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
Exclusive: Cubify by 3D Systems Prints at Google I/O and Launches API
Cubify by 3D systems hosted a 3D printing station at Google I/O in San Francisco this week. At this station, the 6,000+ Google I/O attendees could design their own custom 3D printed Nexus phone stand and print it off at the show.
Not only was the Cubify team educating people about 3D Printing, but also were announcing their public API to thousands of Android developers who might want to build a 3D printing app.
We took some photos of the team showing off some 3D printed goods, such as a belt, glove and tie.
The Cube printers were on display in various colors, each working to print a custom Nexus phone stand for a lucky attendee.
They also had some goods that were created on other 3D printers by 3D Systems, such as the guitar in this photo.
Read more about 3D Systems and Cubify in our previous posts.
Photos by on3dprinting.com.
Broadway Shows Get New Mojo with 3D Printed Set Design
Broadway set designer Kacie Hultgren is using 3D printing to innovate on how she brings the stage to life.
To realize the vision of a Broadway production, financiers and producers need to see what the set is going to look like, at a miniature scale. Hultgren and others in her profession had always done this the old-fashioned way, through crafting cardboard, paper, and foam core. Now Hultgren is setting a new standard in set design by way of 3D printing.
“The thing about a 3D printer is, it’s almost like having light manufacturing in your house,” Hultgren says. “For small quantities, MakerBot is great. You can test out what’s going to be popular.”
3D printing technology lets her build full sets to scale and then replicate the models quickly to share with stakeholders. She has worked on shows like John Lithgow’s The Columnist and Hugh Jackman: Back on Broadway.
Via Wired.
3D Printing Will Empower Most Innovative Decade in History – Forbes
Forbes contributor Vivek Wadhwa explains why he believes this will be the most innovative decade in history. Wadhwa is Vice President of Academics and Innovation at Singularity University. Here is his general view:
Why am I so optimistic? Because of the wide assortment of technologies that are advancing at exponential rates and converging. They are enabling small teams to do what was once only possible for governments and large corporations. These exponential technologies will help us solve many of humanity’s grand challenges, including energy, education, water, food, and health.
Among the technologies he cites as game changing this decade, 3D printing has a main feature:
In an emerging field called digital manufacturing, 3D printers enable the production of physical mechanical devices, medical implants, jewelry, and even clothing. These printers use something like a toothpaste tube of plastic or other material held vertically in an X-Y plotter that squirts out thin layers of tiny dots of material that build up, layer by layer, to produce a 3D replica of the computer-generated design. The cheapest 3D printers, which print rudimentary objects, currently sell for between $500 and $1000. Soon, we will have printers for this price that can print toys and household goods. Within this decade, we will see 3D printers doing the small-scale production of previously labor-intensive crafts and goods. In the next decade, we can expect local manufacture of the majority of goods; 3D printing of buildings and electronics; and the rise of a creative class empowered by digital making.
Other technologies Wadhwa mentions include genome sequencing, nanotechnology, micro-electrical-mechanical systems, and artificial intelligence.
Read the full post at Forbes.
Vivek Wadhwa photo by BAIA used under Creative Commons license.
Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Leaders, Records Broken, Burritos
A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from June 18 to June 24.
Monday, June 18
- Profiling the Five Heavyweights Driving the 3D Printing Industry
- Fab Lab of the Week: Milwaukee Makerspace Adopts 3D Printing
Tuesday, June 19
- Objet Launches Versatile Objet30 Pro Desktop 3D Printer in Japan
- Shapeways Friday Finds: Cheshire Cat, Kaleidoscope Clock, Dragon Transformer
Wednesday, June 20
- 3D Printing Marketplace Shapeways Raises $6.2 Million Series B Funding
- Nano Rubik’s Cube: Shapeways Member 3D Prints Puzzles in Millimeters [Video]
Thursday, June 21
Friday, June 22
- Making 3D Printing Accessible: Interview with Tinkercad Founder
- Chipotle Beware: BurritoBot Will 3D Print Your Lunch to Order
Saturday, June 23
Fab Lab of the Week: Dickinson College Media Center Adopts 3D Printing
This week’s featured Fab Lab is the Dickinson College Media Center, located in Carlisle, PA.
In their own words:
The Media Center is your media mecca. We help you create multimedia projects from simple graphics to short films. Our equipment office is available for students, faculty and staff to check out cameras, mics, audio recorders, light kits, green screens, dollies & much much more. We help you along your way from novice to expert and the center helps not only students working on class projects but anyone who needs assistance starting a project.
Recently, the Media Center has added 3D printing equipment to their selection of tools that students can use. The first 3D printer to arrive was a MakerBot.
The Media Center’s newest member, The MakerBot Replicator, is finally available! After several weeks of troubleshooting and trials, it is now fine tuned and ready to print your designs! Here is a look at the phases of the tuning process, through the creation of a unique Media Center keychain designed in Google Sketchup 8.
The MakerBot uses an Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic, which is fed through the top of the extruder. The extruder is heated to ~220C or ~430F, which turns the ABS plastic into a viscous liquid. The extruder then positions itself just above the warm print surface and begins the expel the plastic in the formation designated by the 3D file. Each print begins with a “raft,” which is nothing more than a thick grid of ABS plastic, that allows for the MakerBot to ensure that the rest of the object is built upon a stable foundation. Below is a snapshot of the raft creation process.
It is great to see colleges embracing the future of 3D printing and giving their students a chance to innovate with the technology. Way to go Dickinson!
