How a Machine That Can Make Anything Would Change Everything. “Something is going to happen in the next forty years that will change things, probably more than anything else since we left the caves.”
–James Burke James Burke has a vision for the future. He believes that by the middle of this century, perhaps as early as 2042, our world will be defined by a new device: the nanofabricator. These tiny factories will be large at first, like early computers, but soon enough you’ll be able to buy one that can fit on a desk. You’ll pour in some raw materials—perhaps water, air, dirt, and a few powders of rare elements if required—and the nanofabricator will go to work.
SUNDAY TIMES - South Africa in talks with Airbus, Boeing to print 3D parts. Officially launched in 2011 and backed by government, the Aeroswift research project last year produced its first three demonstrator parts – a pilot’s throttle lever, a condition lever grip which is part of the throttle assembly, and a fuel tank pylon bracket, in a digital process known as 3D printing, or additive layer manufacturing.
Increasingly adopted by the automotive, aerospace and military industries as a cheaper way of making complex parts, the new manufacturing process could save millions of dollars on fuel and production costs as aircraft makers replace alumimum bodies with lighter materials such as titanium alloys. "How best to commercialise the process is a discussion we are currently having with the Aeroswift partners and relevant government agencies," said Simon Ward, Airbus's vice president for international cooperation in Toulouse. South Africa ranks fourth in world titanium reserves, behind leader China, Australia and India, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Scary new world of 3D printing. For many, 3D printing still looks like a gimmick, used for printing plastic figurines and not much else.
But with important patents running out this year, new printers that use metal, wood and fabric will become more widely available - putting the engineering world on the cusp of historical change. The defence industry is at the leading edge of this innovation, and the US military was already investing in efforts to print uniforms, synthetic skin to treat battle wounds, even food, said Alex Chausovsky, an analyst at IHS Technology.
Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have invented "4D printing" - creating materials that change when they come into contact with elements such as water. One day that could mean things such as printed uniforms that change colour depending on their environment. Late last year, UK defence firm BAE Systems put the first printed metal part in a Tornado jet fighter. Graphene 3D Lab unveils first 3D-printed graphene battery. Oct. 24, 2014 Graphene 3D Lab, based in Calverton, New York, announced in September that the company submitted a provisional application for a patent to the U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office for recent innovations in the materials and methods of 3D printable batteries. Yesterday Graphene 3D released a brief video outlining details of the 3D printed battery development. Graphene can be easily mixed with thermoplastics commonly used in FDM 3D printer. Currently the company is working on designing a mixture of plastics and graphene that can be turned into nanocomposite material filament. The key to power any electronic object is to have it attached to a power source.
Mataerial Introduction. Scientists build open-source 3D metal printer. We keep seeing the amazing applications that 3D printers have.
The machines are helping scientists perform experiments in the lab, doctors treat patients, and very soon they'll be helping astronauts build things in space. So far, 3D printing mainly uses different types of plastic filament to build objects, but scientists at Michigan Technological University have come up with a way to expand what can be accomplished with these machines. The team, led by Joshua Pearce, an associate professor of materials science and engineering/electrical and computer engineering, have created an open-source and low-cost 3D metal printer to take on bigger and stronger things.
So far, the machine that lays down thin layers of steel has only made objects like sprockets, but the technology is evolving and you can help it to get better. You can access the open-source project here. But the benefits of an affordable metal printer go beyond just the maker community. How to make big things out of small pieces. MIT researchers have developed a lightweight structure whose tiny blocks can be snapped together much like the bricks of a child’s construction toy.
The new material, the researchers say, could revolutionize the assembly of airplanes, spacecraft, and even larger structures, such as dikes and levees. The new approach to construction is described in a paper appearing this week in the journal Science, co-authored by postdoc Kenneth Cheung and Neil Gershenfeld, director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms. Gershenfeld likens the structure — which is made from tiny, identical, interlocking parts — to chainmail. The parts, based on a novel geometry that Cheung developed with Gershenfeld, form a structure that is 10 times stiffer for a given weight than existing ultralight materials. Nasa tests 3D-printed rocket engine fuel injector. 15 July 2013Last updated at 08:24 ET Nasa says 3D printing could one day be used by astronauts to make replacement parts Nasa has announced it has successfully tested a 3D-printed rocket engine part.
The US space agency said that the injector component could be made more quickly and cheaply using the technique. The part is used to deliver liquid oxygen and hydrogen gas to an engine's combustion chamber. The news follows General Electric's revelation that it planned to use 3D printing technology to make fuel nozzles for its jet engines.
TED 2013: 4D printed objects 'make themselves' 28 February 2013Last updated at 05:39 ET By Jane Wakefield Technology reporter Video of cube self-folding strand courtesy Self-Assembly Lab, MIT/Stratasys Many are only just getting their heads around the idea of 3D printing but scientists at MIT are already working on an upgrade: 4D printing.
At the TED conference in Los Angeles, architect and computer scientist Skylar Tibbits showed how the process allows objects to self-assemble. The green 3D printing materials we’ve been waiting for. There’s no denying that 3D printing has moved beyond the laboratory and into the mainstream.
We’ve seen 3D printed body parts, electronics, and toys. Although the technology has quickly become quite sophisticated, the materials used in 3D printers have been slow to catch up. This giant 3D printer can construct a house in as little as 20 hours. While 3D printing might be all the tech geek rage right now, the cooler story is what some people are doing with it to make an actual difference.
We’ve seen stories of medical uses such as new 3D-printed limbs and that’s incredible but USC professor Behrokh Khoshnevis has just blown my mind. Imagine 3D printing on such a large scale, using a concrete-style material, that could “print” a house in as little as 20 hours. Oh, and that material can withstand over three times the PSI force of standard concrete walls. 3-D Printed Car Is as Strong as Steel, Half the Weight, and Nearing Production. Engineer Jim Kor and his design for the Urbee 2. Photo: Sara Payne Picture an assembly line not that isn’t made up of robotic arms spewing sparks to weld heavy steel, but a warehouse of plastic-spraying printers producing light, cheap and highly efficient automobiles. If Jim Kor’s dream is realized, that’s exactly how the next generation of urban runabouts will be produced.
His creation is called the Urbee 2 and it could revolutionize parts manufacturing while creating a cottage industry of small-batch automakers intent on challenging the status quo. Scientists ‘print’ 3D object with stem cells. By Agence France-PresseMonday, February 4, 2013 21:43 EDT Scientists on Monday said that for the first time they had printed 3D objects using human embryonic stem cells, furthering the quest to fabricate transplantable organs.
Once fine-tuned, the technology should allow scientists to make three-dimensional human tissue in the lab, eliminating the need for organ donation or testing on animals, they reported. Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can replicate indefinitely and become almost any type of cell in the human body. They are touted as a source of replacement tissue, fixing nearly anything from malfunctioning hearts and lungs, to damaged spines, Parkinson’s disease or even baldness. Scientists have previously tested 3D printing, which uses inkjet technology, with other types of cells, including adult stem cells. The Most Mind-Blowing 3-D Printed Objects of 2012. World’s First 3D Printing Photo Booth. 3-D Printed Gun Only Lasts 6 Shots. A group of 3-D printing gunsmiths have taken another step toward making a gun you can download off the internet.
This weekend, the desktop weaponeers took a partially printed rifle out to test how long its plastic parts survived spewing bullets. The result? Six rounds until it snapped apart. But that was also the point, the group’s founder tells Danger Room. “We knew it would break, probably,” says Cody Wilson, who heads the Wiki Weapon project. Labs » Prototype as Product: 13:30 Printable Headphones. Southampton engineers fly the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft.
Southampton engineers fly the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft Ref: 11/75 28 July 2011 SULSA is the world’s first ‘printed’ aircraft. The audacious plan to end hunger with 3-D printed food - Quartz. Uber is slavery…Uber will add to traffic congestion…Uber destroys the savings of cab drivers… Hold the litany. Is this the incumbency speaking? And my name isn’t Marie Antoinette. I might get in trouble for this, but I’d like to add a drop of customer experience into the boiling broth of opinions about Uber. Design for 2050: Clothing Printer. Distributed Recycling of Waste Polymer into RepRap Feedstock. Phantom Geometry. Artists Are 3D-Printing a Room That Looks Like an Alien Cathedral. At last: a low-cost, professional-grade light-based 3D printer. A home 3D printer to turn your ideas into real objects. High Resolution Desktop 3D Printer. African inventor makes 3D printer with... E-waste.
Ingenuity and elbow grease Kodjo Afate Gnikou is a 33 years old inventor from Togo, in West Africa. The Pentagon is Investing Millions to Advance the Future of 3-D Printing Tech. President Obama's nationwide push for innovation in manufacturing reaches across agencies from the National Science Foundation to the Department of Energy, and now it's reaching all the way into the Pentagon where $60 million is being set aside for investment in 3-D printing technologies. The DoD will fund a network of agencies, academic institutions, and companies to build on 3-D printing tech with the overarching goal of building aerospace and weapons technology faster. First 3-D Printing Store Opens In U.S. Using 3-D Printing Tech, British Airbus Engineers Aim to Print Out an Entire Aircraft Wing. Rapid prototyping, or 3-D printing, has been used to create all kinds of amazing objects in a variety of media, but a team working under EADS in the UK wants to print something heretofore unheard of: the entire wing of an airliner.
How 3D printing will change the world. Johannesburg-based company DemaPlasTech says 3D printing is going mainstream and will change manufacturing forever. Why 3-D Printing Will Go the Way of Virtual Reality. Update: Tim Maly has published an excellent counterpoint to this post over at the Tech Review Guest blog. Who will get the biggest slice of 3D-printed pie? MakerBot's Bre Pettis says his 3D printers are for everyone. 3D Systems' Cathy Lewis begs to differ. Get Ready: 3D Printing Will Explode Next Year, When Key Patents Expire - Christopher Mims.
Manufacturing, 3D Printing and What China Knows About the Emerging American Century. Public Libraries, 3D Printing, FabLabs and Hackerspaces. 3D Printing and the end of ownership - my plastic future. Are Libraries the Hackerspaces of the Future? 3D printing may put global supply chains out of business. 3D printing: The shape of things to come. 3D printing: The printed world. 3D printing may put global supply chains out of business: report. 3D printing. Augmented Reality.