student – Malta 3D Printing

3D printing with light

Posted on 27/08/201509/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://3dprint.com/89024/calarts-3d-printing-with-light/

CalArts Student Experiments with 3D Printing Light

Not all 3D printing is meant to last. When CalArts student Aaron Bothman decided to print something for his short film The Red Witch, his thesis project, he wanted it to be less permanent. Having seen the work of Beijing-based artist Ekaggrat Singh Kalsi, who has used a modified 3D printer to ‘print’ in light, he found his inspiration.

Not something that you can pick up with your hands, the product of this technique is something that can be captured on film, which is exactly the medium in which Bothman works.

He and his father worked together on building the printer, a small delta model constructed from a kit but with a particular twist. When assembled, an LED was placed where the hot end would usually have been installed. This allows Bothman to capture the light on film by using a long exposure while the printer runs the model, tracing out the shapes as a 3D light painting.

Ripple_400x400

This isn’t the first 3D printing project that Bothman junior and Bothman senior have worked on together. In an interview with 3DPrint.com, Aaron talked about his experience printing with his father and how it has influenced his work both while at CalArts and after graduation:

“I’m an animator and artist based in Los Angeles. I graduated from the animation program at CalArts a couple months ago, and am currently working as an artist at JibJab, a small studio in LA. I originally learned about 3D printing in middle school from my dad, who teaches mechanical engineering at UCSB, and who helped a lot in thinking through this project. As a stop-motion filmmaker, 3D printing allows me to tackle more ambitious projects on a short production schedule than I might be able to otherwise.”

Wave_400x400

In order to create the light animation, each Maya image to be captured is sent to the printer one frame at a time. Over time, these images create the illusion of movement, just as is done in more traditional stop motion filming. The result is a piece that is built up in layers, requiring the same mode of conceptualization as a 3D printing project but with the option for movement and, of course, no support materials. In fact, no materials at all, something that makes this a particularly appealing way to engage in a 3D printed project if there is no need for the product to be tangible.

Somewhat akin to the old question about a tree falling in the forest with no one to hear it, the question that could be asked of this technique could be: when a 3D printer creates something that cannot be touched, is it still 3D printing? The creations don’t truly occupy space or at least they only do for a fleeting moment but as they dance before your eyes, I think you may be willing to set that debate aside for a moment. Just think of it this way: with this technique, you could print all you want and never run up a bill for filament and never have to worry about storage space.

And that sounds pretty ideal to me.

Let us know what you think about this concept in the 3D Printing with Light forum thread at 3DPB.com.

3dprint.com

by HANNAH ROSE MENDOZA | AUGUST 15, 2015

Our own 3D printed clothes!

Posted on 27/08/201509/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2015/jul/28/are-we-ready-to-print-our-own-3d-clothes

3D printed fashion by Danit Peleg

Are we ready to 3D print our own clothes?

3D printing in fashion might not be new. But one designer thinks soon everbody will just print their entire wardrobe, which could change holiday packing for ever.

Imagine going on holiday with an empty suitcase, checking out the vibe of the hotel bar on arrival, then printing out the perfect dress to match it in your room. Such a delicious possibility could be on offer – one day – thanks to 3D printing. In fact, the work of one fashion student, Danit Peleg, suggests it could be edging nearer.

Danit Peleg working on her 3D printed fashion

From a mesh-effect little black dress to a bright red jacket emblazoned with the word “Liberté”, Peleg produced her entire graduate collection using a 3D printer. Though others have worked with printers before – it has become Dutch designer Iris van Herpen’s signature, in fact, with spooky space-age ensembles appearing on catwalks and on Björk – this is the first full collection designed to be produced, specifically, on the smaller machines that can be used in people’s homes.

LBD? Danit Peleg's 3D printed dress

As the sometimes spooky, often spiky, world of 3D fashion goes, the pieces are fairly wearable – they are a riot of geometric shapes and futuristic patterns, but the texture is bouncy, rather than dusty and hard, thanks to the use of a flexible material called FilaFlex. Peleg’s latticed maxi skirt is very on-trend – long, transparent skirts that show off the wearer’s underwear have become a recent catwalk and red carpet staple, seen at Dolce and Gabbana and Valentino, although Peleg claims inspiration in Eugène Delacroix’s “Liberty Leading the People” – and the triangular shapes found in the composition of the painting.

<strong>Texture</strong> Danit Peleg’s 3D printed fashion

We’re probably quite a few summers away from this becoming part of your holiday packing strategy, however, given the costs and time involved. The red “Liberté” jacket, says Peleg, a student from Israel’s Shenkar art and design school, “took 220 hours to print and about a kilo of materials. Materials would cost 70 euros. But the main issue is printing time – one would need to buy or rent a printer for 220 hours. A printer of the type I used costs 1,700 euros. Renting it would maybe cost 250 euros per week, so I would peg it at at least 600 euros for printing, not including design, assembly, and electricity. It’s still a costly operation, but of course this will change as technologies evolve.” Clothes are printed section by section and are then assembled.

Danit Peleg 3D printed fashion

But one day, says Peleg, the process could be pretty simple. “Customers could download the patterns, just like music files, and print them.”

theguardian.com

by Hannah Marriott | Tuesday 28 July 2015 06.00 BST

Witch & Mix multiple colors in single layers

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

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

bradfordfeatured

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.”

bradford1

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.

bradford5

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.”

bradford3

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.

bradford2

3dprint.com

by EDDIE KRASSENSTEIN | JUNE 5, 2015

The fourth dimension to 3D printing

Posted on 24/08/201507/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/206368-adding-the-fourth-dimension-to-3d-printing

Adding the fourth dimension to 3D printing

As 3D printing continues to revolutionize manufacturing, researchers have decided that three dimensions are not enough, and so the concept of 4D printing has begun to emerge. These four-dimensional objects are still built layer by layer in a 3D printer. But given time – the fourth dimension – these devices can automatically morph into a different shape, and thereby even change their function.

So far, researchers have developed devices using materials that are actuated by water or heat. This is significant, since the structures are ready as soon as you pick them up from the printer. However, up until now, the prototypes developed were slow, severely limited in the amount of times they could be used, and weak, since they relied on a bending motion in a flexible material.

Professor Marc in het Panhuis and PhD student Shannon Bakarich are set to change all that. The University of Wollongong researchers are the first to use a process whereby four different materials were printed simultaneously. The hydrogels used by the team consist of a network of poly N-isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAAm) and alginate. Alginate is a salt of alginic acid that is commonly found in seaweed and algae. Among other things, it is used as a thickener in food. PNIPAAm consists of two polymer networks entangled in one another. This gives the material strength and durability. When cracks form in one network, the other network bridges the gaps and so prevents greater damage.

4D printing 3D printing

The dual-network structure is not unique to PNIPAAm. However, the researchers used PNIPAAm since it exhibits a large change in volume at a critical temperature of about 32-35° Celsius (90-95° F). This change in volume is caused by a transition of the polymers from a collapsed globule state to an expanded coil state. When the temperature goes down, the polymers collapse back into globules.

The researchers combined thin sections of PNIPAAm with traditional materials. This allowed them to create a design capable of relatively fast linear motion, much like the contraction of a muscle. Best of all, this process is reversible. The transition can be actuated by different stimuli, depending on the hydrogels used.

Using PNIAAm, the researchers have developed a functioning valve that responds to the temperature of the water surrounding it. “It’s an autonomous valve,” says Panhuis in a statement. “There’s no input necessary other than water.” An autonomous device like this is valuable in medical soft robotics. As soon as the surrounding water reaches a certain temperature, the polymer strands inside the hydrogel change their shape. The large change in volume in the hydrogel causes a strong linear motion, which closes the valve.

Combining smart materials and 3D printing in this way offers an exciting method of creating custom designs of small autonomous devices. “The cool thing about it is, it’s a working, functioning device that you just pick up from the printer,” Panhuis said. Maybe we will one day even be able to print our own self-assembling structures and soft robots.

extremetech.com

by Bauke Stelma | May 24, 2015 at 9:30 am

The stories of 3D printing

Posted on 20/08/201501/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://3dprint.com/57322/stories-we-missed-april-11/

mit-student-beats-cancer-shares-experience-digital-models-3d-prints-1

3D Printing: The Stories We Didn’t Cover This Week – April 11, 2015

This week’s 3D printing stories we didn’t cover run the gamut from quite serious to whimsical, beginning with serious news of an MIT student’s use of 3D printing to document his brain tumor diagnosis and treatment, to a new Minecraft-inspired 3D design app, more Ultimaker files released, Taiwan’s new Fab Trucks, an Instructable for a homemade 3D scanner, and fun printed fashion and food news, too.

MIT Doctoral Student Documents Brain Tumor

Steven Keating, an MIT doctoral student in the Mediated Matter Group, used 3D printing to document his experience during the diagnosis and treatment of a tennis ball-size brain tumor. Keating’s experience and background in data management and additive manufacturing was used to create digital and 3D printed models of his tumor, brain, and skull surgery. Not only did he intend to share important medical knowledge with people in similar situations, but he also wanted to show how 3D printing can help people take charge and be centrally involved in their own medical treatment. And he did just this. His surgery was videotaped and he’s advocating an open approach to usually private medical information in the spirit of collaboration, with 3D printing centrally involved.

Minecraft-Inspired 3D Design App Launches

beta-for-the-cube-app-launches-1

A Minecraft inspired UNTITLED Creator app created by Thailand-based Treebuild makes 3D design more fun and user-friendly at the same time. You can use theLUBAS app to make pixelated artwork while also nostalgically indulging in Minecraft-esque imagery. Even better is that you can easily export your designs or choose to save the work into STL, OBJ, X3D, 3DDOM, HTML, or VRML. You can also send them to a 3D printing service that can print the design and ship them to your doorstep. We covered its beta release last month, and now the app is up and running.

Ultimaker Releases More Open Source Files

ultimaker-original-3

3D printer manufacturer Ultimaker has gone out of its way to facilitate its customers’ central involvement in the making and upgrading of their 3D printers. The company continues to show its commitment to the open source movement and the maker spirit, recently launching its Ultimaker Original+ and Ultimaker heated bed upgrade files, which you can access on GitHub.

Printer manuals, assembly instructions, and mechanics are all improved with the launching of these files, and the company continues to express its dedication to customers as the 3D printing technology develops and evolves.

Taiwan’s Fab Trucks for 3D Printing High School Education

fab-trucks-to-promote-3d-printing-by-visiting-497-campuses-1

Taiwanese officials have shown great support for 3D printing technology, and in a recent turn of events, the country has decided to dedicate resources over the next two years to ensure more high school age students gain exposure to 3D printing. Fab Trucks — maker labs on wheels — will visit almost 500 high schools throughout Taiwan, reaching 160,000 students and teachers. The Ministry of Education has spent $224K (USD) on the six laboratory trucks equipped with professional 3D printing-related equipment. This equipment includes DLP (light curing) and FDM 3D printers, laser cutters, a CNC milling machine, and additional accessories and materials. Students will be encouraged to use the trucks as much as possible when they are available on their campuses in the hopes that Taiwan and the world will see a new generation of makers and 3D printing innovators on the horizon.

FIT Student 3D Prints Captivating Fashion Piece

student-3d-prints-inspiring-neckpiece-accessory-for-the-ny3d-print-fashion-show-1

The relevance of 3D printing for a growing number of students can also be found in a Fashion Institute of Technology student’s project that used 3D printing to make an elaborate neck and matching dress piece. Rachel Nhan took her class assignment theme “Mad Max Meets the French Court” to heart as she designed a piece that perfectly merges these seemingly disparate themes into one captivating design.

After considering 25 different design concepts, Nhan used Autodesk Maya to create the selected model, which was split into 14 pieces and 3D printed by FIT’s PrintFX Lab on a uPrint Stratasys Machine with a 6″ x 8″ x 6″ printing bed. Nhan reports having some difficulty fitting the different components onto the print bed, but you would never know she had any difficulties by looking at the finished product. Capturing the Mad Max/French Court theme quite well, Nhan’s piece is also a reminder of 3D printing’s growing popularity in the fashion design world, as more and more people rely on it to realize their own customized, outlandish, and futuristic fashion visions.

Danish Teacher Makes 3D Scanner

teacher-shares-designs-for-low-cost-scanner-4

While students (like FIT’s Nhan) continue to use 3D printing in a wide variety of applications, teachers are also a standout source of knowledge and innovation in the 3D printing scene. Using webcams, a video projector, and other household items, Danish teacher Hesam Hamidi has made a perfectly functional structured light 3D scanner — a scanning device that measures objects’ three-dimensional shapes using a camera system and projected light patterns. This project is called “HHSL3DS” and Hamidi, who has been working in Denmark’s Copenhagen Fablab for some time, shared all of his designs and even the software and code he has written for it online. You can find entire tutorial, as well as all the downloadable files, on Instructables.

World’s First 3D Printed Food Conference in Netherlands

For those who get excited about the merging of culinary arts and 3D printing technology, good news: the world’s first 3D printed food conference will take place in Venlo, the Netherlands on April 21, 2015. This conference promises to bring printed food from “hype to reality,” while addressing important questions such as: “Which industries will be influenced by the technology?” “Which food components can be printed in the near future?” “Which aspects should be taken into account to ensure safety and maintainability of 3D printed food?” Also, topics to be explored, which are also listed on the official conference website, include: food components (protein, carbohydrates, and fats); custom nutrition; food processing and design; safety issues; new value chains; applications for the elderly and the health care industry; hardware and software developments; business models and legal issues. There’s still time to register on the conference website if you are in that growing group of 3D printed food fans!

That covers all the stories we missed this week! Let us know what you think of them in the Stories We Didn’t Cover forum thread at 3DPB.com.

all

3dprint.com

by MICHELLE MATISONS | APRIL 11, 2015

‘Membrane based’ 3D printer

Posted on 19/08/201501/09/2015 by aneczka2307

http://3dprint.com/54864/super-fast-3d-printer/

Student Creates Super Fast ‘Membrane Based’ 3D Printer – Prints 40 x 40 x 100 mm Objects at 10 Microns in 12 Minutes

It is truly amazing how quickly the 3D printing space is developing. Just two weeks ago we stood stunned as a company called Carbon3D unveiled a new breakthrough 3D printing process called CLIP. This process can supposedly print objects 25-100 times faster than other SLA 3D printers. Then just a week after that, Gizmo 3D unveiled another super fast SLA-based 3D printer which looks to challenge Carbon3D as far as speed and resolution go. Then just earlier this week we reported on a Chinese company, called Prismlab, which has shown off their incredibly fast SLA line of 3D printers, rumored to be able to print 2,712.27 cm³ of material per hour.

Now, 3DPrint.com has discovered yet another super fast SLA 3D printer created not by a large company, but by a college student named Bo Pang. Pang, a University of Buffalo student, majoring in Industrial Engineering, and graduating with a degree of Master of Science in May, has been researching 3D printing for the past 2 years.

It was also 2 years ago that Pang got the idea of creating a “continuous 3D printing process,” one which could greatly speed up 3D printing in general. The printer Pang has created was designed and fabricated last summer, and it’s just now that he is unveiling it to the world.

“Our machine is mostly similar with Carbon3D’s, but there is one important way in which we are very different,” Pang tells 3DPrint.com. “The Carbon3D machine uses an oxygen-permeable window to create a ‘dead zone’ (a thin layer of uncured resin between the window and the object). This dead zone guarantees the part can grow without stopping, and this is the key to the CLIP process. For our machine, we don’t use that oxygen-permeable window, but we instead use a special membrane to create that thin layer of uncured resin. There are 2 advantages of this special membrane. First, this membrane is much less expensive than the oxygen-permeable window, as it only costs about 1/100 of the price of the oxygen-permeable window. Second, this membrane is very easy to mold, meaning we can make this membrane almost any shape we want.”

So how fast is Pang’s innovative new 3D printer? Very! Featuring a relatively small build volume, it can print with an incredible X-Y axis resolution of 15 microns, and a Z-axis resolution of just 10 microns. He was able to 3D print a miniature Eiffel Tower measuring 10 x 10 x 20 mm in just 7 minutes and 26 seconds, a cubed truss measuring 7 x 7 x 7 mm in just 2 minutes and 7 seconds, and a larger 40 x 40 x 100 mm Eiffel Tower in just 12 minutes and 6 seconds (seen on videos provided).

While Pang’s invention is quite impressive, he is still working out some issues that his new system is experiencing.

“There are still some short-comings, and I guess even Carbon3D can’t solve this problem now,” Pang tells us. “The continuous process can print truss structures very well because there is a very small suction force for these prints. But for solid parts, like a cylinder, this process doesn’t perform well. When you’re printing solid parts, the suction force between part and the bottom of the tank will be extremely large. How to overcome this force is the key to printing solid parts. We just got an idea today for a solution to this problem, but we need time to test it. I believe we can figure it out soon.”

As for the cost of creating this unique 3D printer, Pang tells us he would estimate that it costs much less than $3,000. As for when he would plan to bring this printer to market, that still remains up in the air. Currently he just considers it a research project, but says that if he can obtain the right resources, he will consider mass production. He also said that he may consider using crowdfunding in order to raise money for the project.

Without a doubt, this is another super fast 3D printer that could challenge the likes of Carbon3D. While the build volume is pretty small, Pang tells us that he thinks that with some calibration he can expand this quite a bit. His next project is to attempt to 3D print a part measuring 50 x 50 x 140 mm in dimensions.

Pang himself is set to graduate from the University of Buffalo this May, and he has hopes of finding a job somewhere related to 3D printing. He feels that he has a very in-depth knowledge of the technology and could help many companies looking for someone with an interest and education in the field.

“I mainly focus on design, as well as build and calibrate new concept 3D printers, especially for the hardware and testing part,” Pang tells us. “I am also skilled in CAD software and hand-on skills. I have enthusiasm within the realm of 3D printings, I really hope I can work in this area for my whole career.”

Certainly any employer would be lucky to obtain the experience and knowledge that Pang has to offer. If anyone has any interest in speaking to Pang about a job opening, you can contact him via phone at (716) 435-7766, or on his LinkedIn account. (Note: the test was initially started on an EnvisionTec 3D printer, which Pang tells us is a very reliable printer).

What do you think about Pang’s new 3D printer? Will this be something that revolutionizes the desktop 3D printing space? Discuss in the Super Fast SLA 3D printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.

3dprint.com

by EDDIE KRASSENSTEIN | APRIL 2, 2015

New life for tortoise

Posted on 19/08/201531/08/2015 by aneczka2307

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_27785837/3-d-printing-tech-gives-tortoise-new-life

GOLDEN, CO - MARCH 25: Cleopatra, a leopard tortoise, whose shell is deformed because of malnutrition, wears a prototype 3-D printed prosthetic shell, March 25, 2015. Cleopatra, who now lives at Canyon Critters Reptile Rescue in Golden, Colo., got the prosthetic shell after a student from Colorado Technical University worked to design it for her. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

3D printing tech gives tortoise new life, is shaping manufacturing

Cleopatra doesn’t seem impressed with her new coat. But the red plastic shell probably will save the teenage leopard tortoise’s life.

“This is a very good feeling,” said Colorado Technical University design student Roger Henry, who spent 600 hours tweaking software and assembling prototypes of the custom 3-D-printed shell for the malnourished Cleopatra.

Made with a plastic derived from corn, Cleopatra’s new shell will protect her from other tortoises and allow her to right herself if she flips. After years of a protein-heavy diet, the herbivore’s shell had weakened with deep valleys and pyramid-type peaks. Holes had formed that threatened the shell’s ability to protect her from infection.

Rescued by Nico Novelli and his Golden-based Canyon Critters team, student designers at CTU in Colorado Springs working with the 3D Printing Store painstakingly created a solution that could extend Cleopatra’s lettuce-chomping life into her 80s.

The challenge was cajoling the design software — adjusting the influence of gravity in code — to make the plastic “drape like a piece of cloth” over Cleopatra’s ridged shell, Henry said.

“It’s fantastic to know this tortoise is going to be able to recover from its malnutrition,” Henry said.

The promise of 3-D printing goes well beyond rescuing tortoises.

Three-dimensional printers are using the same biodegradable corn-based plastic in Cleopatra’s new shell — a resin known as polylactic acid — to help people.

Doctors have printed a windpipe to help an infant breathe. They are implanting in people tiny beads that dispense antibiotics or cancer-fighting chemicals before dissolving. Designers are crafting custom prosthetics. Dentists are scanning and printing teeth. A 3-D-printed helmet wired to the brain of a paraplegic wearing a robotic exoskeleton enabled the man to kick a soccer ball to open the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, marking a scientific milestone.

“Yes, we can change the world,” said Debra Wilcox, whose four-store 3D Printing Store is bringing 3-D printing to the masses. Her design team scanned Cleopatra, which enabled Henry to engineer the tortoise’s protective shell.

The 3D Printing Store works on just about everything, from tortoise shells and pet lizard legs to secret, intellectually protected products for individuals and large corporations, to random doodads that can’t be found on a store shelf.

“In a single day, I can make something that has never been made before or something that hasn’t been made in 50 years,” Wilcox said.

In two years, the 3-D-printing industry has surged. Wilcox expects even more rapid growth, especially as printers work with materials such as carbon fiber and Kevlar.

“Any estimates you’ve heard about the future for this industry, they are probably low,” she said. “A lot of industries are using a manufacturing process that is 50 years old, that can and will be both cost-effectively and time-effectively replaced by 3-D printing.”

Colorado is at the forefront of the revolution, Wilcox said.

“Colorado is at the precipice of being the premier location for additive manufacturing,” she said, relishing Cleopatra’s new outerwear before heading to the National Renewable Energy Lab to show off lightweight, carbon-fiber equipment she prints in her shop.

The technology behind 3-D printing and its industrial counterpart, additive manufacturing, is riding the coattails of Colorado’s thriving aerospace industry, which has found new efficiencies in 3-D printing. But it’s not just industry that is uncovering new work for 3-D printers. Sales of home desktop 3-D printers are booming, too.

Jeff Moe’s Aleph Objects lab in Loveland has 135 3-D printers working around the clock five days a week, making printers and parts.

He sold $80,000 of parts in 2011, his first year. This year, he says he’s pacing toward $10 million in sales. Aleph is one of the busiest clusters of 3-D printing in the world, Moe said.

And in a rare twist for an in-demand, blossoming business, everyone has access to Aleph’s designs and strategies.

As soon as one of Moe’s engineers discovers something new, it’s on the Web, open for anyone to peruse and use. Every printer part that Aleph sells comes with a list of all the materials, the programming code and the precise drawings required to make the part on a 3-D printer. The company’s trove of data is updated with the latest additions every 30 minutes.

“This has led to a very rapid development of our printers,” said Moe, who offers three lines of printers that have evolved through as many as five versions in the past four years.

When his team struggled to find that perfect material for the very first layer of a 3-D printing, the community of Aleph users sprang to action and quickly determined that a rigid, insulating plastic called PEI worked best. Now, PEI is an essential first element of Aleph’s printing process.

“There is a great relationship between users and the companies when they all have the same amount of information. We are not holding anything back from our users,” Moe said. “Oftentimes, the first time I see some new development here, it’s already been made public.”

With printer sales doubling to tripling every year, Moe sees 3-D printing changing manufacturing, revolutionizing the prosthetic industry, delivering NASA-type technology to homes and, ultimately, changing lives.

He points to videos of an amputee fitted with a 3-D printed prosthetic hand controlled by subtle shoulder movements. Moe said 3-D printers are creating communications technology for hobbyists, allowing them to control antennas connected to satellites.

“It’s hard to keep up with all the amazing things that people are doing,” Moe said. “Three-D printing is really a great enabler. I hope it’s as great an enabler as the Internet has been.”

denverpost.com

by Jason Blevins, The Denver Post | 03/25/2015 05:04:00 PM MDT

First 3D printed dishwasher!

Posted on 23/03/201518/08/2015 by Malta 3D Printing

Don’t You Just Love Technology?

http://goo.gl/P2tCfG

dishwasher1

Swedish Student Creates the World’s First 3D Printed Fully Functional Dishwasher

If you are an engineer and you have not yet had the opportunity to tinker around with CAD software and 3D print your designs, you are severely missing out. 3D printing has opened a whole new realm of possibilities for designers and engineers all over the globe. The technology allows these individuals to design or engineer a product, and then bring those products into the tangible world in a matter of hours. If 3D printing doesn’t greatly speed up the innovation and invention process in the coming years, nothing will. While many people look at desktop 3D printers as simply being toys for hobbyists, those individuals with unique ideas see it as a tool for bringing their ideas to life.

For one 22-year-old Swedish engineering student, named Filip Sjöö, 3D printing allowed him to come up with an invention unlike anything we have seen before.

“I got my 3D-printer for Christmas,” Sjöö tells 3DPrint.com. “It’s a Prusa i3, and it’s probably the best Christmas gift ever.”

When most ordinary people get their first 3D printer, they experiment by printing out simple little objects such as combs, mini Yoda figures, and other figurines. Sjöö, however, decided to jump right into an engineering project that he thought would be fascinating to create. He decided to 3D print a fully functional water-powered dishwasher.

“First I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted do to something that was powered by the water from the tap,” Sjöö tells us. “The first thing I did, was try to figure out how to attach the thing to the tap. The best way to do this was probably to use the threads on the tap.”

dishwasher5

After he had measured the threads, he began searching around the internet for a standard CAD file that would fit onto his sink’s tap. Unfortunately though, he was unable to find anything, anywhere with just the right measurements. This left Sjöö with only one other option — create his own.

dishwasher4

Using SolidWorks, he began designing his tap attachment, making sure that his threads did not exceed an angle of 45 degrees.

“The maximum angle you can print without supports is approximately 45 degrees,” Sjöö explains. “Because of this, I had to make a custom design. I was not sure that I would succeed in printing functional threads, as the pitch was only 1 mm, but surprisingly it worked very well after some failiures.”

Now it was off to the fun part. Sjöö had to devise a plan to fabricate a creation that could actually wash dishes effectively. The first idea that popped into his head was creating an internal water turbine, which he thought would be extremely efficient. However, he soon came to the realization that it was very difficult to do this without using any seals. Because of the high pressure of the water from his tap, many leaks formed, causing a larger mess than anyone would want to deal with when washing dishes.

Sjöö is an engineer though, and engineers are trained to come up with multiple solutions to the same problem. So this is exactly what he did. He devised a different plan. He would create an external turbine, which may be even cooler than the initial internal iteration, since it would be visible to onlookers.

“The rest of the CAD modeling was done in just a couple of hours,” he tells us. “The gear ratios on the dishwasher were based on well grounded guesses about the flow rate of the water and some basic calculations. My goal was the make the brush go back and forth one time every second or so.”

Once the design was complete, it was on to 3D printing the parts. Sjöö admits that there were a few failures at first which required him to modify some of the parts, but all in all he says the process went very well.

dishwasherfeatured

After printing had finished and the parts were just as Sjöö had intended them to be, he assembled them, hooked his newly built device up to his water faucet, and turned it on. The brush, which is not 3D printed, is held onto the dishwasher using zip ties. As the water runs through the turbine, it causes the brush to move back and forth at a steady rate. While Sjöö admits that it probably isn’t going to be a product that many people, if any, are interested in purchasing, he never intended for it to be more than a “funny little project that [he] had to do.”

Sjöö is currently working on finishing up his engineering degree. In his spare time when he isn’t experimenting with his 3D printer, he runs a company that he co-founded, called Headface, where he is the designer.

dishwasher3

What do you think about this intuitively designed device created by Filip Sjöö? Discuss in the 3D Printed Dishwasher forum thread on 3DPB.com.

3DPRINT.COM

by EDDIE KRASSENSTEIN | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

3Ducation for students?

Posted on 23/03/201518/08/2015 by Malta 3D Printing

A Series of 3D Printing Videos To Educate Students Has Hit the Classroom!

http://goo.gl/Znj9ad

3DP4E Introduces 3Ducation, a Series of 3D Printing Education Videos

Saying that 3D printing is oftentimes a difficult concept to explain is a bit of an understatement, especially to anyone who works in or related to the field. It took months for my mother to stop asking where the paper went in the printer, and I’m still not fully convinced that she finally understands instead of having just grown tired of my attempting to explain it to her.

However 3D printing isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. It will continue to be an increasingly important part of our lives. Not only as more manufacturing industries integrate additive manufacturing processes into their businesses, 3D printing will be playing ever increasing roles in the healthcare industry, dental applications, and food service, and rapid prototyping will continue to usher in an era of better designed consumer products. It is more important than ever to begin introducing the concepts behind 3D printing to schools now so our current generation grows into the one that will usher in a new age of democratized manufacturing.

The 3D printing information aggregator 3D Printing for Everyone — 3DP4E — has joined the growing list of companies producing educational materials aimed directly at those who are unfamiliar with 3D printing concepts and technology. Their new series of Whiteboard Animations was specifically developed after 3DP4E founder Ron Rose had recent media studies graduate Noah Waldman produce a four minute video explaining 3D printing technology and processes.

“When I was hired by 3DP4E, I really didn’t know much about 3D Printing,” explained Waldman, who was hired based on multiple white-board animation videos that he has produced and uploaded to YouTube. “But I thought it was such a neat field of technology that I began to read up about it in order to try and get a better understanding of it. Also because it was kind of my job.”

The first video titled3Ducation 101: What is 3D Printing walks viewers through the basics of both fused deposition manufacturing — FDM — and stereolithography — SLA — 3D printing methods. Rose was so impressed with the video that Waldman produced that he hired him to create an entire series of videos idea for the classroom or just to explain what you to do your parents, friends, or partners who may not get it.

“I think what Noah is creating is just brilliant!” said Rose, the founder and CEO of 3DP4E. “Our goal is to become a resource for people looking to get into 3D Printing, and I feel that these videos are the best way to learn the basics. They are smart, informative and just so entertaining to watch.”

There are currently five videos in the 3Ducation series, including History of 3D Printing, 3D Printing by Any Other Name, What is Digital Manufacturing, and their latest, 3D Printing Materials. Presenting the information using a straightforward and easy-to-follow method like white-board animation is an ideal way to communicate the complexity of 3D printing to neophytes and students alike. All of the 3Ducation videos are available for free and if you would like to share them in your classroom with your students they are available on the 3DP4E YouTube page and their Vimeo page.

3ducation

Those who work in 3D printing-related fields sometimes run into trouble in unexpected avenues — like explaining what they do to those at home. Whether trying to tell Mom what you do all day at work or explaining to students in the classroom, there’s a new educational tool available, thanks to the team at 3D Printing for Everyone (3DP4E). With a new series of Whiteboard Animations from Noah Waldman, 3DP4E’s 3Ducation series has now expanded to five short videos explaining 3D printing technology.

3DPRINT.COM

by SCOTT GRUNEWALD | FEBRUARY 20, 2015

Help for the people without limbs

Posted on 23/03/201514/08/2015 by Malta 3D Printing

How can 3D printing help those with paralyzed limbs?

On this page we’ve shown you many different forms of prosthesis created thanks to 3D printing that has changed the lives of many people with missing limbs.

Now take a look at a project which, using 3D printing, can help people with paralysis gain control over their affected limbs again 🙂

http://3dprint.com/18459/3d-printed-airy-arm/

airy1

Student Creates 3D Printed ‘Airy Arm’, Allowing For Surprising Use of Paralyzed Appendages

We have seen many extremely helpful 3D printed prosthetic hands and arms come to fruition over the past two years. Thanks to groups like e-NABLE and the Robohand Project, there are hundreds of people who now have gained use of both of their hands. The incredible thing about 3D printing is that it allows for the fabrication of completely custom devices, at costs of under $50. Traditional prosthesis cost up to 10,000 times this price, and many of these expensive devices don’t even function as well as their cheaper, home-fabricated counterparts.

3D printed prosthetic hands have been a life saver for individuals (mainly children) who have been born with missing hands, or partial hands. These devices allow them to gain use of an appendage that they never had the ability to use before. With this said, what about those individuals who have their entire arms and hands intact, but for one reason or another don’t have the ability to move them?

There are many medical issues that can cause paralysis of a limb and/or appendage. They range from muscular dystrophy, to arthritis, strokes, nerve damage, and in this particular case a child who was forced to have a hemispherectomy (removal of half of their brain). Devices to help aid these people are not all that common, and if one were to get their hands on such a device, it could cost upwards of $50,000.

Elizabeth Jackson Models the Airy Arm (image source: Brain Recovery Project)

This is where one young lady, named Elizabeth Jackson comes to the rescue, thanks in part to 3D printing technology. Jackson, a member of e-NABLE, and a student of e-NABLE’s “leader”, Jon Schull at RIT(Rochester Institute of Technology), decided that something needed to be created for those without functioning arms/hands. Building on previous work by fellow e-NABLErs Ivan Owen (University of Washington Bothell) and Jean Peck (Creighton University, Omaha), Jackson came up with what she calls the “Airy Arm”.

“The Airy Arm is an exoskeletal device that assists individuals with intact but non functioning hands,” Elizabeth Jackson tells 3DPrint.com. “For example, the child that this was designed for had half of his brain removed which resulted in the paralysis of his wrist and hand. No electric components are used, and the hand is instead driven by the user’s own controlled movement of the elbow.”

The device works with cables that run over and under the fingers and then attach to the elbow. The hinge, located on the elbow, pulls on the cables under the finger and then forces the hand to close, as the elbow bends. When the elbow is straightened, the inside of the elbow pulls the strings located on the back of the fingers, thus opening the hand. This means that when the user reaches for an object, the strings pull the fingers open, and when the user pulls that object back toward his/her body, the fingers are forced to close. A double hinge on the elbow allows the user to have free movement without any interference or irritation of the skin. The underside of the fingers are strung with elastic, which enables the user to hold objects of different sizes, quite comfortably and confidently.

“The frame of the Airy Arm is 3D printed flat from a plastic called PLA (polylactic acid), and is then dipped in hot water and molded to the user’s hand and arm in order to form a comfortable fit that is flexible and lightweight,” Jackson told us. “Printing the pieces flat also decreases the print time and the amount of material used. This device would be useful in a variety of situations, including partial paralysis, stroke victims, and individuals with arthritis or muscular dystrophy.”

Recently at a large e-NABLE event, Jackson had the opportunity to show this device off to the innovators, medical personnel, and fellow e-NABLE members on hand. “People were very excited about the concept,” explained Jackson. “It is revolutionary, and can help so many more people than I ever anticipated. It has been getting very little media attention, as it is still a prototype, but somehow people still heard about it and were excited to actually see it in person.”

There is so much potential for devices like this. Just imagine how many people would love to have such an apparatus enabling them to once again gain use of both hands. Jackson will be working for the Brain Recovery Project, starting in January, in an attempt to create a final design for this device, and get it working for several patients who they work with. The Brain Recovery Project works with children who have experienced severe epilepsy, and were required to have half of their brain either removed or disabled. These children become paralyzed on the opposite side of the body that their brain was removed from, and devices like what Jackson has come up with can help them regain function once again.

airy2

If you are interested in donating to the Brain Recovery Project, you can do so on their website.

If all goes as planned, then perhaps one day soon, anyone will be able to print their own Airy Arm for personal use, or for use by family and friends. This is why 3D printing is such a great tool. It allows for open source designs that are able to be fabricated via downloadable files.

What do you think? Will this device provide as much of an aid to users as some of the 3D printed prosthetic hands we have seen? Discuss in the Airy Arm forum thread on 3DPB.com.

3DPRINT.COM

by EDDIE KRASSENSTEIN | OCTOBER 9, 2014