3D Printing

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, has advanced rapidly in recent years, allowing companies to quickly produce working prototypes and home hobbyists to produce various bits and bobs for the home. While plastic remains the dominant printing material, additive manufacturing with materials including metal, cement and even glass, enables the production of everything from tiny screws to engine components to entire houses ... and it's only just getting started.

3D Printing

Astronauts could heal themselves with 3D-printed skin and bones grown from their own cells

Michael Irving July 10, 2019

Space travel is conducive to injuries. Now researchers from Dresden Technical University (TUD) have developed a 3D bioprinting method for use in space, creating new skin and bone tissue out of resources that might be available to astronauts.

3D Printing Audio available

3D-printing breakthrough paves the way for printed "wooden" products

Ben Coxworth June 27, 2019

Several years ago, we heard how scientists from Sweden's Chalmers University had created a 3D-printing medium made from wood fiber. Now, they've developed a new method of printing with it, producing solid material with the structure and qualities of natural wood.

The process involved digitizing the genetic code of natural wood, then using that code to instruct ...

3D Printing Audio available

3D-printed bathroom units take shape in a single day

Nick Lavars May 23, 2019

3D printing technology is set to have a real impact on the worlds of building and construction. Adding to the mix of possibilities is a new proof-of-concept bathroom unit, which scientists in Singapore were able to 3D print in its entirety in a single day.

(From right) NTU Associate Professor Wong Teck Neng; Lead Scientist and Associate Professor Tan Ming Jen ...

3D Printing Audio available

Icy inspection may catch faulty 3D-printed parts

Ben Coxworth May 1, 2019

We're increasingly seeing 3D-printed metal components being used in fields such as aviation, where failures could be catastrophic. It's therefore very important to check those items for structural flaws before they're installed, and the best way of doing so may involve freezing them in ice.

A round 3D-printed metal part, surrounded by ultra-clear ice within a plastic cylinder

3D Printing

2D stacking method could make 3D-printed organs viable

David Szondy April 22, 2019

In an effort to scale up the manufacture of biomaterials, researchers at UC Berkeley have combined bioprinting, a robotic arm, and flash freezing that may one day allow living tissue and even whole organs to be printed on demand.

The new system uses 3D printing, a robotic arm, and freezing to scale up biomaterial manufacturing

3D Printing Audio available

Dichroic 3D-printing material changes color with point of view

Ben Coxworth February 15, 2019

In use since at least the 4th century AD, dichroic glass displays different colors depending on how it's being viewed. Now, Dutch scientists have produced the effect in a material that can be used to create 3D-printed objects – and it's not just a novelty, as it could have practical applications.

A miniature goblet printed from the new material appears both opaque brown and translucent violet

3D Printing

3Doodler App turns your smartphone screen into a 3D drawing canvas

Paul Ridden February 13, 2019

Almost 6 years after launching on Kickstarter, WobbleWorks has announced some new product lines, and an iOS/Android app that will have 3Doodlers creating 3D pen art directly on smartphone or tablet screens.

The 3Doodler App will walk users through 3D drawing basics

3D Printing

3D-printed objects repair themselves after being cut in half

Paul Ridden February 6, 2019

Researchers have developed 3D-printed materials that can repair themselves after becoming fractured or punctured, which have the potential to be a game changer in the shoe industry, tire manufacture, soft robotics development and perhaps even electronics.

3D-printed shoe soles were cut in half and self-healed in around 2 hours

3D Printing Audio available

New 3D-printing tech gets smooth results using light and resin

Ben Coxworth February 1, 2019

Most 3D printers work by either depositing or melting building material in successive layers. Unfortunately, this results in the finished objects looking kind of chunky, as the ridges between layers are visible. A new process, however, uses light to create smooth-edged items out of resin.

3D Printing

Desktop 3D printer goes mobile with some help from Pi

Paul Ridden January 22, 2019

Desktop 3D printers generally spend most of their life in a basement workshop or home office. YouTuber Thomas Sanladerer wanted something that could go where he did so modified a small inexpensive unit to run on battery power and be controlled with a smartphone.

Six battery packs provide enough juice to run this mobile 3D printer and the Raspberry Pi ...