The Most Mind-Blowing 3-D Printed Objects of 2012

I just found this video. I think you will find it interesting.

3D Printing and Ultra-Large Systems of Cloud Manufacturing: Melba Kurman at TEDxUVM 2012

Making organs....? oh god, please don't make another Lindsey Lohan or Kim Kardashian.........ugggg

Next step?! 4D printing!!

reply to post by happykat39


Happykat39, I know where you are coming from. My background is similar to yours. However I beg to differ a little. Once the technology is fully matured, and within every houshold, you won't need to manufacture multiples at high speed. People will simply print what they want, or need, when they need it. It's way off, but "never", is too strong a word. High speed manufacturing, molding, punching, milling, will be reserved for a much smaller audience at that point.

One of my modules for University this year (Engineering Masters Year) looked at 3D printers in some detail, it is quite clever how they work and most use layer based technology. The brilliance is in the fact that all you need to do is create a 3D model of the object you want (i.e in SolidWorks where you can define material information aswell) and convert/import to the 3D printers reading software and Presto you can potentially have a complex geometrical object within hours!

It makes me wonder how long before we can manipulate particles in such a manner inside a printer. Then you would truely have something futuristic; a machine able to correctly structure the appropriate atomic structure of an object out of apparent thin air (We would have to have a way advanced knowledge of the universe by then, to the point that we can stimulate the existance of chosen particles at will from vacuums). Food for thought.

Great slide anyway!

Very intriguing... but with creepy possibilities. These just make me think of the beginnings of a Star Trek like replicator. The possibilities are endless.

I have always thought, no wished some nights, I had a food replicator when I have no energy to cook. As long as it is all safe and non GMO of course.

Replicator (Star Trek)

In Star Trek a replicator is a machine capable of creating (and recycling) objects. Replicators were originally seen used to synthesize meals on demand, but in later series they took on many other uses.

Could it be worse than the fast food/ processed food in stores. Would it taste like cardboard or would everything taste like chicken?

Better yet everything tastes like bacon and has only a tenth of the calories and fat. Hell you could program the exact composition and flavor of the food you want.

This is what these machines could be capable of in a few decades. Hell I got a microwave I might as well get me one of these when affordable.

Mmmmm just dreaming of some possibilities here folks... you can move along now.

Makes you wonder if this technology is coming out to the public now (well mainstream John Q public amyway) imagine how long has the government had it, and imagine what they have now

That slideshow was cool but I was a bit dissapointed in the choice of items they decided to show.
Out of the 8 things, 2 were weapons and 1 had some other nefarious purpose., i.e. the handcuff key(s) you can make from just getting the data files. Although all they really pictured was a set of handcuffs.

Just found it odd and dissapointing how 3 out of the 8 "slideshow" pictures were: brass knuckles, a piece of an assault rifle (when if you read the paragraph, that's not what was made at all, and is a bit deceptive), and a pair of hand-cuffs. hmmm, interesting.

Originally posted by happykat39
The new wonder child of the technical world is the 3-D printer. Various models are capable of printing anything from simple low resolution plastic parts to multi material multi color 3-D printers that can be used to make actual production grade prototypes from plastics and metals. Some feed the plastic through a heated nozzle and others use fine plastic, ceramic or metal powder and laser sinter it one very fine layer at a time.

Here is a SLIDE SHOW of some of the best products of this fairly new and rapidly growing technology

3D printing, hehehehehehe I so want to get a job with a 3d printing manufacturer(and stock). Maybe this is the reason why certain special interests are obsessed with Intellectual property? Once 3d printing become more practical, it is easy to image more homes then not would have them eventually.

------------
Maybe that is the end goal of it all now? Think about it: Imagine if a 3d printer for food came out. It would end world hunger as the materials used would have a much longer shelf life. Sadly though, there would be a lot of hold outs(kind of like Picards brother in Star Trek TNG, who was against replicators) and it would take awhile for the technology to gain steam. Now imagine that they poisoned the food supply so you had to use one of these machines in order to eat so you wouldn't die from the poisons(as they would be refined out)?

Originally posted by DazDaKing
One of my modules for University this year (Engineering Masters Year) looked at 3D printers in some detail, it is quite clever how they work and most use layer based technology. The brilliance is in the fact that all you need to do is create a 3D model of the object you want (i.e in SolidWorks where you can define material information aswell) and convert/import to the 3D printers reading software and Presto you can potentially have a complex geometrical object within hours!

It makes me wonder how long before we can manipulate particles in such a manner inside a printer. Then you would truely have something futuristic; a machine able to correctly structure the appropriate atomic structure of an object out of apparent thin air (We would have to have a way advanced knowledge of the universe by then, to the point that we can stimulate the existance of chosen particles at will from vacuums). Food for thought.

Great slide anyway!

May I ask you, because you seem to know it, what other techniques are there for printing without layers? I mean, the material is liquified and printed layer for layer. Even the sinter 3D printer uses layers. I´m sorry I´m a little confused about this sentence.

Originally posted by DazDaKing
One of my modules for University this year (Engineering Masters Year) looked at 3D printers in some detail, it is quite clever how they work and most use layer based technology. The brilliance is in the fact that all you need to do is create a 3D model of the object you want (i.e in SolidWorks where you can define material information aswell) and convert/import to the 3D printers reading software and Presto you can potentially have a complex geometrical object within hours!

It makes me wonder how long before we can manipulate particles in such a manner inside a printer. Then you would truely have something futuristic; a machine able to correctly structure the appropriate atomic structure of an object out of apparent thin air (We would have to have a way advanced knowledge of the universe by then, to the point that we can stimulate the existance of chosen particles at will from vacuums). Food for thought.

Great slide anyway!

The only way I could see that working is with using elements in gas state, then light bending techniques to weave it together(using temperature control to facilitate the process). But dense holograms would make it even easier. Simply replace each holographic atom with a real one and presto: converted a holographic object into a real object. But that is technology well beyond what we are capable of.

reply to post by happykat39


nanu nanuu

the evil ones can print EVIDENCE AGAINST US just saying

Originally posted by MorkandMindy
reply to post by happykat39

 

nanu nanuu

the evil ones can print EVIDENCE AGAINST US just saying

Sounds reasonable to me. What the hey, government agencies have been manufacturing evidence for decades, maybe centuries even. Remember Ruby Ridge and Waco. I doubt that we will ever know the real truth but most, if not all, of the "evidence" used to justify those debacles was made up.

NOTE: If you want to challenge me on that statement do so in a U2U message. An answer of that nature would be way too far off topic for this thread and I won't respond to it here.

Originally posted by kudegras
Isn't it great how technology is killing off all the skilled manufacturing jobs of bygones eras.
I know full well as a Trade qualified Printing Machinist with a Printing Business I had run for 10 years found myself at a cross roads in 1998.
My choice find a bank or money lender willing to back me as due to the advent of computers and copiers I found my bread and butter of 10 years, spot colour work disapearing to be replaced with full colour work of which my machinery at the time couldn't do.
Looks like injection moulders and the like may start seeing a similar situation as myself.
I have nothing against technology, I just feel sad the people who have done the hard yards over many years. honing their craft only to see technology killing off their job prospects by inventing machines that takes little skill to operate.

When the printing press was invented, bible scribes tore their hair out and put on sackcloth and cried that their world had ended. But it never happened. They became authors of a great many other books and made printing profitable.

When guns were invented, swordmakers wept that their days were over. But it never happened. They made many more kinds of knives, not just for knights but for EVERY household in our world.

I can go on. Man will NEVER be replaced by machines. Man only gets freed and ELEVATED to create something else, and evolve not only technology and science, but humanity itself.

The current 3d printers are still only in its infancy - small and more of for hobbycraft or small scale production needs. However, big manufacturers are not blind to see the potential of the printer, as well as the demise of their own production of small items, the 3 d printers can replicate.

In order to survive, they will have to RESEARCH & INNOVATE - create BIGGER 3d printers that will not just focus on hobbycraft, but actual crafts to even aeroplane parts, with better research into molecular and atomic structures for stronger bonding, the alchemy of metals as raw materials for such printers, into the holy grail of actually synthesizing matter itself as the RAW MATERIAL for the 3d printer.

What it means will be plenty of jobs to create competitive 3d printers in the world. Humans would be needed in the education, research, manufacturing, management as well as maintenance fields in that industry.

And it does not end there with just 3d printers, the way the 1950s mainframe computers had not ended computer then as known, but EVOLVED into handheld ipads we wear today, and it is still not the end of that product alone. It will be studied and build upon, just as every product ever created had gone through such cycles - cathode ray tube tvs to smartTVs, etc.

Furthermore, 3d printers are but one product line only. With the research done, the findings will lead to the invention and creation of OTHER products as well, meaning more jobs and wealth creation/distribution.

As for 3d printers however, not EVERYONE will be enamoured with similarly copied products that lacks originality, for humans have that vanity streak in themselves to look different. Thus, special handicraft skills that are excellent will still be desired by them, and for the top few, they would pay top dollar for such man-made products.

Evidences lay in the high growth and net worth of those companies, such as Prada, Ferrari, BrookBrothers, etc.

Do not fear the future. Only fear one's refusal, belligerances and stubborness to accept change, which is the only constant in life, a rolling juggarnaut no man can hope to avoid. Adaptability, moving with the times, go with the flow using our gift of the brain is the way to survive and succeed.

Your's and my mind may be limited, viewing our advances as static. But out of 7 billion of us, for sure one or some of them is unlimited, as it had been since our civilisation began. The potential of humankind gifted with life is vast, to progress as our progresses had proven.

The only issue is our spiritual development, regardless if religious faithfuls,gnostics or atheists. It is adherence to our civilisation's moral and eithical guidelines that will help us evolve and keep our progess in check so that none be left behind.

Originally posted by zayonara
reply to post by happykat39

 

Happykat39, I know where you are coming from. My background is similar to yours. However I beg to differ a little. Once the technology is fully matured, and within every houshold, you won't need to manufacture multiples at high speed. People will simply print what they want, or need, when they need it. It's way off, but "never", is too strong a word. High speed manufacturing, molding, punching, milling, will be reserved for a much smaller audience at that point.

What you are failing to take into account is that there will always, for the foreseeable future at least, be new products being designed and built for worldwide sales. your average or advanced 3-D printer owner is not going to design and print a new car or the latest I-Phone.

Just a simple electrical crimp connector for wiring harnesses in new cars needs to be produced in the billions each year. The lead frames for microchips are stamped out in the millions for even the simplest of mass produced chips. Special screws, nuts and other hardware for the auto and appliance industries still need to be produced in at least the hundreds of thousands of pieces annually.

Practically every mass produced product uses something that needs to be machined, molded or stamped in quantities far beyond what 3-D printing can supply.

Yes, the average householder will be able to take some of the market away from mass manufacturers in areas that don't require high levels of design and manufacturing skill. It is already possible to print some personal hygiene products like toothbrushes but that doesn't get you a water pic unit or one of the motorized vibrating razor handles or rotating bristle toothbrushes complete with a motor that needs wiring and magnets to work as well as stamped battery clips.

Another area the 3-D printer will take over to some degree is the repair and/or replacement part market. But the mass manufacturer will still need to rely on high production machinery to produce the quantities of parts needed to make those items the homeowner will 3-D print replacement parts for.

Am I saying that nothing will ever take over high production machining; absolutely not. We don't really know what will be developed in the next fifty to a hundred years. Maybe we will learn to manipulate matter at a level to actually make a Star Trek replicator. But that won't be a 3-D printer. That technology, if ever developed, will be to 3-D printing as 3-D printing is to hand carving. In other words, a whole new technology just as 3-D printing is one of today's whole new technologies.

reply to post by SeekerofTruth101


What a great reply. I gave you a star and if I were a moderator I would have given you an applause as well.

reply to post by happykat39


Yes, and no. Eventually, 3D print will be fast enough, and will be adopted into high speed manufacturing where it fits. I agree, the average printer owner will not be doing intricate design work, but will be able to customize on demand. I envision being able to buy and download a product, change a few details on it, and have it pop out of your printer. Imagine "print preview" is a hologram. Of course there are size limitations. You obviously can't print a house inside of a house....or can you.

Originally posted by zayonara
reply to post by happykat39

 

Yes, and no. Eventually, 3D print will be fast enough, and will be adopted into high speed manufacturing where it fits. I agree, the average printer owner will not be doing intricate design work, but will be able to customize on demand. I envision being able to buy and download a product, change a few details on it, and have it pop out of your printer. Imagine "print preview" is a hologram.

Of course there are size limitations. You obviously can't print a house inside of a house....or can you.

edit on 5-1-2013 by zayonara because: (no reason given)

I am still going to have to disagree with you on the future of 3-D printing. Let me give you an example of what I am talking about.

Consider the hard disc VS the memory stick. Memory chips are starting to take over from hard drives. The reason is the limits of physical devices compared to electronic devices. No matter how hard they try a hard drive that needs to spin a disc and sweep a read head across it will never match the read/write speed of a memory chip. And the cost of memory chips is now coming down into the range that they are already replacing some hard drives in computers.

It is that same physical motion VS a new technology, yet to be developed, with no moving parts that 3-D printers face. At some time in the future it is almost a certainty that a new technology will be developed that will make event the fastest 3-D printer look like it is standing still.

I have seen enough of modern quantum physics and laser technology (they can now manipulate single atoms with laser beams in the lab) to believe that there is a very real possibility that there will be some type of technology developed in the next 50 to 100 years that will work like the Star Trek replicator, and no 3-D printer with moving parts and limits on the number of simultaneous materials that can be printed with will be able to come close to that.

Of course there will most likely be improvements to 3-D printers that will make today's units look like dinosaurs, but as long as they depend on moving parts to do the job they will eventually be replaced by something that doesn't have moving parts. Just like the memory chip is replacing the spinning disc and read/write head in newer "hard" drives.

You also have to take into consideration the really massive numbers of different things that have to be produced to feed the worldwide market. Lets look at some figures. A punch press that can run side by side parts in four rows at 1200 strokes per minute can produce 4800 parts per minute. Even if a 3-D printer could match that speed it would be limited to one bed full of parts and then you would have to unload and and restart the printer for the next batch. And I am talking "rate" here, not total parts per setup. 4800 lead frames for micro chips take up a whole lot of space laid out in rows and columns. But they have coils of material to feed the punch press that are large enough to feed it for as much as an hour between changing coils. That is 4800X60 or 288,000 parts in one hour and the press can stack them neatly into sleeves for shipping and then need only a few minutes to load the next coil of stock.

Then you have to face the issue of speed VS tolerance. The high speed punch press with a good carbide die can produce parts with tolerances measured in the 10 thousandths of an inch (.ooo1") at the same high speeds mentioned earlier. I seriously doubt that any additive manufacturing process (that is the real term for 3-D printing) will come close to both the speed and tolerance of a punch press die anytime in the near, or far, future.

Engineers may come up with a way to prove me wrong and I would welcome it. But I just don't see it happening for 3-D printers before they are replaced with newer and much faster technology capable of outperforming the punch press in both areas; speed and accuracy.

I'm surprised no one has mentioned the fact these can already be used to print food.

COOKIES

I think this would be the most useful of anything as you would not have to buy brand named foods but just the ingredients that would go into the machine which would have to be a lot cheaper.

Think about how many loafs of bread you can get from a bag of flour and some water compared to the cost of a pre-made loaf now.

Meat is on the way

Originally posted by Sakrateri
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the fact these can already be used to print food.

COOKIES

I think this would be the most useful of anything as you would not have to buy brand named foods but just the ingredients that would go into the machine which would have to be a lot cheaper.

Think about how many loafs of bread you can get from a bag of flour and some water compared to the cost of a pre-made loaf now.

Meat is on the way

If they ever get to the point of being able to print food with enough variety for a healthy diet there would be an even more important benefit. Since it wouldn't be mass produced and need to be "shelf stable" you could print "fresh in demand" foods without all the chemical additives and preservatives. Just think, no more need for a chemical engineering degree to be able to understand the list of ingredients.

I didn't know about 3-d printers when I began my hobby of creating models on the computer. ive been stoked ever since learning that I could print the models that ive created, hell,i was happy when I leatnt I could animate them.

I haven't had the opportunity to use a 3-d printer but my 1st time il definitely print some epic hat or something. if im ever lazy and the dishes are dirty, ill just print new ones lol.

There really isn't anything else ill need for entertainment after owning a 3-d printer, I see something, ill design it then print it. For now ill just continue adding to the library of models ive made until I get my hands on one.


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