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 »
Search Results for: 3d printer
3D Printed Robotic Hand Organization Hoping to Close Crowdfunding
The Open Hand Project Aims to Use 3D Printing to Help Amputees
Joel Gibbard is an engineer based in Bristol, UK and founded the Open Hand Project, which aims to make prosthetic hands dramatically cheaper and more accessible to amputees by way of 3D printing.
“The vision of the project is to make robotic prosthetic hands more accessible to amputees,” said Gibbard. “I plan to continue the development for a further year, and for the prostheses to be in use after that. After the devices are in use I plan to move the development forward into further lowering the cost, further advancing the technology and making it more accessible to children and partial hand amputees.”
Link: visit the Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign
The Open Hand Project is a non-profit organization and not affiliated with any other institutions.
Its first product, the Dextrus hand, is a working prototype resulting from this open source hardware initiative. It is a fully-functional robotic hand, with features and capabilities similar to leading advanced prosthetics, but at up to 1/100th of the cost.
The Dextrus hand works much like a human hand. It uses electric motors instead of muscles and steel cables instead of tendons. 3D printed plastic parts work like bones and a rubber coating acts as the skin. All of these parts are controlled by electronics to give it a natural movement that can handle all sorts of different objects.
It uses existing artificial limb attachment hardware and mounts to keep costs down and stick-on electrodes to read signals from the remaining muscles, which can control the hand, telling it to open or close.
3D printing was instrumental to the design and development of the Dextrus hand. “If I didn’t have my 3D printer the development to get this far would have taken at least a year and would have cost 10 times as much,” explained Gibbard. “I’ve only had the 3D printer around 4 months and it was about 3 months between printing my first part, to having the hand you see now.
Support the Crowdfunding Campaign
Mr. Gibbard launched an Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign to raise £39,000 to fund the project for an entire year. The campaign ends on October 9th and he just over halfway to his goal.
Watch this video for the campaign, which includes footage of Chef Liam Corbett, an amputee himself, using the Dextrus hand and explaining its benefits. ”I would be proud to wear this, it would make me feel more confident,” said Corbett.
We asked Mr. Gibbard to share his thoughts on why people should donate to his campaign. Here’s what he said:
People should get on board because we need their support. We have plenty of time to achieve the goal and momentum has really been picking up around the project. Here are 5 reasons that people should donate:
1. One day, you could need this! It’s worth a £15 donation just for the peace of mind to know that it will be available when you might need it.
2. It’s an “all or nothing” campaign. If the funds aren’t raised, you get all of your money back.
3. You can get a great perk in exchange for your pledge. Winter is coming here in the Northern Hemisphere and we could all do with a pair of warm gloves!
4. You’re giving money to a fantastic cause, this could help thousands of people around the world.
5. Every donation helps, even £1 really helps to keep the campaign moving and build awareness. You can keep the amount anonymous if you want to!
You can support their Indiegogo campaign or learn more about the organization at www.openhandproject.org.
Will 3D Scanners Usher in a New Era of Copyright Infringement?
Legal Expert Michael Weinberg Explores the Implications of More Accessible and Inexpensive 3D Scanners
This is a guest post by Michael Weinberg, whose bio is at the end of the article.
Q: Will 3D Scanners Usher in a New Era of Copyright Infringement?
A: No.
Tied into our current 3D printing boom is a second, equally interesting one: an explosion of accessible 3D scanners. As you may be able to guess from the name, 3D scanners can take physical objects and turn them into digital files. Once you have digitized an object you can modify it, share it over the internet, and/or print it out with a 3D printer.
Like 3D printers, 3D scanners are not new technology. Companies have been making expensive, high quality scanners for years. These scanners could be used to quickly create digital replicas of things like buildings, entire neighborhoods, or even fossilized whale bones that are accurate down to the centimeter (or millimeter). But, also like 3D printers, recent years have started to see low cost, pretty-good scanners enter the market.
There huge variety in these scanners. Microsoft’s Kinect has been hacked and turned into a 3D scanner. 123D Catch from Autodesk can turn a series of regular, 2D photographs into a 3D model. Makerbot has released their own 3D scanner (well, sort of their second 3D scanner), and Kickstarter is chock-a-block full of handheld 3D scanners, desktop 3D scanners, and dongles that turn your phone or tablet into a 3D scanner. Back in 2011 we even did a podcast interview with the inventor of Trimensional, an iPhone app that used light from the iPhone’s own screen to create a 3D model.
All of which is to say that pretty soon anyone who wants access to a reasonably high quality 3D scanner will have one. In fact, anyone with a smart phone in their pocket will have one whether they want it or not.
A Crisitunity?
Most people will see this as an exciting opportunity. Imagine if on your next vacation, instead of just taking a picture of yourself next to the Elgin Marbles you scan them so you can print them out at home. Or going to a botanical garden, scanning a bouquet worth of flowers, and mixing them into a 3D printed statue for your sweetheart. Being able to capture the world in 3D will present us all with incredible opportunities.
Of course, some people will see this new technology as a crisis. They will worry that being able to copy objects means being able to copy objects without permission. And that could mean infringing on copyright (of course in many cases the objects being copied will not actually be protected by copyright, but let’s set that aside right over here for now). They will conclude that this type of technology is just too dangerous to be freely available, and insist on some combination of digital and legal restrictions that make it much less useful and much easier to control.
A Dumb Response
This type of response is, in a word, dumb. Yes, it is true that 3D scanners can copy physical objects. And it is true that some of those physical objects will be protected by copyright (or patent). And, furthermore, it is true that some of those protected objects will be copied without permission, therefore infringing on their respective copyrights and patents.
But that alone is not enough to build a case to restrict them. After all, you can say pretty much the same thing about digital 2D cameras. Digital cameras make copies of all sorts of copyright-protected things every day. Many of those copies are made without permission. And, at least on some level, that is a problem.
But no one would suggest that the correct response to that problem is to build limitations into digital cameras. Or hold digital camera manufacturers responsible for copyright infringement. There is no reason to treat 3D scanners any differently.
So enjoy those 3D scanners. Use them responsibly. Or at least as responsibly as you use your 2D camera. And if someone starts freaking out about how 3D scanners will somehow mean the end of intellectual property as we know it, tell them to take a deep breath. Sit them down. Scan their face. Turn it into a 3D printed mug and fill that mug with whatever liquid you think will best help them to relax.
About the author: Michael Weinberg is a Vice President at Public Knowledge, a public interest advocacy group focused on digital issues based in Washington, DC.
Related articles:
- Radiant Fabrication Wants to Be the iTunes of 3D Printing
- Fuel3D Handheld 3D Scanner Closes in on $300,000 Kickstarter Funding
- MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner Goes On Sale for $1400, Video from Bre
- 3D Scanning for 3D Printing: How Kickstarter is Changing the Game
- Video: Burning Man Team Offers 3D Prints of Burners in the Desert
- Do The Mutation: 3D Printed Masks Take Art to a New Level of Personal
- The MakerBot Met Hackathon Spreads with Art Derivations
10 Principles of 3D Printing – Presentation by Melba Kurman
Industry Analyst Presents Key Principles of 3D Printing
Melba Kurman is a former Microsoft product manager turned author and technology analyst who has been writing about 3D printing for the last 3 years. She co-authored Fabricated: The New World of 3D Printing with Cornell professor Hod Lipson, which was published earlier this year.
At the Inside 3D Printing conference in San Jose, Ms. Kurman delivered a presentation called The 10 Principles of 3D Printing.
The overall theme of the talk is that 3D printing is an ecosystem that is disruptive to the limits of design, but not a technology that is going to take away jobs. Rather, 3D printing is going to open up the doors for revolutionizing design and manufacturing by making complexity free.
Below are the 10 Principles of 3D Printing by Melba Kurman:
1. One 3D printer makes many shapes - Just upload a file and the 3D printer will take over. The 3D printer can print whatever is defined by the file, in contrast to single-purpose machines of the industrial revolution era.
2. Small footprint manufacturing – Home 3D printers are small enough to sit on a desk but advanced enough to create truly functional objects. It doesn’t take a 3D printer the size of a showing printing an airplane wing with a small 3d printer
a man carrying the cube
3. No lead time from design to product – It used to take weeks for each step in the design and manufacturing process. Now just upload and 3D print.
4. Skill lies in the design, not the operator – While it’s still a skilled craft to 3D model and design, 3D printing now works with the push of a button. This ease of reproduction also comes with risks, such as 3D printed guns and IP infringement.
5. Less waste – The original trade name for 3D printing is “additive manufacturing,” because objects are created layer by layer rather than subtractive methods like milling. This process means that there is less waste as a by-product of production.
6. No assembly required – 3D printed objects are made in one single piece, even intricate designs with moving parts. This leads to more elegant products that are sturdier while relying less on an expansive supply chain and assembly.
7. Infinite blends of materials – New materials for 3D printing continue to become available, and even blending materials is now possible.
8. Duplicate, edit and copy physical objects – With advancements in 3D scanning technology like the MakerBot Digitizer, physical objects can be digitally captured and reproduced, physical copy-paste.
9. Unlimited design space – Traditional design constraints do not apply in 3D printing. Take for example, the 3D printed titanium jaw used as a personalized implant on a patient, or “biomimickry” art that takes inspiration from nature.
10. Manufacturing complexity is free – Historically, cost is correlated to complexity; more complex objects are more expensive. But with 3D printing, a complex structure (like the one pictured below) is equivalent in cost to physical block of material of the same volume. This has profound implications on pricing and the cost of personalization.
Inventor of 3D Printing Scott Crump: “My Dreams Started in a Garage”
Inside 3D Printing Conference Kicks Off in San Jose
Alan Meckler, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of WebMediaBrands, welcomed the packed crowd to the Inside 3D Printing San Jose. “3D printing is not a device, but an ecosystem,” Meckler said, preparing the audience for 2 days of 3D printing experts from across the value chain.
Conference attendees have come from 38 states and 10 countries are represented, Meckler said.
This success is leading Meckler to continue his 3D printing conference world tour in Singapore, Seoul and Shenzhen over the next year. (Related: read our recap from Inside 3D Printing Chicago)
Keynote by inventor of FDM, Scott Crump
Cornell professor Hod Lipson introduced Stratays’ co-founder S. Scott Crump, giving Mr. Crump credit for not only inventing key technology in 3D printing, but also seeing it through to build one of the biggest 3D printing companies in the industry.
Mr. Crump shared his personal story of inventing FDM (fused deposition modeling) in his garage with his wife Lisa in 1988, 25 years ago. His journey was initially a personal one. He wanted to create a toy froggy for his 2-year-old daughter. But he also had a broader vision of giving engineers the capability to create a physical object from a CAD file.
In 1992, Mr. Crump created the first operational 3D printer. He raised funding, developed a facility, and launched his company Stratasys.
Mr. Crump shared details about the scale of Stratasys. The company now has 24 different 3D printers, ranging from those designed for the home to prototyping to full production, and collectively those 3D printers use over 120 different output materials. These 3D printers range from $2,000 to over $600,000. Stratasys is always innovating, with over 560 patents pending or granted.
Stratasys, now combined with MakerBot, has sold over 50,000 3D printers (25,000 sold by MakerBot), and generated over $360 million in revenue last year.
Making a Difference
Perhaps the most passionate part of the presentation was Mr. Crump’s examples of how 3D printing is making a difference.
He shared the story of Emma, a toddler who was fitted with 3D printed magic arms to address a rare condition she was born with called arthrogryposis multiplex congenita. 3D printing literally gave Emma a second chance at life. (Related: read our article about Emma’s story)
In the long run, Mr. Crump said, everyone can benefit from 3D printing, whether you’re an engineer, jeweler, or investor. “My dreams started in the garage, where will yours start?” he concluded.
Top 3D Printing News Last Week: 3D Systems M&A, Design, Leopoly
3D Printing News
A roundup of the top 3D printing news from September 9 to September 15:
Tuesday, September 10
- Join Us Next Week at Inside 3D Printing San Jose – 15% Discount
- Home 3D Printing Can Save You $2000 Per Year (Infographic)
Wednesday, September 11
Thursday, September 12
Friday, September 13
Saturday, September 14
Sunday, September 15
