joined together at a construction site.
Yingchuang is not the first organization to use 3D printing to create structures
Tomi Engdahl says:
Frikkin’ LASER BEAMS on its head: Formlabs announces Form 1+
Not quite Star Trek replicator yet… but they’re paying for it
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/06/11/formlabs_announces_the_form_1/
In the world of 3D printers, the pricey Form 1 is the equivalent of a Mac in a PC-dominated realm. Owners of the original Form 1 printer are now being offered a $749 (€599) factory upgrade where the printer is taken back to base and has a new laser, peel motor, driver board and other components fitted.
The vast majority of desktop printers use Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) which squeezes molten plastic out of an extruder, whereas the Form 1 is the first low cost stereo lithographic printer. This uses a bath of acrylic resin which is hardened by a laser to produce the model.
In addition to the new printer, Formlabs has a new black resin to join its existing white, clear and grey ranges.
Like an FDM printer, the model is still built layer by layer, but the results are very much more accurate. The resolution of the laser is 150 microns and the platform can step in increments of 25 microns – yet the smallest feature the process can produce is 300 microns.
The specs are the same as the Form 1 but the galvanometer control system – a small mirror which directs the laser – has been redesigned, resulting in a much smoother finish.
Tomi Engdahl says:
THP Entry: TOME, The Portable 3D Printer
http://hackaday.com/2014/07/09/thp-entry-tome-the-portable-3d-printer/
Alright, 3D Printers exist. They’re machines you can simply buy for a few hundred dollars, set them on your desk, and have them start churning out plastic parts. A little pedestrian, isn’t it? How about something you can take into the field for a client, and print out some new parts right there? How about sending a printer to the latest humanitarian crisis?
TOME is [Philip]‘s attempt at portabilizing a 3D printer and also his entry into The Hackaday Prize.