Chapters 5 & 6 Question 1 DUE 9/30
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After reading Chapters 5 and 6 of Fabricated please reply to this topic. Due no later than 4pm on Wednesday September 30. Late work will not be accepted.
Both Chapter 5 (Printing in layers) and Chapter 6 (Design software) detail the current state of 3d printing and 3d software technologies. How do you correlate the current state of affairs presented here with the ‘future world’ scenarios presented in Chapters 1-4? How do the present-day technologies need to develop so that the ‘future world’ can come to be? As usual be certain to make specific references to the reading, though you may include other references as well.
Upon entering the market, 3D printing was far too advanced for its time. Chapters 1-4 depict how this additive printing method can be used for good and bad, boost on-demand products and replace mass manufacturing in the future world. In the ideal world, 3D printing would reduce the time from design to the product in hand. However, these chapters also touched on the fact that this new technology can either create or destroy jobs.
The current state of 3D printing is advancing toward these futuristic goals, but not quite there yet. While reading Chapter 5 & 6, I see that currently there are too many steps that need to take place in order to produce a 3D model. In some of the processes materials need to be put in a furnace to harden or the designer has to monitor all steps for the printing, from design to product. In my opinion, that is too much time wasted. In the current 3DP world plastic is the most common material used, as opposed to in a futuristic world where more advanced materials can be used, so much so that whole homes can be produced from 3D printing. The more current markets get comfortable with trusting these machines to create for their businesses, the more advanced the process will get. At that time the software used to develop these models will be so advanced that a CAD file is all that will be needed to print, not delivery people for parts. Fostering less time used to manufacture more.
Our world in the future that from chapter 1 to chapter 4 mentioned that 3D printing could make everything from breakfast to equipment for a household and work would be in rose. A 3D printer would be like a magical box for people to definitely fulfill your dream lives. It would support you anywhere and anytime. It would be a perfect world.
However, in reality, there are so many downsides to 3D printing at present. The book mentions that selective deposition printers can print only in materials, photopolymers, SL printing are expensive, fragile and brittle, excess material needs to be rinsed off, fumes uncured photopolymers can be toxic to breathe, three dimensional printing (3DP) is difficult to create extremely thin layers without a laser, and so on. Also, surfacing modeling software is still difficult for graphic animations’ motion and a real image, solid modeling software cannot always edit into irregular geometries, the surfacing modeling software cannot make an inner structure, and design software is not yet ready to think about multimaterials, and so on.
So in the industry level which could invest a lot of money for machines, 3D printing is more practical than ever and could give us a big opportunity to be able to produce a large quantity of things. However, it is still difficult to make more complicated stuff. And in the personal level, actually, you can make only a toy level but just simple. Therefore, our ideal future with using 3D printers that we want to imagine must overcome above weaknesses.Chapters 1-4 depict an ideal “utopia” and “dystopia” of 3D printing while Chapters 5 and 6 are a reality check that reveal the technology is not quite there yet. Even so, 3D printing was too advanced for its time upon entering the market. Chapters 1-4 use magical and dream-like imagery and optimistic examples to show how additive printing can create on-demand products and replace mass manufacturing in the future world. However, at the present time there are many downsides to 3D printing. According to the textbook, PolyJet printers can print only using photopolymers which are fragile and brittle and uncured photopolymers emit toxic fumes. In the section “A Manufacturing Process at Heart” John T. Lee, the manager of ABC’s 3D modeling says, “I think that the name ‘3D printing’ is almost a marketing term. 3D printing is manufacturing—it can be a dirty and messy physical process. We use chemicals, and depending on what I’m doing in here, sometimes I wear a gas mask.” A major hurdle in the progress towards the “future world” is the amount of steps involved in producing a 3D model. In most cases the designer has to monitor all of the steps for printing and sometimes the materials need to be put in a furnace to harden. It seems that the 3D printer is still just one tool in the grand scheme of manufacturing. With a greater financial backing and more businesses trusting in the technology, the materials capable of being printed can become more advanced, the process less involved, and the turnaround time even quicker. This is all key to how the present-day technology needs to develop so that the “future world” can come to be.
Chapter 5 and 6 of Fabricated are about the real world we live in, where the 3D printing technology just start to affect our daily life. The world, chapter 1 to 4 described, is the future with mature 3Dprinting technology. Chapter 3 and 4 gives us an insight of how 3D printing will change the world we live in. However, in these two chapters we just read, present-day 3D printing technology is in its infant stage. Engineers and 3D Printing enthusiasts are exploring the possibilities and applications with this new technology. In most case, today’s 3D printing industries are focused on building porotypes and models for other engineer or designer. Other materials beside plastic are not being used in home-scale printers. Even the plastic materials are expensive, so 3D printers are still not something most people can own and use at home. Therefore, cheap materials should come out to make the “future” happen.
The other big obstacle that 3D printing technology need to overcome is the software. In the book, the authors states: “The not-so-great thing about design software is that it still isn’t, even today, capable of digitally capturing the full essence of physical objects” (FABRICATED). The design software didn’t keep it pace with the growth of 3D printing. There are a lot thing software can’t do. For example, it can’t do multilaterals, even though metamaterials printers come out when this book is written. Also when we transform the file to STL form to print, the design file may have a lot of flaws and it takes significant amount of time to fix them. We cannot know if the design is work or not when we design in software. The software should update and be more easy to use, so one day, every one can be a designer at home.The digital world outlined in the first four chapters presented us with a very certain and positive future in which digital printing technologies were commonplace. It was something that struck the reader as a norm and necessity of that world in everyday activities. In these latest chapters the reader is confronted with a more realistic reality or a barrier from the world painted earlier.
In present day the design software is in much need of acceptance and understanding. As described in Chapter 5, “garbage in and garbage out” is a very real obstacle to overcome. Before we can go ahead into the world where all these wonderful print files exist for anyone to print, the developers of the files must have a firm understanding of the software and the file types at hand. Without the “expert tweaking” most files remain existent only in the 2-d world.
Also another problem is that “engineering design software is still learning how to think in additive rather than subtractive operations.” The present day technologies will have to be able to create intricate and complex designs in quicker additive means in order to catch up to its engineering cousin.
Another obstacle present day technology must surpass, in order to be closer to the sci-fi world of the earlier chapters, is the lack of variety in raw materials that is usable in 3d printing. As of now “companies and printing hobbyists must content themselves with plastic, metals, ceramics, edible semi-solid foodstuffs, and to a lesser extent concrete or glass.”I was surprised to read that “‘3D printing’ is almost a marketing term. 3D printing is manufacturing—it can be a dirty and messy physical process. We use chemicals, and depending on what I’m doing in here, sometimes I wear a gas mask” (John T. Lee, Chapter 5) and “A downside of SL printing is that fumes from uncured photopolymers can be toxic to breathe.” In the previous chapters, 3D printing was described as a greener alternative to production, so I thought that it was user-friendly and did not emit any kinds of chemicals. This insight by John Lee made me realize that that utopian idea is not the case presently. In the futuristic world, 3D printing will not be manufacturing. it will most likely become a simple printing device that is easily used by consumers and manufacturers.
Also, 3D printing in the previous chapters were illustrated as fast. But on the contrary, “the LS printing process is hot. A completed printed object can’t be grabbed quickly out of the machine. Depending on the size and thickness of the layers, larger parts might need to cool for up to a day” (Chapter 5). Some of the limitations discussed in chapter 5 seemed to have been solved in the futuristic narration in chapter 1. In chapter 5, one problem listed for selective deposition printing and polyjet printing is that the only specific materials could be used to print. However, as described in the fictional future, houses could be built through 3D printers, and even bread could be made.
In chapter 6, one of the issues with today’s design softwares is that it is not up to date with limitless 3D printing. “Design software can’t map what’s below an object’s surface. Hence, an object’s innards remain beyond the reach of what a typical computer (and design software) can handle.” In the futuristic world, anything is possible to print, which means that hopefully design softwares would be advanced enough to concern with all details of the design.
According to the two chapters, there is a lot of work needed to make 3D printing develop into the idealistic version of the future. The design software must be improved, and printing time, variability of printing materials, and safety of 3D printers must be modified as well.
Chapters 1-4 were more about glorifying 3d printing. The first two chapters mainly spoke about the future of 3d printing. It showed us the possibilities that could come about one day, such as using cartridges to create food and recreating one’s organs to assist their health. This however, is similar to how the movie, “Zenon” portrayed life in the 21st century. According to that movie, we should be living in space stations.
Chapters 3 and 4 began to touch upon the history of 3d printing and how it came about as well as where we could see ourselves using this technology in the near future. However, Chapters 5 and 6 are a bit different. They focus on where we are with 3d printing today, and just like Zenon, the future that the first makers of the 3d printer had hoped for is not a reality as of now, but we are definitely going in the right direction.
“I think that the name ‘3D printing’ is almost a marketing term. 3D printing is manufacturing—it can be a dirty and messy physical process. We use chemicals, and depending on what I’m doing in here, sometimes I wear a gas mask.” This is important because when most people picture a 3d printer, I feel as though they picture something out of a movie that can create something in the blink of an eye, when in reality.. it isn’t all that simple. We need to get to a point where we understand the process behind the printer that helps it function the way it should.
The futuristic world depicted in chapters 1-4 makes the 3D printer look simple and easy. Whatever you want is available as quickly as you need it to be. These chapters show society as a utopia and dystopia. Since what we need is readily available, anyone who has a printer can use it. Chapters 5 and 6 show how complex 3D Printing actually is. It takes a lot of time and can be quite messy. When John takes the author through the factory, we see the various machines used to aid in the printing process. He demonstrates a machine that uses a strong wind to blow off the excess material off the print. It so strange that “3D Printing” is a term used for this process. As they explain, this is most definitely manufacturing. There is so much time and effort that needs to be put into it that using printing as a term does not do justice. Printing gives off the vibe that its quick and easy, like chapters 1-4 depict, when in actuality it is not.
‘Fabricated’ is a book that seemingly progresses on a downward slope in terms of ‘excitement’. The first two chapters depict a society whose lives are intensely integrated with the technology of 3D Printing. It creates houses, foods, toothbrushes, organs, as well as guns and drugs. Wow! Amazing! It is almost like a small ‘god’ that lives in our house that we can control, capable of bringing both good and bad into the world at the press of a button. It is fast, easy, and clean. It is like magic.
The chapter 3 and 4 focus more on the historical progress of 3D Printing and how, when it began to be introduced, it was technology whose capabilities were far beyond the public of that age. However, today, it becomes an increasingly advantageous product. It is very useful for certain small businesses. It allows entrepreneurs to create prototypes of the products they envision without spending a lot of time and money—to the point where they can develop their own product while still working another day job. It is an amazing tool for the ‘Makers’ of the world. Chapters 5 and 6, however, address the current reality of 3D Printers. 3D printing is not magic—it, like most things in the world, is a process that can require a lot of time and effort. And, like most processes, there are difficulties. For example, we are not able to scan what lies beneath the surface of an object, and we cannot use any raw material we desire to 3D print. The design software we currently have access to is rather limited and cannot handle everything our minds are able to manifest. It’s not as instantaneous as described either, it takes a very long time to print objects depending on the size and complexity. Beyond that, it is also an environment hazard. Uncured photopolymers that can result from SL printing has been shown to be toxic.
As a result, it became increasingly apparent that 3D Printers are not magic, and that there is still so much that has to be improved upon before we even reach a third of what is capable in the society described in the first two chapters. The capacity of our design software needs to be improved upon so that we can increase what can be created. 3D printers, overall, have a lot more development to do in terms of hardware so that they are faster, stronger, and more efficient. Finally, in my opinion, there needs to be a lot invested in ensuring that 3D printers will be environmentally safe.Currently, though 3D printing is progressing in leaps and bounds, there is a growing gap between hardware and software that must be addressed. The future of 3D printing lies in printable computers made up of tiny processors. STL format focuses on simplifying designs into more manageable forms. It was designed for computers 30 years ago; comparing a computer from then and now would be akin to comparing humans to algae. In order for additive manufacturing to advance, the industry standard must switch to a format that retains the complexities demanded of future products.
The hardware also has some ways to go. Printing in metal is a relatively recent achievement and while there are multiple methods to do so, the vast majority of them involve high-powered lasers and are still quite costly. To quote the textbook, the ability to print in metal really put 3D printing on the map, at least for car and airplane manufacturers. In order for 3D printing to truly revolutionize the way things are made, int needs to be come cost efficient to the point that it’s a financially realistic to the population at large.
In these two chapters, the book is being realistic and explains what really the process of printing a 3d object is. In chapters from 1- 4 it makes me imagine on how the future world would be, from printing food, to making buildings out of a 3D machines, but in these chapters 5 and 6 it breaks down what really has to happen to have a successful print. What caught my attention was how the cleaning the design file. How important it is to be sure that the model is 100% perfect on the software so it can be printed, and If you do it wrong than you end up messing up raw material. By this I think how complicated can be to have a “future life” just how the previews chapters have talked about. I think one of the things that would need to develop so that “future world “ can happen is to somehow lower the price fro raw material, and make the software more friendly user for people who don’t got any experience with it. What caught my eyes on chapter 6 is how expensive back then drawing or 3D software’s used to be. This chapters are realistic compared to chapters 1-4 that used dreams on a future 3D world.
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