How 3D Printers Are Transforming Lives in Sudan
March 13, 2014
This came up as one of those advertisement videos while I was waiting for a YouTube video.
It gave me goosebumps. Absolutely amazing.
http://iq.intel.com/how-ultrabooks-and-3-d-printers-are-transforming-lives-in-sudan-and-it-s-just-the-beginning/
What Exactly is a CubeSat? (video)
March 11, 2014
3d Printing a CubeSat Structure (video)
March 11, 2014
“Fablab Aachen printed the prototype of our cubesat structure.
We are developing a low cost space probe. The first system is planned to be sent into orbit in 2013. System includes reaction wheels, gas thrusters, IMU and optical navigation modules.”
3D printing of the ESO CubeSat project. This model will allow us to test its structural configuration.
Expert Blog Post #1
March 11, 2014
“Select a subject area that you would like to focus on. For instance, you might be particularly interested in biotech, architecture, toys, archaeology, fashion, manufacturing, food, retail services, software design, materials, ethics, sustainability ??? 3D design and printing touch on all of these fields and more. Select a theme. Tell me about your interest. Pose a question you’d like to explore, and begin to research the question. You’ll be working with this theme throughout the remainder of the semester, so go with your interest. The idea is for you to become an expert in an area, and then share your growing expertise with the class via your blog.”
I’m a little confused about the requirements for this assignment. Not confused in the sense that what the “ask” is from the professor is confusing, but confused because I’m unsure how to tackle this. One the one hand, I can pursue the obvious path for me. That is, 3d printing applications for space exploration. I have a strong interest in the subject and my enthusiast-lens helps me to synthesize concepts that I read. This can also span many research questions such as: (broad question) “What are some mission critical applications that 3d printing can facilitate?” or narrow such as “Are 3d printed spacecraft parts feasible, reliable, and effective?”
Or I could disregard the whole space exploration applications, since I’m already working on something for my SmartPitch project, and venture into an unknown territory. An area that has always appealed to my curiosity is the area of 3d printed prosthetics. When I was in the music business I met a married couple (both musicians) with limited income (again, both musicians) and they had a little girl, about 5-6 years old, who was missing a leg. I recall there was a campaign within our music network to help raise funds just to help with the expenses of her prosthetics. Children prosthetics are particularly critical and expensive because they require a new set, in some cases, every couple of months as the child grows. This path of research may be interesting but also emotionally draining. Perhaps I should stick to the space path. What do you think?
Project Draft Assignment
March 6, 2014
For many years research organizations and universities have been struggling to launch scientific payloads into space. In the past, groups had to submit proposals to ride along NASA or United States Air Force launches as “secondary payloads”. If selected, they had to custom make a small spacecraft, or figure out a way to attach their experiment to the primary payload. In 1999, California Polytechnic State University and Stanford University developed the CubeSat concept. The basic premise of the CubeSat miniature satellite is to create a standard platform so that all universities and research organizations would have access to space research.
Since the creation of the CubeSat platform there have been numerous experiments sent to space benefiting from this technology. Most have come from universities and a few have even hosted high school payloads. While this platform has been very successful, there is still room for improvement. While the CubeSat itself follows a standard, each experiment and payload within the CubeSat unique, thus requiring significant resources to custom make specialty components. One key factor lowering the costs in development has been the implementation of 3d printers within the research institutions. This allows students and teachers to create quick flight ready prototypes in order to build out their payloads. This is where the CubeSat 3D Printing Townsquare comes into play.
Even with the advantages of utilizing 3d printers to develop CubeSat experiments, many research teams spend a significant amount of time trying out different ways to 3d print their components. Many of these teams are mostly focused on the science and not the engineering so the 3d printing development cycle can even be a nuisance. My proposal is for an online platform for researchers, students and contractors to share their 3d printed component designs and even reach out to each other for additional help. Users will be able to browse existing designs, upload their own designs, and communicate with one another. The aim is to share innovation, speed up development time and forge new professional relationships amongst folks in this field.
Sources
- • http://www.livescience.com/25044-3d-printing-a-low-cost-satellite.html
- • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CubeSat
- • http://www.cubesatshop.com
A 3-D printed prosthetic nose and ear are seen on display during the 3-D Print show at the Business Design Center in London, on Nov. 8, 2013.
Article here: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-24/3-d-technology-may-someday-print-up-new-livers-health.html
“A method for the manufacture of a plastics product (1) and a plastics product (1), which plastics product (1) comprises a first (2) and a second (3) component that are both manufactured completely or partially from moulding plastics, and which first component (2) is manufactured by moulding in a mould, such as by injection moulding, and which second component (3) is made by a process in which it is built in a layer-by-layer fashion, such as by 3D-printing, and having a mounting surface (7); and wherein the first component (2) is ready-moulded and ejected from the mould prior to it being joined with the second component (3) to form the plastics product (1). By the first layer of material formed in the 3D-printing process of manufacturing the second component (3) being formed on a surface having the same shape as the mounting surface (7) of the first component (2), it is enabled to manufacture a product with a high degree of design individuality, while simultaneously parts of the product can be made with very fine tolerances.”
And for a fun twist on this story, a 3d printer made of Legos:
Source: http://3dprint.com/1383/lego-awarded-3d-printing-patents-may-allow-users-to-print-own-bricks/
Fabricated – 3d Printed Consumer Goods – Green or Not?
February 28, 2014
I submitted a post to another class (Green IT) and decided to use this part of the Fabricated book. I thought it was worthwhile to include here since the assignment for the Fabricated book only allowed for 250 words.
I have been reading a book titled “Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing”. The book provides a top level overview of the history, technology, and potential directions for 3d printing. For starters, 3d printing is a blanket term for several different processes that exist to produce 3 dimensional physical objects from computer design files. The two most common processes are additive manufacturing and laser sintering. In additive manufacturing, an extruder heats up and excretes melted plastic. The extruder itself is mounted on a device that moves in 2 dimensions (x and y axis. The platform where the material is being secreted moves downward. Essentially the material is layered until the item is complete. In laser sintering, a high-power laser beam is directed toward the surface of a bed a of powder. The powder melts and the process continues for the next layer. The traditional (non additive manufacturing process) is injection molding. In injection molding, one first has to create a metal mold of the object you would like to produce. Creating the mold itself requires a high degree of expertise and it is a multi step process. Once the mold is complete, it is assembled into an injection molding machine. In this process, polycarbonate pellets are melted into the mold. The melted plastic takes the shape of the mold and it is completed in seconds. The benefit of this process is that the mold can create thousands upon thousands of replicas within a very short amount of time. This has been the long standing method for large scale manufacturing.
The book makes speculation that the traditional injection molding process will made be obsolete by localized 3d printers. The question now becomes, due to the reduction of scale and the dirty tradition of factories, is 3d printing a green alternative?
The book’s first response is no and makes three arguments against 3d printing as a green technology to replace injection molding. First, per unit of mass of manufactured product, a 3D printer consumes more than 10 times as much electricity as an injection molding machine. Second, an injection molding machine creates very little waste product as the input materials directly take the form of the final product. Last, 3d printing these goods instead of large scale manufacturing means that instead of several big shipments of the final products in the distribution process is more energy efficient than a distribution network built on large numbers of small shipments to different locations. As the book puts it, “if 3d printed manufacturing were merely scaled up to global proportions, there would be nothing green about it”.
The next chapter makes a complete 180 degree turn in speculation and with good reason. The book then goes on to make a case for 3d printing as a viable green alternative to traditional manufacturing methods. The trick is not to simply make 3d printing adapt to the current paradigm of large scale manufacturing. Instead, the book proposes that manufacturers leverage the capabilities of 3d printing to create a new manufacturing paradigm. Technologists like to call this “technological disruption”. The first argument is that 3d printing allows for the fabrication of products who shape is ultimately optimized for its application or environment. Second, storing digital design and print files is more ecofriendly and less costly than storing and maintaining environmentally costly warehouses full of inventory, staff, packing materials and molds. Next, 3d printing technology does not require large scale manufacturing facilities. Therefore, localized manufacturing is feasible. Products can be made on a per need basis with quick easy local access to the customer (think Kinko’s/Staples but for specialized custom products). Lastly, there is still an unexplored potential to work with recycled or “earth friendly” materials.
Bill Gates Just Shared This Link On His Facebook
February 27, 2014
This reminds me of Viktoria’s project.
Fabricated – Lasting Impressions
February 25, 2014
– The book covers many facets of the topic. What do you find the most exciting and/or surprising? What kinds of new possibilities do you see? What are concerns that you have?
While I’ve had some exposure to 3d printing in the past, this book has exposed to many new facets and possibilities. I’m going to extend my answer here to two areas that this book exposed me to.
Education
The book makes an interesting case for the utilization of 3d printing in the classroom at nearly every grade level. I’m a firm believer that the future prosperity of our tiny world on all fronts (economic, social, science, etc.) is dependent on the ingenuity of future generations. That’s not necessarily meant to be a blanket statement. This covers science, engineering and the liberal arts. By incorporating 3d printers in the classroom, students with scientific leanings may get additional exposure and encouraged to learn how things come together (i.e. chemistry, biology). By being able to experiment and observe they can apply the things learned in books and in lectures to real examples. This ability enables the fostering of a whole new realm of education which, besides the potential for greater effectiveness in retaining the material, may also inspire the confidence to nurture these questions and garner the confidence necessary to continue in such a field. Engineering types benefit greatly by being exposed to the printer itself. Imagine a kid seeing a 3d printer work for the first time and take an interest on how the printer head moves and is guided by the tracks. Its an elegant engineering marvel that a student with such leanings could be inspired by to pursue the field further.
Green Manufacturing
The book poses an interesting argument. Is consumer level 3d printing a greener alternative to large scale factories that utilize injection molding processes? At first glance we see that 3d printing, per pound of manufactured product, consumes more than 10 times as much electricity as an injection molding machine. The author then continues to state that “a distribution network built on large numbers of small shipments to different locations isn’t ecologically efficient. All of this adds up to the fact that if 3d printed manufacturing were merely scaled up to global proportions, there would be nothing green about it”
However, in the following chapter this idea takes a different turn. The authors make a case by greener manufacturing with 4 points. First, 3d printing can fabricate products that are more optimized for its environment or application (as opposed to other technologies). Second, storing the design files for these things is far more efficient than storing things like specialty molds. Third, 3d printing may someday allow for localized distribution, as opposed to inventory having to be transported across oceans, air, etc. Lastly, there is the potential for this technology to work with recycled or eco friendly input material.
– What questions do you have after reading the book?
- How will intellectual property protection take place? Especially when considering the disruptive technology of affordable, and accurate 3d scanning?
- Additive manufacturing has reached consumer level. Can laser sintering and multi material 3d printing follow?
– If there is one type of technology that you could try out/experience, which would it be? Why?
I really would like to play around with a 3d scanner and a laser sintering 3d printer. I build and collect model rockets and it would be fun to replicate some of my models digitally, be able to modify them, and then print them out.