Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »
The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »
Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »
With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »
Fab Lab of the Week: MidSouth Makers Opens 3D Printing Workshop
This week’s featured Fab Lab is MidSouth Makers in Memphis, Tennessee.
Here is the mission of MidSouth Makers from their website:
Midsouth Makers aims to sustain the first ever hackerspace within the greater Memphis area. The goal of this hackerspace is bring in builders, tinkers, artists, makers, and doers together under one roof to form a makerspace. By bringing together these people a common place can be established to meet and discuss ideas, explore various technical endeavors, and communicate these thoughts with individuals from various backgrounds. Ultimately we seek to further our knowledge as individuals and as a group by learning what we can from each other.
MidSouth Makers was written up in local publication The Commercial Appeal:
Several members of MidSouth Makers have been building their own 3D printers in the last year. Typically, 3D printing technology, which has been around about 10 years, has been the toy of large-scale manufacturers, whose equipment costs in the tens of thousands. MidSouth Makers’ President Daniel Hess said there’s really no reason the little guy can’t get in on the action.
Hess spent about $800 on parts for his printer and bought $100 worth of plastic. However, the printer may use as little as 50 cents’ worth of plastic on each project.
Most of the printers in MidSouth Makers like it because it’s fun and they can raise some funds for their group by doing 3D Printing Build-Off events in other cities.
The group of 33 members was founded in January 2010. Members pay monthly dues to have 24/7 access to a 1,500-square-foot shop, all of the tools inside it, and the know-how of other members.
Many, like Hess, used to get in trouble with their spouses for tearing apart equipment in their living rooms. Some makers have more entrepreneurial hopes.
Top 10 Countdown: Most Popular 3D Printing Stories in August 2012
Here are the top 10 most popular stories On 3D Printing brought you in August 2012.
10. 3D Printed Meat for Dinner: Peter Thiel Backs Bioprinting Startup
9. TangiBot has a Kickstarter Project for a Much Cheaper MakerBot
8. Google Employees Treated to 3D Printed Pasta by Renowned Chef
7. Stratasys and HP Part Ways on 3D Printer Manufacturing
6. Open-Source 3D Printer Pwdr Takes on MakerBot, Offers New Materials
5. Finally, an iPhone Case That Does Something Useful (Opens Beers)
4. Video: Beauty and the Beak; a Bald Eagle’s 3D Printing Story
3. Team Great Britain Olympic Cyclists Fitted with 3D Printed Helmets
2. Infographic: How 3D Printing Works, Industry Growth, Stocks, and More
1. 3D Printing at Top of “Hype Cycle”, Gartner Reports
Thanks for reading in August!
Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Hardware, Nest, Organs, Hacks
A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from August 27 to September 1.
Monday, August 27
Thursday, August 30
Friday, August 31
Saturday, September 1
Nest thermostat photo by Nest used under Creative Commons license.
3D Printing on the Horizon: Can You Spot the Trend?
Peter Goldmark is a former budget director of New York State and former publisher of the International Herald Tribune, headed the climate program at the Environmental Defense Fund. Mr. Goldmark weighs in on the 3D printing movement on Long Island Newsday.
It’s hard to spot a trend before it happens, and trends in technology are harder to decipher and predict than eating habits. But on our horizon is one powerful new technology, still in its birth pangs, that will revolutionize large parts of our production economy. It’s called 3D printing. It’s just starting to be talked about more in the media now; I learned about it from a friend who is advising one of the young companies in the field. Enthusiasts say this is coming at us like a freight train — but, in its early days, it looks very hard to me to tell how fast this train is moving.
He sees the implications as revolutionary as we do.
Think of where this may ultimately lead. What happens to the factory or the assembly line? What happens to the comparative advantage of China and other emerging countries where cheap labor and manufacturing underpin their entire economies? What happens to manufacturing jobs period, in any country, if all a computer operator has to do is input the specs of the desired item to a 3D replicator?
3D printing will spell the end of inventory as we know it. And at the most basic level, it will change the meaning and operation of that most fundamental law of business: economies of scale.
It’s not too early for Walmart, or the Teamsters, to start worrying.
Here’s a video showing the latest in 3D printing.
Read the full post at Newsday.
Trend commandments photo by Michael Covel used under Creative Commons license.
Will Arduino Drive the 3D Printing Open-Source Movement?
Could the open-source movement push 3D printing from the peak of the hype cycle to more mainstream adoption? This would enable consumers to get their hands on cheaper 3D printers and 3D printing applications.
A big catalyst for open-source hardware today is Arduino.
Arduino is the brainchild of an international team of five engineers: Massimo Banzi and Gianluca Martino of Italy; David Cuartielles of Spain; and David Mellis and Tom Igoe of the U.S. According to Banzi, who recently made a presentation at TEDGlobal 2012, Arduino has developed the Interactive Design Institute Ivrea (IDII) to help students there actually build prototype objects that could react to their inputs. Using a foam model of a prototype cell phone, for instance, simply would not make sense.
Arduino’s openness means that the micro-controller board can be found in the heart of a lot of open source hardware devices today, including 3D printers, toys and thousands of projects within the maker community. Commercial vendors and do-it-yourselfers alike are picking up Arduino boards and customizing them for their projects with the eventual launch of some compelling devices.
Implications
With more 3D printers in the hands of product creators, the reliance on “Made in China” would decrease and more goods would be made locally, even in consumer’s homes. Adding open-source technology to the equation only speeds the time to market because of the price discount experienced by consumers.
Will Arduino be that open-source component that gives 3D printing its due boost?
Via ReadWriteWeb.
Arduino photo by LenP17 used under Creative Commons license.
