The World’s Smallest Stop Motion Video

Nokia Cellscope: a very simple combination of a Nokia phone and a microscope, capable of seeing very small things at low cost. The idea is to enable those in third world countries to perform basic microscopy – and then instantly transmit results for expert analysis elsewhere.     To celebrate the development of the Cellscope,… Continue reading The World’s Smallest Stop Motion Video

Neurosurgeons Are 3D Printing

There’s nothing like being able to hold something in your hand and inspect it. You can look from all angles close or far and can use your sense of touch to aid in understanding completely what you’ve got.   That’s exactly the approach Hawaiian neurosurgeons at the Tripler Army Medical Centre are taking. They’re able… Continue reading Neurosurgeons Are 3D Printing

3D Scanning by UAV

You may have guessed we’re fascinated with new ways of capturing 3D models for printing, and this week we’ve found a rather unusual method: UAV images. Researchers at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne’s Computer Vision Laboratory have developed software to combine thousands of images gathered by UAVs into very usable 3D models.    The software,… Continue reading 3D Scanning by UAV

3D Dino Prints

Another example of 3D data capture took place when a team from Southern Methodist University scanned prehistoric dinosaur tracks using 3D scanners out (literally) in the field.    The team used a combination of hardware (including a NextEngine HD Desktop 3D scanner with ScanStudio HD Pro software, RapidForm XOR2 Redesign and LightWave 3D) to capture… Continue reading 3D Dino Prints

MIT Looks at Printing Buildings

Architect and MIT professor Neri Oxman has been investigating new techniques for applying 3D printing to the science of building construction. We previously wrote of Neri Oxman’s exploits with MaterialEcology, where she leveraged the synergy of computing, ecology, material engineering and design to produce experimental forms.    Now she’s investigating the issue of building materials.… Continue reading MIT Looks at Printing Buildings

Order Your Own Mini-Me

3D Print service Sculpteo now offers the ability to print a figurine with your own head on it! The process is pretty straightforward: take two police-lineup style photos of your face and send them off to Sculpteo with your order. Their artists will cook up a colorful design that you must approve before it’s printed.… Continue reading Order Your Own Mini-Me

3D Printed Ornithopter Wings

Researchers at the Cornell Computational Synthesis Laboratory building a miniature ornithopter (that’s a flying device that uses flapping wing motions for lift) had a problem: the wings were difficult to create due to their small size and mechanical requirements.     The problem was solved by using 3D printing techniques to create the wings. The… Continue reading 3D Printed Ornithopter Wings

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Calling Makers: Emergency Dome Needed!

We wondered what Effalo’s next project might be, and now we know for certain: It’s a much larger geodesic dome, apparently to be used in a music video. Unfortunately, according to Michael Felix, principal of MakerFactory, they have less than two weeks to produce the dome and their extruder is broken! They’ve posted a series… Continue reading Calling Makers: Emergency Dome Needed!

3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award

You might have seen those amazing 3D printed shoes produced by Materialise. Well, they’re so impressive they’ve been nominated for the Brit Insurance Design Award, and as such they’re being exhibited in London until 7th August of this year at the Design Museum. According to Materialise:   Within the fashion category are nominees Naim Josefi… Continue reading 3D Printed Shoes Nominated For Award

The Zoybar 3D Printed Guitar

It seems there is growing interest in 3D printed musical instruments. After the amazing 3D printed flute  we now see another 3D printed guitar: The Zoybar TOR. This funky item is composed of a small number of parts (three) printed by Shapeways.   Designed by Bård S D, this item is not available for sale… Continue reading The Zoybar 3D Printed Guitar

EOS’s PEEK Craniofacial Implants

Accidents happen and sometimes tragic victims require replacement of critical bone structures. These replacement body parts have been constructed with Titanium for strength and durability. However, 3D printer manufacturer EOS has just developed a new process to produce craniofacial implants using PEEK, a high-temp, biocompatible plastic.    The custom laser-sintered implants are desirable because they… Continue reading EOS’s PEEK Craniofacial Implants

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

3D Print a Kindle!

Not exactly, but it’s surprisingly close to printing a Kindle. Maker Stergios Stergiou has designed a combination case and magnifier that blows up an iPhone 4 screen to 6 inches in size – approximately the same size as an actual Kindle. This makes it much easier to read eBooks, for example.    The device, called… Continue reading 3D Print a Kindle!

3D Printing Board Games

3D modeller Jeff Timothy is exploring the possibility of creating a new service focused on 3D printing board game pieces and equipment. This makes a lot of sense to us, as 3D printing would be a great way to create unique game pieces. And board game designers obviously need new pieces for their projects, don’t… Continue reading 3D Printing Board Games

Scott Elliot Invents an Insert

Scott Elliot, owner of a very busy Solido SD300 plastic-sheet 3D printer has come up with yet another amazing design: shipping inserts to ensure safe travels for package contents.    Since Scott uses the SD300, he is able to print items not possible with other extrusion-based devices. The plastic sheet approach can print objects with… Continue reading Scott Elliot Invents an Insert

Inventables – Materials for Inventors

We’re taking another look at maker material store Inventables, which we wrote about a year ago. At the Inventables hardware store, you won’t find very much that you could put through your 3D printer. Plastic filament is best purchased elsewhere. However, sheer amount of truly amazing materials available at Inventables is staggering.    While we… Continue reading Inventables – Materials for Inventors

Printing Musical Instruments

Tipster Jb pointed us at a video of a rather startling project: Printing a complete musical instrument. In this case, MIT Media Lab researcher Amit Zoran attempted to print an entire and working flute in one operation. We’re not sure if printing an object of this complexity has ever been attempted before; we’ve seen some… Continue reading Printing Musical Instruments

Racing Prototypes

MCD Racing produces radio-controlled racing cars, 1/5 the size of real vehicles. These are not toys – they are highly sophisticated machines capable of winning world championships. These cars are capable of world record speeds of an unbelievable 260Kph (161mph)! Obviously they must be very carefully designed, perhaps with 1/5 the effort that goes into… Continue reading Racing Prototypes

PC Board Printed

We just noticed this development that was posted last July: a RepRap 3D printer was used to print a circuit board. Well, not completely – the 3D printer actually printed the etch resist, which protected the conductive bits from the acid bath. The resulting board was then cleaned up and had components mounted on it. … Continue reading PC Board Printed

Aluminum Bronze Casting Succeeds

Open3DP’s experimentation with metalcasting molds has paid off: one of their experimental hydroperm molds was used in traditional metalcasting (in this case poured aluminum bronze) at the Port Townsend Foundry and the successful results are apparent in the image above. According to Laura West and Dave Feathers:   The mold was placed in a greensand… Continue reading Aluminum Bronze Casting Succeeds

Printing Rockets

You may be under the impression that 3D printers produce flimsy models, suitable for show – but not for action. This is generally true, but it’s changing as 3D printing ventures into metal or concrete printing. One project we’re watching is taking place at ZCorp, manufacturers of high-end commercial 3D printers. Mark Cook, ZCorp’s VP… Continue reading Printing Rockets

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Human Organ Printing

We ran across a fascinating video showing a bio-printing concept being researched at the Biophysics Lab of the University of Missouri-Columbia. According to Dr. Gabor Forgacs, they will be able to replicate human parts by creating new organs cell by cell in a manner similar to everyday 3D printing.  Here’s how it works:   “Spheroidal… Continue reading Human Organ Printing

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Metalcasting Breakthrough

Those inventive folks at the University of Washington are at it again. This time they’ve been working on a simple formula for cementenous metalcasting. In other words, material with which you can make an effective mold for molten metal casts. At one point, they were using this recipe:    1000 parts VersaBond 250 parts Maltodextrin 250… Continue reading Metalcasting Breakthrough

Stratasys Prints A Car!

Well, not exactly an *entire car* – but just its body. The Urbee was an entrant to Progressive Insurance’s Automotive X-Prize. The competition has now closed and Urbee ended up ranked “in the top 30 in the world” according to a recent press release. What’s so interesting about this to us? The car’s body, including… Continue reading Stratasys Prints A Car!

Students Race 3D Printed Cars

The Utah Valley University recently held a competition in which students designed “pinewood derby” style race cars – and then printed them out for actual racing. This derby began in 2008, when Professor David Manning of their Engineering Graphics & Design Technology department managed to convince the budgeteers to acquire a Dimension 3D printer.   … Continue reading Students Race 3D Printed Cars

3D Printing Saves NYC Jeweler

Crain’s New York Business reports on the fate of a New York City jewelery prototyping company, Tech-Designs, who produce one-of-a-kind jewelery models for designers far and wide.    Amazingly, Tech-Designs, who have a staff of only three people, also have a fleet of seven 3D printers, which are kept busy printing six days a week.… Continue reading 3D Printing Saves NYC Jeweler

Objet is Certified

Objet Geometries, makers of the powerful Alaris, Eden and Connex lines of commercial 3D printers just announced they’ve managed to receive ISO 13485:2003 certification. This certification means Objet is now able to deliver various types of 3D printing equipment into a wide variety of medical roles. We’ve seen Objet dabble in dental before but this… Continue reading Objet is Certified

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Amazingly Detailed 3D Prints

David Munson is a professional 3D technologist who provides a wide variety of 3D-based rendering services, such as studies of solar illumination on proposed buildings, 3D diagrams, etc. But we noticed some incredibly cool 3D prints he’s prepared, including the one above. Notice the staggering detail in the support structure of the radar dish –… Continue reading Amazingly Detailed 3D Prints

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

A Non-Obvious 3D Print: Sound

Andy Berlin, Z Corp engineer extraordinary decided to push the limits of 3D printing by printing something unusual, in an attempt to inspire others to bend their imagination. He managed to convert a sound wave into a spiral ridge, with the sound wave corresponding to peaks and valleys in the shape. That’s right – he… Continue reading A Non-Obvious 3D Print: Sound

Materialise Rescues Itself

Interesting story from i.Materialise, where Joris explains that some two years ago, a tripod lever was catastrophically damaged. Rather than buying a new tripod and unable to acquire a replacement lever, they decided to “eat their own dog food” by designing and printing a replacement part.    A suitable design was prepared and the lever… Continue reading Materialise Rescues Itself

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Managing Strokes with 3D Printing

Leslie Langau tells an amazing story of how a 3D printer was used to treat stroke patients. Professor Robert Rennaker II at the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences at the University of Texas in Dallas has been doing experiments simulating the various disabilities of stroke victims.   … Continue reading Managing Strokes with 3D Printing

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Bespoke Makes Legs – Beautiful Legs

We’ve been waiting for something just like this: a startup company that takes full advantage of 3D printing technology to mass personalize an item for everyone. In the case of Bespoke Innovations, they supply one-of-a-kind prosthetics for individuals by leveraging 3D print technology from 3D Systems with an artistic flair:    The Bespoke process is… Continue reading Bespoke Makes Legs – Beautiful Legs

V-Flash Scores The Details

We received some fascinating images of sample objects printed on a 3D Systems’ V-Flash Personal Printer. This printer is perhaps priced higher than one may consider owning personally (USD$9900), but it is sufficiently small and inexpensive to be operated “personally” within an engineering or design firm.    These images show incredible fine detail on these… Continue reading V-Flash Scores The Details

Design-Worthy Cement Printing

Two years ago we wrote on Contour Crafting’s experiments with building-sized 3D printing, in which they were designing a house-sized 3D printer assembly to extrude concrete into shapes suspiciously resembling buildings. The concept is almost unbelievable, where you could erect most of a house at the push of a button (and a few deliveries of… Continue reading Design-Worthy Cement Printing

Printed Meats!

Following up on last week’s post regarding the amazing feats of the Cornell Computational Synthesis Lab’s work on Food Printing, this week they have more spectacular announcements. They’ve been working with the French Culinary Institute to produce what is perhaps the most advanced forms of printed food yet.    In this example they’ve managed to… Continue reading Printed Meats!

3D Gem Holders

Scott Elliot of the SD300 blog came up with a great idea: print Gem holders for homemade gemstones. Well, not exactly homemade, but home-etched. You see, he happens to have a C02 laser with which he’s able to engrave tiny patterns onto the gemstones. He’s discovered the best results are obtained from engraving “lab grown… Continue reading 3D Gem Holders

Fabricating UAVs

UAVs, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, seem to be slowly taking over air forces around the world. It turns out that a key contributor to some of these vehicles is Laser Sintered parts. Many parts can be fabricated using this technology, and they are “stable in hot environments and are tough, pliable, and robust in harsh… Continue reading Fabricating UAVs

A Trophy for Materialise

Materialise was selected to produce trophies for the Moto GP in Sachsenring and Formula 1 race in Budapest. The design was made by Antonio Pio Saracino at the request of Eni, who needed a new interpretation of their traditional six-legged dog logo. Saracino’s ethereal design is quite amazing, and of course, impossible to build using… Continue reading A Trophy for Materialise

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

3D Printed Chairs

Freedom of Creation has produced another set of amazing furniture, this time by Dutch designer Bram Geenen. The design of the Gaudi stool (pictured) and a matching chair was done mathematically, where the curves and internal structure were determined by the distribution of various forces. From design, the furniture was produced by laser sintering. These… Continue reading 3D Printed Chairs

Wearable 3D Fashion

Iris van Herpen’s startling clothing designs are worn even by Lady Gaga – but now Ms. van Herpen has used 3D print technology to produce some totally awesome items exhibited at the Amsterdam International Fashion Week in July. The “Crystallization” collection included the amazing top seen above. We especially like the back view (click for… Continue reading Wearable 3D Fashion

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Hydrocolloid Printed Food

Researchers from Cornell University have been exploring a new angle on food printing: the use of hydrocolloids. What the heck is that? From their paper:   Using a novel combination of hydrocolloids (xanthium gum and gelatin) and flavor agents, texture and flavor can be independently tuned to produce printing materials that simulate a broad range… Continue reading Hydrocolloid Printed Food

Objet Organizes a Dental System

3D printer manufacturer Objet has joined dental scanning provider 3Shape to create an integrated workflow solution specifically for dental restorations. The solution links 3D models produced by 3Shape’s dentist-focused scanning equipment and software directly into Objet’s Eden 3D printers. According to Avi Cohen, Head of Medical Solutions at Objet Geometries, the solution:    includes special… Continue reading Objet Organizes a Dental System

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Erik’s Wedding Topper

Netherlands-based personal fabrication researcher Erik de Bruijn recently got a chance to link his research area with personal life by creating a wedding cake ornament on his 3D printer for his own wedding!  The project involved searching Google 3D Warehouse (unsuccessfully), preparing a 3D model (available on Thingiverse) and printing both pieces (bride and groom… Continue reading Erik’s Wedding Topper

Sintering the Moon

We just finished reading a paper describing the viability of using microwaves to fuse lunar soil (regoilith) into solid shapes, in the hopes of creating an effective way of building lunar structures for future astronauts and their bases.    The chemistry and process are fascinating. It seems that most of the lunar regolith was formed… Continue reading Sintering the Moon

Print Some Legs and Make Them Whole Again

One of the most interesting applications of 3D printing is medical uses. We’ve written about many different medical applications, ranging from printed tissue, to replacement bones. Today we ran across Alison Lewis’s wonderful post describing her experience encountering custom printed prosthetics for amputees.    The procedure was to scan the patient’s surviving leg and through… Continue reading Print Some Legs and Make Them Whole Again

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Breeding RepRaps

The premise behind the RepRap project is to build a machine that can reproduce itself. While it’s not quite able to accomplish that task entirely, it can produce a great many of its own parts.   That’s exactly what’s going on at the University of Washington, where they seem to have set up a “RepRap… Continue reading Breeding RepRaps

Materialise Replicates King Tut!

The Discovery Times Square Exposition in New York City has a unique addition to its display of Tutankhamen artifacts: King Tutankhamen himself! Or at least a very precise replica of his mummy.    Artist Gary Staab was commissioned to prepare the replica, and he turned to 3D service Materialise for assistance. Using their sophisticated Mimics… Continue reading Materialise Replicates King Tut!

Do You Need an Atomic Force Microscope?

Sure, everyone needs an AFM! But what is it? From Wikipedia:   Atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning force microscopy (SFM) is a very high-resolution type of scanning probe microscopy, with demonstrated resolution on the order of fractions of a nanometer, more than 1000 times better than the optical diffraction limit. The precursor to the… Continue reading Do You Need an Atomic Force Microscope?

EOS Focuses on Medical Applications

Commercial Laser Sintering giant EOS has been focusing on the medical market recently, using their SLS expertise to produce a variety of solutions.    EOS uses several plastic approaches, including laser-sintered nylon for “disposable, customized operating devices such as drill guides for knee and hip replacements”. They’re also developing “PEEK HP3”, which is a “a… Continue reading EOS Focuses on Medical Applications

Solido – Up Close

Fabbaloo has obtained 3D print samples from printer vendor Solido, including the dramatic skeleton hand above. Solido uses a unique plastic sheet printing technique in which successive sheets are glued and cut, eventually building up to an object. This process certainly produces a lot of waste plastic – but don’t fear! You can send the… Continue reading Solido – Up Close

3D Bone Puzzle: Solved

There’s some interesting work taking place at the British Royal Infirmary, where 3D technology is being used to improve the process of rebuilding highly complex joint fractures.    These complex fractures are very difficult to repair due to the myriad of tiny pieces that must be precisely placed back in their original locations in order… Continue reading 3D Bone Puzzle: Solved

Specialized 3D Bikes

Those ultra-cool bikes from manufacturer Specialized made from carbon fibre just don’t appear. They’re designed very carefully – using 3D printing technology.   The process begins when Specialized engineers design a bike using a 3D modelling tool. Their objective is to produce something that not only is technically brilliant, but also looks good. The entire… Continue reading Specialized 3D Bikes

3D Printed Gloves

Fabbing superstar Janne Kyttanen of Freedom of Creation has been commissioned to produce unique white 3D printed gloves, as shown here. The gloves were commissioned by the Design Hub Barcelona, are will be on display from 15 June 2010 to 28 February 2011 in at the Fabrication Laboratory exhibition. According to DHUB:    The objects… Continue reading 3D Printed Gloves

Printing the Moon

We saw a few posts recently proposing to use the D-Shape outdoor printer to be modified for printing a lunar base. That’s an enticing and challenging possibility, but why not print the Moon on Earth while we await real lunar exploration? That’s exactly what space enthusiast Howard Fink did, as you can see in the… Continue reading Printing the Moon

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

uPrinting Arms

Tiberius Arms is a small company specializing in the design and manufacturing of advanced pneumatic weapons. You may have used similar weapons on the paintball grounds, but they’re also used by the military for training and police forces as a “less than lethal” weapon. Tiberius has been producing weapons since their first product, a sniper… Continue reading uPrinting Arms

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Changing Prosthetics Forever

Daniel Terdiman of CNET news writes a long article describing how 3D printing is “changing prosthetics forever”. We’ve written several articles in this area over the past two years, and now it’s become visible in CNET.    Terdiman explains how the combination of amputee soldiers’ needs, 3D scanning, 3D printing and individual manufacturing have opened… Continue reading Changing Prosthetics Forever

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Converting the Camaro

What do you do if you live in Australia and want an American muscle car? It’s difficult if they’re not sold locally, so you’d have to purchase them in the US and ship them over the Pacific. But then you run into the problem of orientation: the US cars are designed to drive on the… Continue reading Converting the Camaro

MCOR Prints A Car

MCOR’s Matrix 300, the 3D printer that prints in plain paper, was recently used by design students from London’s Royal College of Art to produce a vehicle design, shown above. The MCOR Matrix is unique among 3D printers due to its use of paper as a print material, resulting in extremely inexpensive (and recyclable) media.… Continue reading MCOR Prints A Car

Wallpaper’s 30 Concept Houses

Wallpaper commissioned 30 concept houses for the 4th International Architecture Biennale in Rotterdam. They felt their exhibit would best show the concepts by having actual 3D models on display. The DMC (Digital Manufacturing Centre) London produced these models for 30 different architectural clients for the exhibition. 3D design files were obtained from the architects and… Continue reading Wallpaper’s 30 Concept Houses

3D Collaboration Puts 700 Year Old Monolith In Your Hands

We’ve all seen the enigmatic Easter Island monoliths called Moai, erected for mysterious purposes by long departed pacific islanders some 700ish years ago, and we find them quite intriguing. They were also very interesting to Mark Ganter of Open3DP, who wanted to 3D print one. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a readily available dataset containing a 3D… Continue reading 3D Collaboration Puts 700 Year Old Monolith In Your Hands

Animation with 3D Printing

It has been done before, with Coraline, but now a post from Creative Review walks us through how the title sequence for Dutch TV programme “Het Klokhuis” (“The Apple Core”) was created.  The process involved printing numerous objects corresponding to frames of the sequence, which were then placed on a mini-stage and recorded. Animation… Continue reading Animation with 3D Printing

3D Printed Kitchen

This week has seen several articles on Food Printing, and today we can tell you that not only can the food be printed, but so can the Entire Restaurant! Instructables Restaurant is the first open source restaurant in the world. Everything you see, use and eat is downloaded from instructables.com. It’s an experiment in internet… Continue reading 3D Printed Kitchen

Dental Scanning

We’ve all been to the dentist (you have gone, haven’t you?) and from time to time we need to get replacement teeth or portions thereof. The dentist makes you bite into rubber or plastic moulds to capture the 3D shape of the required parts and then sends it off for custom manufacturing. But Is there… Continue reading Dental Scanning

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

3D iPhone Covers Now Available

We wrote last month about Freedom of Creation’s venture into printing with the MCOR paper-based 3D printer. They were playing with some rather colourful iPhone covers. Now you can buy iPhone covers from their online store, but these are not from the MCOR and are instead merely Laser Sintered Polyamide.    We prefer the Double… Continue reading 3D iPhone Covers Now Available

Published
Categorized as Usage Tagged

Flying With Objet

Objet 3D printing technology is being used at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering to produce a Robotic Samara – a micro unmanned aerial system (UAS). The school focuses on advanced propulsion, composites and hypersonics for potential alternate modes of flight for military applications:   Micro/Nano Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) are… Continue reading Flying With Objet