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
Dreambox Hopes to Make 3D Printing Universal with Custom Vending Machines
“3D printing will enable every human on this planet to design, customize, and create products to solve problems – from the slightest household annoyance to global issues – and we’re here to fuel the revolution from the bottom up.” – Dreambox Team
A Dreambox is a 3D printing vending machine. It is the simplest way to have your custom models created. Take away the dozens of hours to setup a 3D printer, take away the weeks of waiting to receive an item from a 3D printing service, take away the need for a full-time operator and you’re left only with 3D printing’s unique manufacturing capabilities. With a Dreambox users can freely experiment with and harness 3D printing’s advantages.
The team came up with their concept while at UC Berkeley where it was hard to get access to 3D printers for rapid prototyping. Their only alternative was to order from online 3D printing marketplaces which would take 10-12 days for delivery and was more expensive.
Having an item 3D printed with a Dreambox is as simple as uploading or choosing a design online, clicking the “Print” button and retrieving the item once it’s ready. The details of what happens in between choosing to print an item and receiving that item are not important to the end user. What is important is that multiple users can get physical versions of their digital creations faster and simpler than ever before.
Dreamboxes are built to order with a varying number of internal 3D printers and lockers based on customer needs. Instead of creating our own 3D printers, we leverage the best of existing 3D printing technology so we can stay on the forefront of quality. Increasing the internal number of 3D printers and lockers lets a single Dreambox service a larger number of individuals.
Dreambox currently uses fused deposition modeling to create products from bioplastics, but will in the future offer additional material options.
Learn more at the Dreambox website.
Below is a concept video of the Dreambox 3D printing vending machine.
And here’s an inside look at how the Dreambox works.
Video: How 3D Printing Will Change the World and Industry Interviews
In the PBS video below, the 3D printing industry is profiled.
3D Printing is heralded as a revolutionary and disruptive technology, but how will these printers truly affect our society? Beyond an initial novelty, 3D Printing could have a game-changing impact on consumer culture, copyright and patent law, and even the very concept of scarcity on which our economy is based. From at-home repairs to new businesses, from medical to ecological developments, 3D Printing has an undeniably wide range of possibilities which could profoundly change our world.
The video includes interviews with:
- Sam Cervantes from Solidoodle on innovation
- Carine Carmy from Shapeways on supply chain disruption
- Michael Weinberg from Public Knowledge on copyright and IP
- Joseph Flaherty from Wired.com on bioprinting and more
Watch the full video below.
Top 10 Countdown: Most Popular 3D Printing Stories in February 2013
Here are the top 10 most popular stories On 3D Printing brought you in February 2013.
10. 3D Printing Retail Store Hosts Open House in Denver, CO
9. Make: Where Do We Really Stand On 3D Printing?
8. Cornell Professor Develops Technique for 3D Printing a Human Ear
7. Details on the 3D Printing Institute from Obama’s SOTU Address
6. Accused of Stealing, 3D Printing Design Marketplace 3DLT Apologizes
5. NPR Discusses 3D Printed Guns on Morning Edition
4. Biofabrication: Scientists 3D Print Stem Cells to Create Human Organs
3. Video: The Best 7 TED Talks On 3D Printing
2. Must-See Infographic: How 3D Printing Will Revolutionize the Classroom
1. President Obama Calls 3D Printing “Revolutionary” in State of the Union
Thanks for reading in February!
3D Printing Drugs: Medical Miracle or Illegal Substance Enabler?
Among the many applications for 3D printing, scientists are researching how to enable patients to 3D print personalized medicine and drugs.
Vice.com recently interviewed Professor Lee Cronin from Glasgow University about how this technology will work.
VICE: Hi Lee. So firstly, can you briefly describe how the 3D printing of a drug works. You don’t just print out a little pill, do you?
Lee Cronin: OK, I will try. Imagine the following: 1) you go to an online drug store; 2) you decide what you need (with a prescription); 3) you buy both the blueprint and the ink; 4) the “ink” comes pre-sealed in a safe cartridge; 5) you print the drug with the special ink and the software; 6) you take the drug.
And what are the main benefits of this approach?
Well it’s nice, because it allows you to deploy the drug more widely and now the software is the value, not the chemical. It removes the problem of counterfeit drugs, for example, and also opens up the way for personal medicine.
Exploring this concept further, it seems that this technology could be used to print illicit drugs in addition to medicine.
And you won’t buy drugs either, you’ll download apps. These apps will give you access to the blueprints that will give you what you need. And you won’t even need to worry about the legality of drugs any more, because there won’t be any drug laws, because drugs will be so tailored it’ll be impossible for the state to keep up without resorting to selling them itself.
So, will 3D printing be used for good drugs or illegal substances? Or both?
Via Vice.com.
3D Printed Car Urbee 2 Announced: Light, Aerodynamic, and Custom Made
Last June, we featured Urbee, the first 3D printed car. Optimized for renewable energy, this novel design promises 200 miles per gallon. Details about the next generation design, called Urbee 2, are now coming to light as the car nears production.
It has a metal chassis but a plastic frame, 3 wheels and weighs only 1,200 pounds. And nearly everything is made through 3D printing.
Jim Kor, head of Kor Ecologic, talks about the process of designing the Urbee series in the video below.
In an interview with Kor, Wired also shares new details about the new 3D printed car.
“We thought long and hard about doing a second one,” [Kor] says of the Urbee. “It’s been the right move.”
Kor and his team built the three-wheel, two-passenger vehicle at RedEye, an on-demand 3-D printing facility. The printers he uses create ABS plastic via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The whole car – which is about 10 feet long – takes about 2,500 hours [to produce].
Besides easy reproduction, making the car body via FDM affords Kor the precise control that would be impossible with sheet metal. The current model has a curb weight of just 1,200 pounds.
Kor used the design freedom of 3D printing to combine a typical car’s multitude of parts into simple unibody shapes. For example, when he prints the car’s dashboard, he’ll make it with the ducts already attached without the need for joints and connecting parts. What would be dozens of pieces of plastic and metal end up being one piece of 3D printed plastic.
“The thesis we’re following is to take small parts from a big car and make them single large pieces,” Kor says. By using one piece instead of many, the car loses weight and gets reduced rolling resistance, and with fewer spaces between parts, the Urbee ends up being exceptionally aerodynamic.” How aerodynamic? The Urbee 2′s teardrop shape gives it just a 0.15 coefficient of drag.
More from Wired.
Can 3D printing revolutionize the car industry?
