Latest in 3D Printing Thread

[ScienceRocks]

Lockheed Martin moves 3D printing to the production line

3D printing is fast moving into the big leagues as it becomes less of a way to print plastic key fobs and more of a tool for the likes of aerospace giants. Earlier this month the Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company showcased it next-generation, digitally integrated design and manufacturing process with a tour of its Louisiana facility for community leaders from Jefferson County.

Lockheed Martin moves 3D printing to the production line

 

[ScienceRocks]

Structure Sensor raises $1M on Kickstarter, with 13 days to go
3ders.org - Structure Sensor raises $1M on Kickstarter, with 13 days to go | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

Oct.18, 2013

Boulder & SF-based Occipital announced today that their Kickstarter campaign for the Structure Sensor has surpassed $1M in pledges from more than 2,700 backers worldwide.

"A month ago,we had no certainty if the project we had started nearly two years ago was going to plummet or soar. We were exceptionally nervous,"said Jeff Powers, CEO and co-founder of Occipital. "Today's milestone makes us feel both lucky and exceptionally encouraged by the response the Structure Sensor has received."

The Structure Sensor gives mobile devices a new sense – the ability to not just capture the world as two-dimensional images, but to actually understand it in three dimensions. This enables a completely new set of mobile applications, including:
3D object scanning for 3D content creation with no knowledge of CAD required.
3D mapping of indoor spaces for instant measurements and virtual redecoration.
Body scanning for fitness tracking and virtual clothes fitting.
Virtual reality games using 3D environments imported from the real world.
Augmented reality games where virtual objects interact precisely with the geometry of the physical world, including occlusions.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/occipital/structure-sensor-capture-the-world-in-3d

 

[ScienceRocks]

3D-printed titanium horseshoes could win by a nose

Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has created a set of bespoke titanium horseshoes for a Melbourne race horse using additive 3D printing. According to CSIRO, this is a first for horse racing and demonstrates the potential for the technology.

Horseshoes are traditionally made of iron or steel, but they’re often made from other materials for special purposes, such as rubber, plastic, magnesium, or copper. For racehorses, aluminum is preferred because its much lighter than steel, which is important in a sport where every ounce can mean the difference between victory and defeat. Unfortunately, aluminum doesn't wear as well as steel and is also isn’t as light as it could be, adding as much as a kilogram (2.2 lb) to a horse’s weight.

Titanium shoes are half the weight of aluminum and much stronger, but titanium is very difficult and expensive to work with. The CSIRO’s use of 3D printing changes that by making the shoes much faster and at lower cost.

3D-printed titanium horseshoes could win by a nose

 

[ScienceRocks]

LulzBot TAZ 2 3D printer cuts the computer cord

Aleph Objects, Inc., maker of the TAZ 3D printer through its LulzBot brand, has released the latest addition to its line of Libre Hardware printers. While bearing a strong resemblance to its predecessor that Gizmag reviewed earlier this month, the TAZ 2 boasts some improvements designed to solidify the printer’s structure and give it standalone functionality.

The TAZ 2, which is the subject of a campaign on crowdfunding site Fundable, boasts the same 680 x 520 x 515 mm (26.8 x 20.5 x 20.3 in) dimensions and 298 x 275 x 250 mm (11.7 x 10.8 x 9.8 in) print area as the original TAZ, which the company claims is the largest build area for a printer under US$5,000. However, the TAZ 2 sees the addition of an LCD display and an SD card reader that allows models to be produced without the printer needing to be attached to a computer. “Customers were asking for that,” LulzBot tells Gizmag.

TAZ 2 is also composed of more laser-cut parts and metal casings, as opposed to the 3D-printed parts featured on the previous model. “We can laser cut simple parts faster than we can print them, so we can build more machines faster,” the LulzBot team explains. “This is purely for scalability reasons.”

LulzBot TAZ 2 3D printer cuts the computer cord

 

[Katzndogz]

Staples sells a home 3-d printer.

3D Printers : Cube 3D Printers for Sale | Staples®

It's $1,200.

 

[ScienceRocks]

SCI-Arc students take 3D printing to the robots

Since it launched in 2011, the Robot House at the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) has challenged students to create material forms of digital models by orchestrating complex robotic movements in space. But aided by the 3D printer they are breaking even newer ground.

Peter Testa, Principal at Testa|Weiser and founding director of the MIT Emergent Design Group (EDG), initiated and designed the Robot House. The "House" is actually a lab containing 5 medium-scale and one smaller scale robotic arms that can be fitted with an array of tools for gripping and manipulating materials. He explains that from the first installation of the Staübli Unimation robot arms the goal has been to create a "design platform" based on a software program that can accurately relate a digitally conceived design to the creation of physical form, using all or some of the robot arms

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SCI-Arc students take 3D printing to the robots

 

[ScienceRocks]

Researchers develop 4D printing technology for composite materials

1 hour ago

(Phys.org) —Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have successfully added a fourth dimension to their printing technology, opening up exciting possibilities for the creation and use of adaptive, composite materials in manufacturing, packaging and biomedical applications.

A team led by H. Jerry Qi, associate professor of mechanical engineering at CU-Boulder, and his collaborator Martin L. Dunn of the Singapore University of Technology and Design has developed and tested a method for 4D printing. The researchers incorporated "shape memory" polymer fibers into the composite materials used in traditional 3D printing, which results in the production of an object fixed in one shape that can later be changed to take on a new shape.

Read more at: Researchers develop 4D printing technology for composite materials

 

[ScienceRocks]

Scientists take "4D printing" a step further

Using a 3D printer, people can already determine the length, width and depth of an object that they create. Thanks to research being conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder, however, a fourth dimension can now be included – time. And no, we're not talking about how long it takes to 3D-print an item. Instead, it's now possible to print objects that change their shape at a given time.

The scientists, led by Prof. H. Jerry Qi, have developed a "4D printing" process in which shape-memory polymer fibers are deposited in key areas of a composite material item as it's being printed. By carefully controlling factors such as the location and orientation of the fibers, those areas of the item will fold, stretch, curl or twist in a predictable fashion when exposed to a stimulus such as water, heat or mechanical pressure.

Scientists take "4D printing" a step further

 

[JimBowie1958]

3D scanning technology is really advancing fast and is almost as ubiquitous as 3D printers themselves.

3D Scanners - A guide to 3D scanner technology | Geomagic

Portable 3D Scanners for 3D Scanning | Handyscan 3D by Creaform

Affordable White Light 3D Scanners - HDI 3D Scanners

CNC Mill | Benchtop CNC Mill | CNC Engraving Machine | MDX-40A | Roland DGA

 

[ScienceRocks]

3D printing can cut material consumption by 75%, CO2 emissions by 40%

Oct.24, 2013

EADS Innovation Works (IW), the aerospace and defence group's research and technology organisation, is always on the look-out for new manufacturing methods. A recent target for evaluation was an additive manufacturing process called Direct Metal Laser-Sintering (DMLS).

Developed by EOS, it is being used by EADS IW to manufacture demonstration parts to explore the benefits of optimised design and production sustainability. Protection of the environment is a key driver, while a reduction in the costs of manufacturing and operating its aerospace products also underlies the group's research.

As quality, costs and environmental effects play a major role in the decision-making process for design and manufacturing solutions, EADS IW has defined new Technology Readiness Level (TRL) criteria focusing on sustainability. Nine TRL processes must be passed at EADS before a technology can be qualified for use in production. For each TRL review, a technology's level of maturity is evaluated in terms of performance, engineering, manufacturing, operational readiness, value and risk. For each of these criteria, new components must out-perform existing ones.

The results from the initial joint study of AM were evaluated in terms of CO2 emissions, energy and raw material efficiency and recycling. When analysing energy consumption, the company's investigation included not only the production phase, but also the sourcing and transportation of raw materials, argon consumption for the atomisation of the DMLS metal powder, and overall waste from atomisation

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3ders.org - 3D printing can cut material consumption by 75%, CO2 emissions by 40% | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Lockheed Martin digitalizes production with 3D printing and virtual pathfinding


Oct.15, 2013

Aerospace was one of the first industries to take up 3D printing. In the past, when manufacturers made aerospace parts, more than 80 per cent of the metal used had to be whittled away by a machine. These days, aerospace companies are employing 3D printing to speed up the process and in turn lower the cost of manufacturing.

On Friday, Oct. 4, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company introduced its next-generation digital manufacturing technologies that the company integrates into the production cycle: Digital Tapestry. Driven by integrated Model Based Engineering (MBE) tool, Digital Tapestry is a seamless digital environment that integrates design and manufacturing into a single process.

It provides a digital environment using 3D pathfinding simulation technology called the Collaborative Human Immersive Laboratory (CHIL) where designers can identify areas to improve affordability and operational excellence throughout the entire lifecycle of the products. The CHIL is an advanced virtual reality and simulation laboratory that enables virtual creation before the physical creation.

3ders.org - Lockheed Martin digitalizes production with 3D printing and virtual pathfinding | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News



3D printing helps cut tooling costs by 97%

Oct.17, 2013

German company Robert Seuffer (Seuffer), a supplier of parts for household appliances and commercial vehicles, has incorporated 3D printing in its manufacturing process to significantly reduce the time and cost of producing injection molded sample parts.

The injection molding process is used by manufacturers all over the world to produce parts in a variety of materials, most commonly thermoplastics. Prototype parts are required to evaluate the part design for performance and fit before mass production.

Always on the look out for new technologies that will improve efficiency and profitability, Seuffer adopted 3D printing to produce injection molding tools.

"Working with the automotive industry, sample parts need to be tested in the environment of moving mechanical parts as well as in high temperature environments," explained Andreas Buchholz, Head of Research and Development at Seuffer.

Using 3D printing technology from Stratasys, Seuffer designed first drafts of the injection mold within a few days and 3D printed them in less than 24 hours for part evaluation. "Traditionally, it would take eight weeks to manufacture the tool in metal using the conventional CNC process. And while the conventional tool costs us about 40,000 euros, the 3D printed tool is less than 1000 euros, a saving of 97%." said Buchholz.

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20131017-3d-printing-helps-german-manufacturer-cut-tooling-costs.html

 

[ScienceRocks]

3D printing to dominate STEM education within 3 years

Oct.22, 2013

A new report from the NMC Horizon Project has identified 12 emerging technologies that will have a significant impact on STEM+ education over the next one to five years.

The Technology Outlook for STEM+ Education 2013-2018 recognizes learning analytics, mobile learning, online learning, and virtual and remote laboratories as technologies expected to enter mainstream use in the near-term horizon of one year or less. 3D printing, games and gamification, immersive learning environments, and wearable technology are seen in the mid-term horizon of two to three years. Finally, flexible displays, the Internet of Things, machine learning, and virtual assistants emerged in the far-term horizon of four to five years.

The 28-page report was released as a collaborative effort between
the Austin, TX-based New Media Consortium (NMC);
Madrid-based Centro Superior para la Enseñanza Virtual (CSEV);
the Departamento de Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Control at the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), an international distance education university based in Spain;
and IEEE, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Education Society.

3ders.org - 3D printing to dominate STEM education within 3 years | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Proto-Pasta. Gourmet food for your 3D Printer!
Proto-Pasta. Gourmet food for your 3D Printer! by ProtoPlant INC. ? Kickstarter

Exciting new materials available nowhere else. Real-world performance data. Best shipping rates. Continued innovation.

What is Proto-Pasta?

Proto-Pasta is a project that will change the landscape of what is available for consumer grade 3D printing materials and how those materials are evaluated. We have three goals for this project:

1- Make Available New Materials with Continued Innovation

Consumer grade 3D printing is fast growing and material selection is a bottleneck for continued expansion into more demanding applications. PLA and ABS are the two most available materials, but they have some serious drawbacks like low softening temperature for PLA and low stiffness for ABS.

With this project we want to make available new materials that address some of these issues without sacrificing printability or affordability. After our initial offering of materials we will re-invest in R&D and continue to innovate.

Very cool stuff

 

[ScienceRocks]

3D Remind turns children's drawings into 3D printed sculptures


Oct.26, 2013

Every kid is talented in making drawings. Proud parents often put them up on the fridge to show how amazing they are. And now Osaka company 3D Remind has started offering a 3D printing service called Rakukuri, which will bring children's imaginations to life using 3D printing.
Here's how it works: You start by snapping a clear photo of your child's drawing and uploading to 3D Remind site. For 19,900 yen (about US$205, size 7~10cm), the site will take the 2D drawing, model it, and print it out. In a month you will receive a 3D printed figure made of plaster. The prices for medium(17~20cm) and large sizes(27~30cm) are 25,900 yen (about $265) and 40,900 yen ($420) respectively.

3ders.org - 3D Remind turns children's drawings into 3D printed sculptures | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Microsoft new technology turns every smartphone into a 3D scanner

Oct.31, 2013

During Innovation Day 2013 at Microsoft Research Asia on Oct. 30, researchers demonstrated how to create 3D images using a mobile phone.

"Nowadays, 3-D printing is very popular," says Jiawei Gu, with Richard Cai and Zhiwei Li one of three Microsoft Research scientists demonstrating the capabilities of the project. "When people want to fabricate something, determining what kind of thing is a key problem. Our technology can enable people to use the mobile phone in their pocket to scan anything and make it real."

Creating and recreating 3D imagery quickly, inexpensively, and simply, has been a goal in the computing community for some time. Traditional solutions to 3D modeling require either expensive devices or professional skills, and therefore are not suitable for common users. The goal of this project is to lower the barriers of 3D reconstruction.

Microsoft researchers worked on a multi-view, stereo-based solution which only requires a regular optical camera. To build a 3D model of an object, a user only needs to take pictures using the mobile device from a couple of different viewpoints. In order to improve the quality of reconstructed 3D models, researchers have developed multi-view object co-segmentation and continuous depth-map optimization technologies.

3ders.org - Microsoft new technology turns every smartphone into a 3D scanner | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Researchers developing gelatin bio-ink to 3D print human tissues and organs


Nov.1, 2013

Although there have been advances in medical technology and donation, the demand for organ, eye and tissue donation still vastly exceeds the number of donors. What sounds like a dream of the future has already been the subject of research for a few years: simply printing out tissue and organs. Now German researchers have developed a new gelatin bio-ink that can be used by 3D printing technology to produce artificial tissues.

3ders.org - Researchers developing gelatin bio-ink to 3D print human tissues and organs | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[ScienceRocks]

New 3D printing technique to eliminate the need for multiple 3D printers

Oct.30, 2013

3D printers can be used to create titanium aircraft parts, complex, nano-scale machines, or human bones. Depending on the material used, how many colors you want, the resolution you require, you need different printers to complete your design, which results in increasing fabrication costs. What if there is a printer that can print anything from aerospace parts to artificial bones?

Dr WANG Xiaolong at the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and co-workers in Jun Yang's group at the University of Western Ontario in Canada have developed an initiator integrated 3D printing approach (i3DP) to enable post-printing surface modifications for various applications.

3ders.org - New 3D printing technique to eliminate the need for multiple 3D printers | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[ScienceRocks]

Handie prosthetic hands can be made for <$400, using 3D printing and smartphones

Nov.3, 2013

At an early press event for this weekend's Maker Faire Tokyo, a team demonstrated Handie, a 3D printed artificial hand that offers a large degree of functionality for amputees. Prosthetic limbs like this have been developed around the world and can cost tens of thousands of dollars, but Handie can be made at an affordable price costing no more than $400.

3ders.org - Handie prosthetic hands can be made for <$400, using 3D printing and smartphones | 3D Printer News & 3D Printing News

 

[Mr. H.]

Urbee 2, the 3D-printed car

 

[ScienceRocks]

The Ex1, A 3D Printer For PCBs, Takes To Kickstarter To Simplify Rapid Electronics Prototyping

3D printers are great if you want to print small plastic widgets. But what if you want to print something a bit smarter, like an electronic circuit board? Australia and U.S.-based startup Cartesian Co. wants to extend the principle of affordable 3D printing to PCBs &#8212; and they&#8217;ve taken to Kickstarter to raise $30,000 to get their printer prototype, called The Ex1, to market.

They&#8217;re not claiming to have come up with the first ever circuit board printer. But they do claim to be first to have squeezed the price of the tech to maker-friendly levels. &#8221;This is the first ever circuit board printer available to hobbyists,&#8221; the startup tells TechCrunch. &#8220;It uses an inkjet additive technique not previously available for under $50,000.&#8221;

The Ex1 is available to a (tiny) handful of early bird Kickstarter backers for $899, rising to $1,199 and then $1,499. After all those limited offer pledges have been bagged the price-tag floor will be $1,999. Still a damn sight cheaper than $50,000.

The Ex1, A 3D Printer For PCBs, Takes To Kickstarter To Simplify Rapid Electronics Prototyping | TechCrunch