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.
2,056 Comments
Tomi Engdahl says:
New Contest: 3D Printed Gears, Pulleys, and Cams
https://hackaday.com/2019/01/16/new-contest-3d-printed-gears-pulleys-and-cams/
This morning Hackaday launched the 3D Printed Gears, Pulleys, and Cams contest, a challenge to make stuff move using 3D-printed mechanisms.
https://hackaday.io/contest/163334-3d-printed-gears-pulleys-and-cams-contest
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing An Entire Rocket
https://hackaday.com/2019/01/14/3d-printing-an-entire-rocket/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/12/11/true-transparent-parts-from-a-desktop-3d-printer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Promising pitch falls apart after shocking revelation | Dragons’ Den
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChLbqAh0qkg
A futuristic candy business piques the Dragons’ interest, but when a shocking revelation is made questions are raised about potential investments.
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/01/21/building-a-3d-printer-that-goes-where-you-do/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Hackaday Superconference: 3D Printing For Electronics
https://hackaday.com/2019/01/21/hackaday-superconference-3d-printing-for-electronics/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/01/24/3d-tulostuksella-uusia-anturirakenteita-pietsomateriaalista/
Tomi Engdahl says:
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/8978-3d-tulostettuja-antureita-mittatilauksena
Tomi Engdahl says:
New SLA 3D Printing Technique Is 100 Times Faster
https://blog.hackster.io/new-sla-3d-printing-technique-is-100-times-faster-a14f28d503ce
Tomi Engdahl says:
This 3D Printer Is Soft On Robots
https://hackaday.com/2019/01/30/3d-printer-is-soft-on-robots/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Forget everything you know about 3D printing — the ‘replicator’ is here
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07798-9?utm_source=fbk_nnc&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=naturenews&sf206968340=1
Rather than building objects layer by layer, the printer creates whole structures by projecting light into a resin that solidifies.
Researchers have unveiled a 3D printer that creates an entire object at once, rather than building it layer by layer as typical additive-manufacturing devices do — bringing science-fiction a step closer to reality.
Science in three dimensions: The print revolution
https://www.nature.com/news/science-in-three-dimensions-the-print-revolution-1.10939
Three-dimensional printers are opening up new worlds to research.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D-Printed Tourbillon Demo Keeps the Time with Style
https://hackaday.com/2019/02/04/3d-printed-tourbillon-demo-keeps-the-time-with-style/
It may only run for a brief time, and it’s too big for use in an actual wristwatch, but this 3D-printed tourbillon is a great demonstration of the lengths watchmakers will go to to keep mechanical timepieces accurate.
3D-Printed Flying Tourbillon Model
https://hackaday.io/project/163466-3d-printed-flying-tourbillon-model
A printed desk toy demonstrating the function of a tourbillon for those that can’t afford a stratospherically expensive mechanical watch
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing With Tomography in Reverse
https://hackaday.com/2019/02/05/3d-printing-with-tomography-in-reverse/
The 3D printers we’re most familiar with use the fused deposition process, in which hot plastic is squirted out of a nozzle, to build up parts on a layer by layer basis. We’ve also seen stereolithography printers, such as the Form 2, which use a projector and a special resin to produce parts, again in a layer-by-layer method. However, a team from the University of North Carolina were inspired by CT scanners, and came up with a novel method for producing 3D printed parts.
The technique is known as Computed Axial Lithography. The team describe the system as working like a CT scan in reverse. The 3D model geometry is created, and then a series of 2D images are created by rotating the part about the vertical axis. These 2D images are then projected into a cylindrical container of photosensitive resin, which rotates during the process. Rather than building the part out of a series of layers in the Z-axis, instead the part is built from a series of axial slices as the cylinder rotates.
Volumetric additive manufacturing via tomographic reconstruction
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2019/01/30/science.aau7114
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2018/09/17/3d-printing-in-metal-the-laser-and-metal-powder-printers-we-saw-at-imts/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The 3D Printed Guitar
https://hackaday.com/2018/10/10/the-3d-printed-guitar/
We just wrapped up the Musical Instrument Challenge in the Hackaday Prize, and that means we’re sorting through a ton of inventive electronic musical instruments. For whatever reason we can’t seem to find many non-electronic instruments. Yes, MPCs are cool, but so are strings and vibrating columns of air. That’s what makes this entry special: it’s a 3D printed physical guitar. But it’s also got a hexaphonic pickup, there are lights in the fretboard, and it talks to a computer for PureData processing.
ElektroCaster
An open, modular guitar-design with some nifty features.
https://hackaday.io/project/161675-elektrocaster
Tomi Engdahl says:
Rudolph and Bluedolph on the Monorail
https://hackaday.io/project/163521-rudolph-and-bluedolph-on-the-monorail
Similar to the discontinued Lego monorail, this rides the same rails without the high cost of a collectible toy.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Why 3D Printing Is Going to Need Blockchain
https://www.designnews.com/materials-assembly/why-3d-printing-going-need-blockchain/11996268560282
Blockchain has the potential to solve 3D printing’s inherent security risks before they become a major issue.
If 3D printing technology wants to get ahead of its inherent security issues, the best way would be to adopt blockchain.
Speaking at the 2019 Pacific Design & Manufacturing Show, Jack Heslin, President of 3D Tech Talks, a 3D printing consultancy, said as 3D printing becomes cheaper, easier, faster, and more ubiquitous, the very nature of the technology is going to demand the security afforded by blockchain.
It’s all about what Heslin called the Digital Thread of Additive Manufacturing (DTAM), “the single, seamless strand of data that stretches from the initial design to the finished, 3D-printed part.”
If you’ve never heard of such a thing for 3D printing that’s okay, because Heslin said such a thing really doesn’t exist. “The [3D printing] process is linear, but it’s not single or seamless,” he said.
3D-printing moves through several stages: from concept, to CAD file, to generative design (when available), to the actual 3D print. Then comes the post print process, and finally support if and when it is needed. All these steps each represent a point of vulnerability in which a 3D print can be corrupted or even stolen, putting company’s intellectual property at risk. “The digital thread of manufacturing has vulnerabilities. Design files can be stolen,” Heslin said. The one that scares me the most is that design files can be hacked to deliberately put in a flaw…I’m not saying it’s happening right now, or it’s easy to do, but it is a concern.”
Research has already shown 3D printing has a growing need for cybersecurity. Researchers from New York University’s Tandon School of Engineering for example have found that there are serious security issues around 3D printing
the source code to produce 3D-printed parts can be stolen by recording the sounds the printer makes.
One step beyond this, Heslin noted, would be the illegal and unauthorized printing of military machine parts and weapons or hacking 3D printer files to do deliberate damage to sensitive equipment or machines. In a 2016 paper, “dr0wned – Cyber-Physical Attack with Additive Manufacturing” a team of researchers were able to hack a PC connected to a 3D printer and from there make secret alterations to the 3D printing files for a $1000 drone that caused its propellor to fail mid-flight.
So how does blockchain address all of this? Blockchain works by creating a distributed, encrypted ledger across any number of parties that can be used to verify not only identities but also the status of any particular job. That means every entity involved in any stage of a 3D print is aware of what all the others are doing at any time in a safe and secure manner. Since a blockchain is decentralized, meaning no single entity owns it, stealing or altering a 3D printed file from a blockchain is not about tricking a single computer or printer – you’d have to hack every entity that was a part of that particular chain, which is exponentially more difficult, if not sometimes impossible.
“When you have multiple stakeholders in the process you have to ask is consensus required across stakeholders,” Heslin said. In that regard blockchain can provide authority to print and authority to send files to be printed.
He also pointed to the audit trail benefits offered. “We all know about Six Sigma and ISO – a lot of it is about audit trails,” Heslin said. “Blockchain, by nature, is an audit trail. It shows every edit and iteration in the process.” Furthermore, because the audit trail is decentralized it becomes immutable and cannot be erased.
Tomi Engdahl says:
Forget the Kiln, These Tiles Were Made on a Prusa
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/05/forget-the-kiln-these-tiles-were-made-on-a-prusa/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing Logic Gates
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/02/3d-printing-logic-gates/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.uusiteknologia.fi/2019/03/19/pohjoiseen-3d-metallitulostuksesta-tyopajoja/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Upgrade your 3D printer from 8bit to 32bit
https://hackaday.io/project/160709-upgrade-your-3d-printer-from-8bit-to-32bit
have ported the marlin to stm32 board,everything works, stable and smooth,have BLTouch,etc.
32bits is the future of 3D printing.Here have ported the latest marlin to stm32 board,everything works, stable and smooth,have BLTouch,etc.Use the easiest IDE tool , I developped for Marlin STM32;source code link:https://github.com/hackaday3D/marlin_stm32. Integrated 5 TMC2208 and MCU control it through UART. Auto controlled Fan with board temperature sensor。
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing a Combination Lock
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/21/3d-printing-a-combination-lock/
Combination locks! They’re great if you’re skilled at remembering arbitrary strings of numbers, and have a dramatic flair that’s made them a famous part of many a heist movie. They come in a wide variety of styles, and are vulnerable to a different set of attacks than the more typical pin-tumbler locks used on a household basis. If you fancy tinkering with a combination lock, why not 3D print one yourself?
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3483174
Tomi Engdahl says:
Monitor Your 3D Printer with Node-RED and Tasker
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/27/monitor-your-3d-printer-with-node-red-and-tasker/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Threaded 3D Printed Part Comparison
https://hackaday.com/2019/03/26/threaded-3d-printed-part-comparison/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Metal Printing Tries to Break Into the Manufacturing Mainstream
https://spectrum.ieee.org/at-work/innovation/3d-metal-printing-tries-to-break-into-the-manufacturing-mainstream
Tomi Engdahl says:
An (almost) Entirely 3D Printed Speaker
https://www.instructables.com/id/An-Entirely-3D-Printed-Speaker/
This isn’t just a mass produced speaker in a 3d printed case, but instead the speaker itself that has been 3D printed. Over complexity has been avoided to make a fun, simple, and sturdy little speaker. When connected to an Arduino, it pushes out a decent amount of volume and sound quality for its size
Tomi Engdahl says:
Scientists Create World’s First 3D-Printed Heart Using Patient’s Own Helle
https://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/scientists-create-worlds-first-3dprinted-heart-using-patients-own-cells/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Use A 3D Printer To Electrospin Textiles
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/27/use-a-3d-printer-to-electrospin-textiles/
We are all used to desktop 3D printers that extrude molten plastic in layers to build up finished items. A pair of researchers at the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University, [Michael Rivera] and [Scott Hudson], have added another capability to their printer: electrospinning of textiles.
Electrospinning is a technique in which an extruded material is accelerated from the extruder by an electrostatic charge to form an extremely thin fibre. By applying a many-kilovolt charge between the extruder and the bed, they can create a fibre and lay it down into a mesh from a height to create a felt-like fabric.
Desktop Electrospinning: A Single Extruder 3D Printer for Producing Rigid Plastic and Electrospun Textiles
https://mikeriv.com/research/desktop-electrospinning/
Tomi Engdahl says:
This 3D Scanner Is Your Ticket To Photogrammetry
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/27/this-3d-scanner-is-your-ticket-to-photogrammetry/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printer Becomes Soldering Robot
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/26/3d-printer-becomes-soldering-robot/
What do you do if you have to solder thousands of through-hole parts? The expensive, professional way of doing this is running the boards through a wave soldering machine, or a machine with a fancy CNC solder fountain. The amateur way of soldering thousands of through-hole joints is putting some boards on the workbench and sitting down with a soldering iron. There is nothing in between; you’re either going to go with full automation for a large soldering job, or you’re doing it completely manually. That’s the problem this soldering robot solves. It’s a small, cheap, but still relatively capable soldering robot built out of a 3D printer.
The modifications to the printer include a mount for a TS100 soldering iron and a modified filament extruder that pushes a spool of solder through a PTFE tube. The GCode for this soldering job was created manually, but you could also use a slicer instead. After 20 hours of development, the ‘success rate’ – however that is defined – is between 60-80%. That needs to get up to four or five nines before this DIY soldering robot is practical but this is a decidedly not-bad result for a few hours of tinkering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkpD51YkC58
Tomi Engdahl says:
U of T Engineers Design 3D-Printed Microrobots and Use Magnetic Fields to Automate
https://blog.hackster.io/u-of-t-engineers-design-3d-printed-microrobots-and-use-magnetic-fields-to-automate-7b5901e02a49
University of Toronto engineers have developed a process to 3D print microrobots and automate them wirelessly using magnetic fields, allowing them to travel and perform functions within the human body.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printers Revolutionize Energy
https://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1334638
3D printers have ushered in a new revolution for a myriad of industries, including automotive, manufacturing, aerospace, agriculture, and construction. The same can be said about the energy industry, with more plants and power generators turning to 3D printers as an invaluable tool for prototyping and production.
Additive manufacturing has allowed the power industry to produce complex components, use fewer materials, reduce waste, and lower energy consumption — leading to higher production efficiency and a smaller carbon footprint. According to a recent report from GlobalData, additive manufacturing has a myriad of applications, including conventional power, rechargeable batteries, solar panels, wind/gas turbines, and more. In this roundup, we will take a look at some of the exciting ways the power industry has used the versatile technology.
Tomi Engdahl says:
New 3D Printing Technique Makes It Possible to Print Strong Metals at Micrometer Scales
https://blog.hackster.io/new-3d-printing-technique-makes-it-possible-to-print-strong-metals-at-micrometer-scales-90db11f90b83
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printing a Real Heart
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/23/3d-printing-a-real-heart/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Steel-Reinforced 3D Prints
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/22/steel-reinforced-3d-prints/
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D-Printed Electric Longboard
https://hackaday.io/project/20462-3d-printed-electric-longboard
Fully 3D-printable electric longboard drivetrain with built-in idler system.
Tomi Engdahl says:
3D Printering: The Quest for Printable Food
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/24/3d-printering-the-quest-for-printable-food/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Print Your Own Large Format Camera
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/04/print-your-own-large-format-camera/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Metal 3D Printing — a Dose of Reality
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/08/metal-3d-printing-a-dose-of-reality/
Tomi Engdahl says:
The 3D Printing Dream is Still Alive at 2019’s Midwest RepRap Festival
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/08/the-3d-printing-dream-is-still-alive-at-2019s-midwest-reprap-festival/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Vintage Print Processor Fixed with 3D Printing
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/08/vintage-print-processor-fixed-with-3d-printing/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Get Great 3D Scans with Open Photogrammetry
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/07/get-great-3d-scans-with-open-photogrammetry/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Fooling Fingerprint Scanners With A Resin Printer
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/08/fooling-fingerprint-scanners-with-a-resin-printer/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/19/thirty-six-frets-for-a-3d-printed-guitar/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/09/nearly-entirely-3d-printed-rc-car-is-4wd-fun/
Tomi Engdahl says:
Snapmaker 2.0 Is a 3-in-1 3D Printer That’s Modular, Capable, and Affordable
https://blog.hackster.io/snapmaker-2-0-is-a-3-in-1-3d-printer-thats-modular-capable-and-affordable-41cf0ccfed9c
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/08/metal-3d-printing-a-dose-of-reality/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://hackaday.com/2019/04/07/get-great-3d-scans-with-open-photogrammetry/
Tomi Engdahl says:
https://www.electronicdesign.com/automotive/3d-printing-will-grow-8-billion-market-auto-industry-2024?sfvc4enews=42&cl=article_1_b&utm_rid=CPG05000002750211&utm_campaign=25555&utm_medium=email&elq2=afcd88079f3840e196d50966f55e8169
Tomi Engdahl says:
Tutkijat 3D-tulostivat kondensaattorin
http://www.etn.fi/index.php/13-news/9476-tutkijat-3d-tulostivat-kondensaattorin