ABS – Malta 3D Printing

3D Printing Brings Imaginative Children’s Drawings to Their Playrooms

Now kids can bring their made-up monsters to life with MOYUPI.

Did you ever make up some fantastical creatures as a kid that you wished existed as actual toys? Maybe you tried to put your parents to work helping you mold them out of clay? MOYUPI promises to make kids’ creatures even more real through the magic of 3D printing and a little hand-painting.

The company uses digital modeling software to prepare your creature (or MOYUPI) for 3D printing, and then renders them in kid-friendly, durable ABS plastic. Due to the rudimentary nature of color 3D printing and the creators’ desire to precisely follow directions, color is carefully added to the designs by hand. MOYUPI can be rendered in three different sizes (15cm, 10cm and 7cm) and two types of boxes designed by Brazilian artist and illustrator Mayra Magalhães, and can also be shipped without paint so kids can do it themselves.

The limitations of 3D printing that the creators have encountered also happen to sync up fairly well with many children’s drawings; for example, irregular shapes are considered ideal for making a MOYUPI, but stick figures and other designs below a minimum thickness can’t be accepted. The MOYUPI project also encourages children to be original, as the creators can’t print licensed characters like Spongebob or Elsa (but they can print designs inspired by them).

“A team composed by artists… is the opportunity to get creative in the design process,” said MOYUPI founder Juan Ángel Medina in an email. “‘How did the kid imagine his Moyupi?’, ‘is that an arm or a horn?’, ‘is this element part of the shape or just something drawn on it?’. These questions aren’t always easy to answer, so we need to put our minds in a kid-like state to imagine what the kids wanted to portray and design it in the most accurate way.”

So what’s the big-picture mission with MOYUPI? The young team of six designers says they are interested in donating a portion of the company’s proceeds to organizations: “ASPACE, ALES, PÍDEME LA LUNA and ASPERGER, each one linked to one of MOYUPI mascots.”

An early-bird special allows backers who pledge $34 or more to receive a small MOYUPI figure as well as a Maxi Pack; a special XXL size (30 cm high) for $114 will also only be available during the special Kickstarter campaign. A variety of other configurations, some geared toward multiple kids and families, should be a great opportunity for kids and adults alike to unleash their creativity.

“The material I would like to use for the Moyupi is a rubber-like one, in order to make them even more friendly and resistant. That’s a possibility we are currently researching,” said Medina. Stretch goals also include a video game, YouTube series and research into making posable, articulated figures: all promising ideas for a kids’ brand.

psfk.com

by RACHEL PINCUS | 17 JULY 2015

Witch & Mix multiple colors in single layers

Posted on 24/08/201508/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://3dprint.com/70852/multiple-color-3d-printing/

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Bradford Student Invest a 3D Printer That Can Print Witch & Mix Multiple Colors in Single Layers

College is a time for learning, partying, and finally living our lives away from Mom and Dad. Not only do we learn about scholarly subjects, but we tend to learn about ourselves and our future goals as well. For one University of Bradford student, Michael Hebda, college has provided him with the resources needed to bring a new type of desktop 3D printer into reality.

Hebda, who is graduating this summer from his BSc in Product Design at the prestigious university, actually got the idea for his creation while working at his job.

“I came up with the idea whilst working for Denford Limited on my placement year,” Hebda tells 3DPrint.com. “I worked fixing and maintaining regular 3D printers and was often asked by customers ‘Can the machines do colour?’. I had to always answer, ‘no, not really.’ When returning to the University to complete my Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Product Design I decided that was my final project; I wanted to create a machine which designers and engineers could use to create multiple colours within a single layer of printing, in order to create their prototypes, in what is now being dubbed as ‘Full Colour 3D Printing’, within online 3D printing culture.”

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Full color 3D printing is something which many believe will revolutionize the industry. The idea of 3D printing in virtually any color you want and mixing and matching colors in single layers, would give designers so much more ability. There have been several companies working on similar technology, some of whom have been successful and some of whom have not. However, Hebda’s creation is pretty unique.

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Hebda says that the main use for his machine will be for creating prototypes with more color blends and choices of materials. He wants to eventually iterate upon the 3D printer to give it the capability of printing in virtually any color possible. He hopes to do this next year as part of his Master’s research at the university. On top of this, he wants to also experiment with adding the option of using multiple materials per layer as well.

“Different materials could potentially be used and it is something I will hopefully be looking into in the next few months,” Hebda tells us. “I do not believe full colour printing has been achieved before using this method and will be looking into patent options. The printer is controlled using an Arduino board for prototyping purposes.”

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Hebda’s printer currently can print using three different colors of ABS filament. All three filament strands are fed through a single nozzle which is able to rapidly switch between them in order to print multiple colors within a single layer. The printer is capable of a resolution of 0.15 mm and has a build volume of 300 x 300 x 300 mm. As for speed, Hebda has not exactly done any calculations but tells us that the “average sized print, about the size of your palm, can be printed within an hour”.

It will be interesting to follow Hebda’s progress as he continues to develop this 3D printer further with the help of the University of Bradford. What do you think of this unique 3D printer? Discuss in the Color Changing 3D Printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.

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3dprint.com

by EDDIE KRASSENSTEIN | JUNE 5, 2015

3D printed functioning motorcycle

Posted on 24/08/201508/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://www.gizmag.com/te-3d-printed-motorcycle/37729/

The 3D-printed motorcycle, on display

TE Connectivity 3D prints a functioning motorcycle

Unveiled at Rapid 2015 in Long Beach, California, TE Connectivity’s exercise in 3D printing demonstrates the ability to design a motorcycle on a computer, print it in plastic, add tires and a motor, then take it for a spin. While the result may not quite be ready to hit the highway, the concept is still nothing short of exciting.

The steering head is the most heavily stressed part of the frame in any motorcycle, yet this plastic one can handle two-up riding Printing a wheel rim strong enough to hold an inflated tire is not an easy task This V2 is just a plastic mock-up, the real motor is hidden in the fake "oil tank" behind it All the electrical components work properly on TE's prototype motorcycle

Considering that fundamental parts such as the frame and wheel bearings are entirely printed in plastic, one would agree that TE’s goal to show that the technology can be used to manufacture load-bearing production parts has been achieved.

Modeled in a Harley-Davidson Softail fashion, the motorcycle measures around 8 ft (2.4 m) long, weighs 250 lb (113.4 kg) and consists of more components than its designers can account for. Its frame, printed after a process of trial and error, can support a total of 400 lb (181 kg) – that would be two adult passengers. Apart from the small electric motor and tires, some other outsourced parts include the braking system, electrical wiring, battery, belt drive, mirrors, sidestand and some bolts.

The highlight is, of course, its fully functioning status. A small 1 hp (750W) electric motor can power a 15 mph (24 km/h) ride for several minutes. Though this may not sound ground-breaking, it doesn’t necessarily need a bigger battery or a stronger engine to make a point as a showbike at a conference on printing, scanning and additive manufacturing. All that matters is that, after some 1,000 work hours and US$25,000, TE Connectivity has come up with a proper motorcycle indeed.

The main load-bearing parts were constructed with Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology, the process of injecting layer upon layer of ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) plastic enriched with the heat resistant resin Ultem 9085. With this process, TE printed several parts with complex dynamic properties, such as the frame.

The wheel bearings sound tricky to fabricate, especially the rear one that was printed into a single piece with the hub and the drive sprocket. After some testing miles, both bearings reportedly held up against the load they must bear and the heat generated in the process. Equally difficult work has probably been involved in the fabrication of the wheel rims, which have to support real motorcycle tires with fully-inflated tubes.

Some metal parts like the headlight housing were printed in bronze through Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), where a laser melts the desired shape out of several layers of metal powder.

Apparently this is the second prototype or, more precisely, a rebuild of the first after it suffered some damage during transportation. Thankfully creative minds saw this as an opportunity rather than a calamity, finding the chance to make some improvements on the original design.

Although it seems highly improbable for an electronic connector and sensor manufacturer to build any more motorcycles, TE Connectivity’s achievement highlights some promising prospects. Already several DMLS applications are available to the automotive and aerospace industries though companies like EOS. Stratasys, whose printers worked overtime for this project in TE’s labs, is currently in a partnership with Ducati advising the Italians on developing in-house FDM prototyping. By printing functional prototype engines, Ducati has been able to cut the development time of a new Desmosedici race engine for MotoGP from 28 to only eight months. Benefits from this process are expected to reach production models sooner or later.

TE Connectivity initially thought of printing a model of a motorcycle as a display of sculpting skills. This had already been done, several times over. The idea of a functioning bike was born in the process, probably out of the realization that it could actually be done. After all, the first printed car was unveiled and driven in public just last September.

3D printing technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, having progressed in just a few years from forming simple ornamental plastic parts to generating dynamic structures that function within moving mechanisms. In this sense, this motorcycle that looks like a child’s toy may well prove to be a landmark product.

gizmag.com

by Spiros Tsantilas | May 29, 2015