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

MoSculp turns 2D videos into 3D-printed motion sculptures

Ben Coxworth September 19, 2018

Although gazing at computer models of processes that we're studying can certainly be helpful, there's often just no substitute for getting your hands on an actual physical object. Realizing that, an MIT team has developed a system that creates 3D-printed "motion sculptures" based on 2D videos.

A MoSculp motion sculpture of a runner in action

3D Printing

HP launches Metal Jet 3D printing technology for mass production

Loz Blain September 12, 2018

Desktop Metal might have set the ball rolling, but it seems HP is getting very serious about 3D metal printing at industrial volumes and automotive-grade production quality. HP Metal Jet is 50 times faster and significantly cheaper than existing methods, and pilot programs are already underway.

At less than US$400,000, these machines represent a revolution in high-volume, low-cost additive manufacture

3D Printing

US military builds barracks using "world's largest" 3D printer

Adam Williams September 10, 2018

3D-printed construction is portable and inexpensive, and could help build a safe barracks in a shorter time. With this in mind, the US Marine Corps Systems Command recently constructed a prototype concrete barracks in under two days with what it says is the world's largest 3D printer.

US Marine Corps Systems Command used a 3D printer to construct a prototype concrete barracks measuring ...

3D Printing Audio available

Prototype bionic eye created with custom 3D printer

Ben Coxworth August 29, 2018

When he was an assistant professor at Princeton University, Michael McAlpine led the development of a 3D-printed bionic ear. Now an associate professor at the University of Minnesota, he has gone on to 3D-print a rudimentary bionic eye.

The photodiodes are made of a semiconducting polymer printed over a base of silver-containing ink

3D Printing

Internal QR codes could thwart counterfeiting of 3D-printed objects

Ben Coxworth August 21, 2018

As more and more products are manufactured via 3D printing, the potential for 3D-printed counterfeit versions rises accordingly. With that in mind, scientists have devised a method of ensuring that a printed item is the real thing, by building an "exploded" QR code into it.

The system incorporates hundreds of tiny elements, inserted at various levels within 3D-printed items

3D Printing

Russian firm announces world's largest construction printer

James Holloway July 17, 2018

A Russian firm has announced commencement on the world’s largest 3D construction printer, capable of printing an entire six-storey building before you can say “regulatory compliance”. The S–500 is the work of the AMT-SPETSAVIA group in Russia.

Tall storey: construction printers are coming of age

3D Printing

Lockheed Martin's titanium domes are the largest 3D-printed spacecraft parts yet

Michael Irving July 15, 2018

Lockheed Martin is no stranger to 3D printing components, but now the company has created its largest piece to date – titanium domes to cap off satellite fuel tanks. Using additive manufacturing can help satellites be assembled faster and with less wasted materials.

Lockheed Martin has 3D printed its largest items ever: titanium domes designed to cap off fuel ...

3D Printing

Inexpensive houses could be 3D-printed from peat

Ben Coxworth July 10, 2018

Some of the earliest houses in Northern Europe were made out of slabs of peat, as it was a cheap and abundant building material. Now, Estonian scientists are revisiting the idea of peat houses, only this time they're looking at 3D-printing the things.

The University of Tartu's Prof. Toomas Tenno, with test pieces of the material

3D Printing

New tech allows much faster 3D-printing of human tissue with capillaries

David Szondy June 24, 2018

Prellis Biologics has brought the science fiction dream of printing human organs for transplant a step forward by developing a fast, high-resolution 3D printing technique that can produce living tissue that includes viable blood-carrying capillaries.

3D Printing

Morphing 3D-printed objects move by magnetism

Ben Coxworth June 14, 2018

Some day, it may be possible for tiny squishy robots to make their way through people's bodies, without being tethered to an external power supply or control unit. We've recently gotten a step closer to that being a reality, thanks to 3D-printing tech that produces magnetically-responsive devices.

This 3D-printed magnetic device is capable of crawling, rolling, snatching a passing ball, and even enveloping ...