research

3D Design By Example

Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab have developed a new twist on 3D design by creating “Fab By Example”. 

Shark Material Produced by 3D Printing

Shark skin is quite rough yet allows rapid swimming, for those of you who haven’t been up close with the notorious fish, but now the nature of the skin has been duplicated with 3D printing. 

Overhangs? What Overhangs?

Australian engineer Daniel Brown has been experimenting with overhangs, the bane of 3D printer operators worldwide. It looks like he’s managed to overcome them. 

ECN Develops A DLP Metal Printing Technique

Researchers at the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN) have developed a new technique for 3D printing that can create metal parts without melting its mineral material.

3D Printer Filament Recycling is Super Green

In a study recently released by the Michigan Technological University (MTU), Joshua Pierce and his group have found that recycling commonplace plastics into 3D printing filament consumes less energy than traditional recycling.

4 AXYZ’s 3D Potential

4 AXYZ CEO Samir Shah provided us with several incredible examples produced by their new process. When you see them and read his explanations, you’ll understand why we think this technology is so important. 

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The MX3D: A Robotic 3D Printer

On the heels of its debut in May 2013, the MX3D-resin printer has already evolved from a machine only capable of building in plastic to one that can print in a variety of metals.

NASA’s 3D Printed Instruments

NASA is experimenting with 3D printing techniques to develop not one, but at least three different solutions to space instrument manufacturing issues. 

Contour Crafting Update

Many years ago we wrote a brief story on Contour Crafting, who, if you don’t know, are developing the technologies necessary to 3D print entire buildings in concrete. The idea is to erect a “portable” 3D printer gantry around a home-building site and have the device extrude the walls of the building.    This approach… Continue reading Contour Crafting Update

3D Printed Underwear?

A UK firm has revealed plans to produce a line of apparently 3D printed underwear. Tamicare has developed a new process that is said to enable 3D printed fabric, which they intend to produce underwear with, at least at first.    The fabric generated through this process is trademarked as “CosyFlex”. It’s not entirely clear… Continue reading 3D Printed Underwear?

A Virtual 3D Printer in Minecraft

Ingenious YouTube user and Minecraft Designer ItsJustJumby has created a kind of virtual 3D printer in the world of Minecraft.    Minecraft, if you’re not aware, is a simple to use 3D virtual environment where people can design and build, well, anything!    Even though the “printed” output appears quite simplistic to real 3D printer… Continue reading A Virtual 3D Printer in Minecraft

Cornell 3D Prints a Working Audio Speaker

Researchers at Cornell University have developed a method that is capable of 3D printing an entire, working audio speaker.    The process involves two different 3D printers: one prints the basic structure in plastic, while the other prints the electronic parts within the plastic structure.    It’s a two-stage operation, to be sure, but it… Continue reading Cornell 3D Prints a Working Audio Speaker

3D Printed Skulls Help Teach Future Brain Surgeons

Brain surgery is notoriously difficult with surgeons spending years honing their craft. Given the need for more hands-on practice performing surgical operations, researchers at the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur have created a 3D printed skull that can provide just that.   Using scans of each layer of the human skull, Vicknes Waran, professor… Continue reading 3D Printed Skulls Help Teach Future Brain Surgeons

A New Approach to 3D Printed Skin

The University of Liverpool has developed a different approach to 3D printed skin, which had been previously accomplished. The problem with prior techniques is the appearance: manufactured skin was entirely uniform, without the bumps, wrinkles, freckles and curiosities of actual human skin.    The new approach involves scanning a subject’s surviving skin to  prepare a… Continue reading A New Approach to 3D Printed Skin

3D Printing Patents Sky Rocket in Number

In a recently released report, the UK’s Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has stated that the amount of patent filing related to 3D printing has increased dramatically since the year 2000.   After analyzing 9000 patent records filed since 1980, a team of IPO researchers pinpointed a rapid upswing in 3D printing related patents; particularly in… Continue reading 3D Printing Patents Sky Rocket in Number

3D Printed Batteries?

Harvard materials scientist Jennifer Lewis has produced a new liquid material that could be used to 3D print lithium-ion batteries.    The “ink” is intended to be 3D printed using the syringe approach that is frequently used for bioprinting or culinary experiments.    The process to produce the liquid material is quite interesting. Printing battery… Continue reading 3D Printed Batteries?

New Ways to Resurrect Dinosaurs with 3D Printing

A paper published in the journal Radiology explores new techniques used to capture 3D information from dinosaur fossils. The new approach overcomes the problem of removing non-fossil material from the actual fossil during excavation and subsequent processing. Apparently when surrounding material is removed, small portions of the true fossil can be lost.    The new… Continue reading New Ways to Resurrect Dinosaurs with 3D Printing

USC Investigating Multi-Material 3D Printing

Researchers at the USC Viterbi School of Engineering led by Professor Yong Chen have demonstrated a new method of 3D printing multiple materials. By “multiple” we mean two materials that can be combined in different ratios. For example, the process can print an object that has both hard and soft portions – in different degrees… Continue reading USC Investigating Multi-Material 3D Printing

Making Prints Stick: Some Tips

The folks at ProtoParadigm have produced a terrific list of tips on how to reduce or eliminate the deadly warping effect that plagues personal 3D printers.    There’s nothing worse than discovering a time-consuming mess caused by a print that lifted off the bed. The warping itself isn’t such a problem; it’s that the warping… Continue reading Making Prints Stick: Some Tips

Open Source Metal 3D Printing

We ran across an interesting project that’s attempting to create a system for 3D printing metal at very low cost. The idea is to do for metal manufacturing what was done for plastic manufacturing with current open source 3D printers.    The project, by Andreas Bastian, is entitled “An Open Source Selective Laser Sintering 3D… Continue reading Open Source Metal 3D Printing

3D Bioprinting Saved by Vitamins

Researchers developing techniques to 3D print extremely small objects for medical purposes have had a problem. To fuse material at the nano scale, a “two photon” technique is used. The material becomes solid when exposed to the targeted photons.    However, bio material is not typically fusible, so researchers often print a scaffold on which… Continue reading 3D Bioprinting Saved by Vitamins

3D Printed Horseshoes Opens Up Human Possibilities

Researchers at Australia’s CSIRO have 3D printed metal horseshoes – but there’s a lot more to this story.    The titanium shoes were produced for a particular horse: its hooves were 3D scanned in detail with a handheld scanner. The 3D capture was used to engineer new horseshoes that fit the horse perfectly. Four shoes… Continue reading 3D Printed Horseshoes Opens Up Human Possibilities

Canadian Government Investigating 3D Printed Weapons

The 3D printed weapons controversy continues. From the CBC we learn that the Canadian Government, or specifically several of its agencies (the RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada) have sponsored a request for contractors to provide insight into 3D printing of firearms, ammunition and associated parts.    Our view is that… Continue reading Canadian Government Investigating 3D Printed Weapons

More Evidence of 3D Printing’s Greenness

After our green filament post earlier discussion of 3D printing greenness continued and resulted in a pointer to a document posted by the American Chemical Society that investigates the electricity consumed and CO2 emitted by different manufacturing materials. What exactly did they examine?    The embodied energy and emissions from conventional large-scale production in low-labor… Continue reading More Evidence of 3D Printing’s Greenness

Laser Slicing Technique Scans Microscopic Objects

A new process for scanning microscopic objects has been developed at Penn State. The process involves a nanosecond-pulse laser that slices microscopic objects.    You can see the results above in a 3D model obtained from a maize root.    This is a destructive process, as the scanned object is placed on a moving platform,… Continue reading Laser Slicing Technique Scans Microscopic Objects

4D Printing

Earlier this year MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits made news when he unveiled his 4D printing technique. The technique uses a 3D printer to create objects whose materials can be programmed to assemble into new structures.  It’s now gaining a wide audience, particularly in military circles.   The US Army has awarded an $855,000 grant to… Continue reading 4D Printing

Amazing Six-Axis 3D Printer Shown

Associate Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering Yong Chen of the University of Southern California has been experimenting with different mechanical arrangements for 3D extrusion printing.    Readers are likely familiar with the standard cartesian XYZ 3 axis configuration typically found in inexpensive personal 3D printers. You may also be familiar with the “delta” concept,… Continue reading Amazing Six-Axis 3D Printer Shown

3D Printed Bacterial Cages

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new technique for studying bacterial growth through an ingenious use of 3D print technology.    The issue being solved is the study of bacterial growth. Present techniques involve petri dishes and similar vessels that, compared to a bacteria, are utterly massive. It is difficult… Continue reading 3D Printed Bacterial Cages

Measured: 3D Printing is Indeed Green

A report from Michigan Tech details the results of a study that attempted to determine the “greenness” of 3D printing. Their result: 3D printing is apparently significantly less energy-absorbing than conventional mass production.    You wouldn’t think so at first, because mass production is clearly a more efficient process due to the economies of scale.… Continue reading Measured: 3D Printing is Indeed Green

Big Step to Reduce Materials in 3D Printing

One of the reasons 3D printing remains expensive is because so much material is required to create a structurally sound part. Soon, 3D prints might be getting cheaper due to a new technique that enhances a part’s structure while reducing material.   A paper written by researchers at the University of Science and Technology of… Continue reading Big Step to Reduce Materials in 3D Printing

3-Sweep Creates 3D Models from 2D Images

In an incredible video presented at SigGraph Asia 2013, researchers demonstrated an amazing new method of deriving full 3D models from only 2D images.    The 3-Sweep software appears easy to use: simply drag your mouse across an image to cue the software to create a 3D model. The specific motion of the mouse drags… Continue reading 3-Sweep Creates 3D Models from 2D Images

It’s A Thingiverse Survey

The P2P Foundation, who recently issued their annual 3D printing survey, have come up with another survey specifically to analyze Thingiverse.    Thingiverse has become the most notable 3D-model-for-3D-printing free repository, now boasting over 100,000 3D models. But with that size comes questions. Are these things publicly viewable or private? Why upload things? Have you… Continue reading It’s A Thingiverse Survey

OpenFab’s Visionary Goal: Multi-material Objects

Developed by MIT and presented at this year’s SIGGRAPH conference, OpenFab proposes a way to more easily produce incredibly complex milt-material objects.    OpenFab is not a 3D printer; it is a software “pipeline” of steps that enable the creation of complex, multi-material 3D models that can then be printed on a 3D printer capable… Continue reading OpenFab’s Visionary Goal: Multi-material Objects

NASA’s 3D Microdispenser

NASA often provides small amounts of funding to check out some pretty unusual ideas. One of the projects they’re currently funding is the feasibility of an advanced biocomposite microdispening system.    Wait, what the heck is that? We told you this was an unusual idea! The proposition is to use micro-components already available in the… Continue reading NASA’s 3D Microdispenser

Capturing High-Res 3D Scenes

Scientists at Disney Research have developed a new method of converting a collection of 2D images into a 3D model. While this approach is commonly done – and can even be accomplished on your smartphone with the 123D Catch app, the researchers have found a way to efficiently process huge images. This processing results in… Continue reading Capturing High-Res 3D Scenes

GIANT 3D PRINTED BUGS!

The Australian National Insect Collection could be a creepy place if you’re adverse to meeting bugs. But now it’s enormously MORE creepy because they’ve used advanced technology to create GIANT 3D PRINTED BUGS!   They’ve carefully 3D scanned specimens of several species and reproduced them up to forty times life size. Yes, FORTY. And they’re… Continue reading GIANT 3D PRINTED BUGS!

3D Printing Liquid Metal Electric Circuits

Researchers Collin Ladd, Ju-Hee So, John Muth and Michael D. Dickey at NC State University have published a paper describing their experiment in 3D printing liquid metal – at room temperature.    The liquid metal used by the researchers is binary eutectic alloy of gallium and indium, which, in very small droplet form becomes relatively… Continue reading 3D Printing Liquid Metal Electric Circuits

3D Systems Joins Planetary Resources

You may recall the announcement of Planetary Resources? They’re the futuristic company that intends on developing technology to capture asteroids and refine them for their mineral wealth. The company is backed by several notable entrepreneurs and explorers, including X-Prize founder Peter Diamandis and filmmaker James Cameron. Now they’ve added another major investor: 3D Systems.   … Continue reading 3D Systems Joins Planetary Resources

Demand for 3D Printers Continues to Grow

In a recently released report, independent market research firm IDTechEx found that the 3D printing market did an impressive billion dollars in business in 2012, and that by 2025 it could reach four billion in total sales.   In the study, titled “3D Printing 2013-2025: Technologies, Markets, Players,” IDTechEx argues that 3D printing sector growth… Continue reading Demand for 3D Printers Continues to Grow

A Collectable Rubber Duck in Hong Kong

Eddie Tsai of Hong Kong’s Fung Academy researched the adoption of 3D printing by consumers and came up with the concept of “hyperlocal promotions, the ability to respond to events around the world with meaningful relevant products quickly.”   An interesting concept certainly, but it quickly became reality for Tsai, who was contacted mere days… Continue reading A Collectable Rubber Duck in Hong Kong

More Advanced 3D Interfaces Brewing

California-based Atheer is developing an advanced wearable 3D visual display that should be available in 2014. The as-yet-unnamed product appears to be a set of North Korean-style glasses that display 3D information to each eye.    You might think Atheer is repeating Google’s Glass product, but they’re not. Atheer’s product will be completely standalone and… Continue reading More Advanced 3D Interfaces Brewing

A Resin for 3D Printed Microelectronics

Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology and C-MET have developed a specialized resin that is suitable for 3D printing electronics at a microscopic scale.    The goal was to develop a material usable to create micro-sized electrodes. Apparently a “carbonization” stage is required to create electrical conductivity, but current materials could not withstand that… Continue reading A Resin for 3D Printed Microelectronics