electronics

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 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?

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

An Interview With Limor Fried

Fabbaloo recently caught up with Adafruit’s Limor Fried to discuss her views on 3D printing. Here’s the interview:    Fabbaloo: Adafruit recently partnered with MakerBot to produce a bundle of DIY electronics and the capability of 3D printing. Do you see further collaborations with 3D printer manufacturers or 3D print services?   Limor Fried: We’ll… Continue reading An Interview With Limor Fried

The Adafruit-Flavored MakerBot

Do you build electronics projects? Do you 3D print objects? Do you print 3D cases for your electronics projects? If you answered yes to any of those questions, especially the last one, you’ll be interested in a fascinating collaborative offer from electronics kits distributor Adafruit and personal 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot.    The two companies… Continue reading The Adafruit-Flavored MakerBot

Do You Carbomorph?

Carbomorph is a new, experimental material for 3D printing that promises to add a whole new range of capabilities with its ability to embed sensors within 3D printed items.    Carbomorph was invented by researchers at the University of Warwick in the UK in their quest to develop a method of 3D printing electronic circuits.… Continue reading Do You Carbomorph?

The RA 3D Printer Controller

It’s not a 3D printer, but you could make one with it. It’s the RA 3D printer controller, now showing on Kickstarter.    The project involves creation of a “cutting edge” 3D printer controller board. This is the electronics portion of your 3D printer, typically used in RepRap-style kit assemblies.    What makes this board… Continue reading The RA 3D Printer Controller

3D Printing Electrical Circuit Discovery?

We’re reading about a group of researchers at Stanford who have concocted new gel-like substance that has some very interesting properties. We think the electrically conductive hydrogel created by Stanford Associate Professors Zhenan Bao and Yi Cui could potentially be used in 3D printers, or perhaps a modification of it. At least it’s worth an… Continue reading 3D Printing Electrical Circuit Discovery?

More Metal Printing Experiments

The RepRap team continue to develop methods of printing electrical conductors. If they succeed, it would be possible for future 3D printers to print objects that include (at least at first) simple electronic circuits embedded directly in their shapes. One can imagine a wide variety of LED lamps or switchboxes emerging quickly once this tech… Continue reading More Metal Printing Experiments

3D Printed Curvilinear Antennae

Researchers at the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory at Illinois have achieved something never before accomplished: printing an electronic antenna onto a curved surface. Why would you want to do this? According to electrical and computer engineering professor Jennifer T. Bernhard:    These antennas are electrically small relative to a wavelength (typically a twelfth of… Continue reading 3D Printed Curvilinear Antennae

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

Ponoko’s Electronics

Distributed manufacturing service Ponoko has added some new materials to their shelf. Actually a *lot* of new items, and they are electronic! No, you’re not printing or extruding electronics, but instead they are selectable components that can become part of your creations. The list of components is astonishingly long, ranging from fourteen different styles of… Continue reading Ponoko’s Electronics

Get Ready for Printed Electronics

We were all quite impressed when the RepRap printer managed to reproduce itself some months ago. But in fact the reproduction was only of its structural members, whereas the metal bits and electronics were not actually reproduced. No worries, it will eventually happen. Metal printing has emerged in several 3D print services, but what about… Continue reading Get Ready for Printed Electronics

Battery Printing

  Leslie Gordon of Machine Design.com writes on the possibilities of printing electronics, and specifically batteries. We all know that 3D printers can easily create cases for electronics, but what about the electronics themselves? This is difficult to achieve on traditional one-material-at-a-time 3D commercial printers, but experiments being undertaken by the fab kit makers is… Continue reading Battery Printing