No Boundaries: 3D Printing in Space

Imagine you are alone on an international space station and suddenly you have a huge craving for pizza. Normally you would have to wait maybe 6 months to be able to eat one, well, maybe not anymore!

You can print it, heat it and eat it!

Although this was not intended to be the future of 3D printing, such a basic whim as eating pizza can now be satisfied by astronauts anytime as long as they have the basic ink, or ingredients on board. To be able to eat pizza, they only spent USD 125,000.00, but it might still be cheaper than delivery.

This is just one thing that our NASA friends have been developing that could help and actually change the way 3D printing has been used on space stations and incoming NASA missions.  Using EBF3, or Electron Beam Freeform Fabrication, a 3D printer can print metal objects in just minutes.  If you remember our previous blog post related to a faster way to print, this is actually another example that 3D printing is only beginning and that it is starting to scratch its true potential.

Saving energy, time and waste, this can print any kind of object, tool, replacement parts or even vehicle parts that can save our space missions from emergencies and, hopefully in the near future, save millions of dollars by sending only the raw materials to space and print everything needed up there.

Just imagine having a giant 3D printer installed on the moon, where NASA engineers can print everything they need in space, without even having to physically be there.

What do you envision 3D printing being used for in space?

3D Printing - Sexier Than Ever

Thanks to 3D printing, you can now create a bright pink Eiffel tower dildo in the comfort of your own home.

SexShop3D, A Paris-based sex toy manufacturing company is the first to sell sex toys as printable files instead of premade items.  In addition to the Eiffel Tower model, you can purchase a fire hydrant, mustache, stick shift or snail design and customize the size and color to your liking.  After designing your personalized sex toy online, the file is securely streamed directly to your printer (as opposed to being sent as a download) to avoid piracy. 

The price of such an indulgence?  The printable file costs a mere $5. Seems rather inexpensive for something that provides so much pleasure. 

If you’re hesitant about the hygiene of printing such an intimate item on your own, you can check out videos SexShop3D has created to ensure that your 3D printed sex toy is safe to use. https://youtu.be/6qrwcP1_FSI  They recommend you hand sand your new creation with grit paper to ensure the smoothest surface possible and then spray the toy down with a silicone conformal coating.  This prevents bacteria from growing in the tiny pores that typically develop in the plastic as a result of layer-by-layer printing.  Now your new toy is ready for the bedroom!

As 3D printers become more mainstream, I’m sure we’ll begin to see other items being sold as printable files, particularly those most people are too embarrassed to purchase in public.  

Take a look at some other “sexy” things 3D printers can make including condoms, IUDs, and even vaginas!

The 7 Ways 3D Printing Is Going to Change How You Have Sex

http://mic.com/articles/121698/7-ways-3d-printing-is-going-to-change-how-you-have-sex

3D Printing Cliché Panorama: Halloween Costumes for Weekend Parties

Here comes that haunted time of the year again. It's Thursday night, you are almost ready for your big Halloween weekend parties and drunken horsing around when you realize a most crucial flaw in your plan: You forgot about a costume.

If you ended up on this blog, you were either directed by the huge amount of cliché words brought up from google trends or you are asking yourself: How can I Halloween parteeee without a costume?

If you are like me and to try to resolve one problem you end up creating a chain of other problems, I have your solution, Or problem, Or..,  errrr… let’s call It a solution... You will 3D print your costume!!! There's nothing more practical!

Instead of going to the store on the next block, you can: Buy a 3D printer, the supplies, download the models and get your own unique costume, how simple and creative right?

Right! Here is Mr. T face of approval to you decision:

And you should Mr. T, you should.

Since people have started 3D printing they have seen the amazing possibilities of making their own customized props and outfits, leading to a terrible amount of anime enthusiasts wasting scarce resources on ridiculous cosplay costumes but also transformed many blogs in factories of cool 3d models.

You can easily download these to your computer and let a 3D printer software do the magic, hell you can even fold some papers from a regular printer like this kid:

 The point is, if you do not find a costume that you like you can create one.

One interesting source for Halloween ideas is 3Dprint.com.  From here you can get many different masks, costumes and other items. They also held a 3D printed Halloween costume contest.  Maybe it will feature the face of the Republican debate star Donald Trump, your favorite sex scandal suspect World Series player or even your own Darth Vader mask from Star Wars (yes this is in the top google trends).

So instead of wasting your time making a mess of your house with pumpkin carving, risking a sudden heart attack in a haunted house or facing the diabolic middle school children pulling up trick-or-treats, go to that really far away electronics store that might have a 3D printer and never spend your money on costumes again. Just on the very expensive material used for printing!

I would give you some more sites but I do not want to spoil your fun when searching them by yourself on google! Good luck!

Realising the Potential of 3D Printing

Ten years ago nobody was aware of 3D printing. Now we can make almost anything that you can imagine with the help of this device. Moreover, continuous improvements are taking place. What is even more important is that the cost of 3D printing is dropping dramatically. We already know that with the help of 3D printing we can build a house.  Previously, it was extremely expensive to do so but nowadays, the cheapest model of a 3D printer that can build a private house costs 13,000 USD.

Do you realize the potential now? With such a low cost, the implications of these 3D printers are enormous. Companies may buy them and lease them out to businesses. What about implementation for low-income countries? What if you go beyond building a house and try to build roads with the help of 3D printers? According to the World Bank, the median price for a 1 km road constriction is around 1 million USD.

Would you like your government spend this money in other areas? Or to lower down taxes? Maybe British taxpayers might like this news considering that their government plans to spend £15 billion on roads by 2020.

Written by: Artem Koval

Sources:

https://all3dp.com/biggest-3d-printers-world/

http://www.worldbank.org/transport/roads/c&m_docs/kmcosts.pdf

My First 3D Printer – BQ Brings a Live Printer to IE Talent Forum!

An innovative Spanish manufacturer bringing affordable 3D printers to homes and offices in Europe is BQ. The company touts providing consumers with affordable 3D printers with large print capacity, exceptional safety features and sleek aesthetic design. Beyond 3D printing, BQ is also a key player in European smartphone, tablet and e-reader manufacturing markets.

José Imedio, Engineer at BQ

The team recently visited the IE Talent Forum where they brought a working 3D printer to demonstrate its function. I was lucky enough to meet an Engineer and a Sales Manager from the BQ team who graciously showed us how the machine worked and discussed their plans for launching two more 3D printers in the near future. They even gave me the printed model after it had fully printed during the forum:

Our very own 3D printed Venus de Milo

BQ has accessible 3D printers available from as low as 249.90 €. 

For the printer offering, please visit: http://www.bq.com/gb/3d-world. 

Based on what I saw, these resembled more easy-bake ovens than what I imagined a real 3D printer would look like. What would you print with your very own home 3D printer?

Written by: Carol Lam and David Gomez

3D Printers - Still cool?

Do you believe that 3D printers are still cool? We already heard so much about it, and many of us have even witnessed 3D printing in real life, so we might conclude that 3D printers used to be a great innovation, but now, they are just another thing we use.

My friends already wrote about different applications of 3D printers, how cool they are: saving life by creating human organs, and even saving the day by printing toilet paper (sounds weird? You have to read our previous blogs). Even Kanye West is afraid that 3D printers will ruin the textile market the same way the Internet ruined the music industry.

So again, is it 3D printing still thrilling?

Well I say, DEFINITELY YES. Let me try and explain why by comparing the current 3D printers to the development of mobile phones. The early mobile phones were big and clumsy, crazy expensive (only a few businessmen with cigars stuck in their mouths could afford them), and perceived as highly innovative. Then, a few years passed and suddenly phones became smaller, prices went down, and they became an integral part of our lives.

Some may say that at this point, mobile phones were just another thing we buy. I, on the other hand, claim at this point people started asking themselves what else can we do with this thing that every 10-year-old has in their back pocket? This question led to a massive wave of innovations such as early games (snake J) and apps (remember ringtone editors?). These days we have smartphones with an endless stream of applications. Can you imagine your life today without a smartphone?

So now let’s go back to 3D printers. In my view, 3D printers today are like the early generations of mobile phones. The printers are slow, expensive, big, and we don’t really know what to do with them. BUT now is the time when we should ask ourselves: “what else can we do with this thing?” and that is why 3D-printers are going to be way cooler.

By: Nir Charny

3D Printing - Faster and Better

What comes next?

You might remember the scene from Terminator 2 where the bad robot rises from
liquid on the floor into a robotic policeman and continues chasing poor John Connor.  This new
technology presented by Joseph DeSimone, an American chemist and 2008 recipient of the Lemelson-MIT prize, shows how that can be possible in the near future (converting liquid into solid “new printed” artifacts, not into liquid metal robots).

Mr. DeSimone challenged the speed and quality of 3D printers, claiming that he can print objects 25 to 100 times faster.  He is even suggesting that soon the speed will be 1000 times faster!

Imagine if your dentist could replicate your tooth in less than 10 minutes?  Using this, new technology you would never have to worry about the weeks of pain and careful eating while waiting for a new tooth to be crafted.

The technique behind this is called CLIP (Continuous Liquid Interface Production), which basically avoids the normal 3D printing layer by layer (2D printing based) and allows for an unlimited number of shapes and designs. The result is a higher quality product with almost no surface imperfections produced much quicker than regular 3D printing.

If this technology were widespread, we would be able to repair broken parts of almost any artifact in
minutes. At an industry level, it would allow manufacturers to include 3D printing technology in
production processes.  Even more revolutionary are the derivatives of 3D printing technology that have recently emerged.

Perhaps the most significant is PRINT® (Particle Replication In NonWetting Templates) into the
pharmaceutical industry.  Using similar technology as CLIP, drugs are molded into molecular shapes that human bodies receive in a “friendlier” way.  Just imagine taking medicines with ZERO side effects.

Do you think that current 3D printers are going to be old technology in the near future? Is this going to replace a supposedly “new technology”? What would you like to print if you had this technology available in your house RIGHT NOW?

Please leave us your comments and share your insights.

By: David Gomez

What Kanye West thinks about 3D printing and why he's wrong

Kanye West may like robots but he doesn’t feel the same way about 3D printing.  In a recent episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians, Kanye West exposed his fears of 3D printing during a tour of a digital art and design afterschool program, Tumo Center for Creative Technologies,  in Armenia with wife, Kim Kardashian West.  

While visiting a 3D printing lab, Kanye admitted, "This is what I'm afraid of here, 3D printing, because the internet destroyed the music industry and now this is what we're afraid of right now with the textile industry."

As a musical artist and self-proclaimed designer, West’s fears are not entirely unwarranted.  With the rapid technological advancements of 3D printing, machines will become increasingly mainstream and intricate designs could be reproduced with the press of a button.  But we aren’t anywhere near that threat right now.

West’s tour guide and administrator at the school conceded that his concern was somewhat justified but pointed out that there are several benefits to 3D printing that outweigh West’s out-of-touch reservations and noted the complexities involved in replicating designer clothing or shoes.  3D printing can be used to manufacture simple, single-material products that aren’t readily available to consumers but more intricately designed products like Kanye is referring to would be extremely difficult and expensive to replicate.  

It is quite possible that future designs could be stolen and illegally reproduced using 3D printing but we shouldn’t let that stop us from developing this technology into something that could greatly benefit society in so many other ways.  Patent laws will evolve to address the challenges Kanye West anticipates regarding the technology.  Also, the technology could have major positive effects on the fashion industry, contrary to Kanye West’s beliefs.  It could help small designers to lower manufacturing costs and easily personalize orders.  3D printing is improving our lives through quickly generated products and modeling and prototypes in medicine, international development, business and manufacturing.  And we certainly shouldn’t let it stop us from using it for educational and creative design purposes at Tumo.

Do you agree with Kanye that 3D printing could destroy the fashion industry or do you think the benefits outweigh the potential risks?

Take a look at how students at Tumo are using 3D printing for stop-motion animation:

See the video of Kanye’s visit to Tumo here: http://morningafter.gawker.com/kanye-west-wants-keeping-up-with-the-kardashians-to-loo-1732056555

Written by: Liz White

Photo source: www.3ders.org

3D print those diapers!

I woke up this Saturday morning missing something, not just the habitual hangover but also my paramount fountain of energy. One of its most basic production components was missing: the coffee filter. The use of a sock as a filter and the deep frying of coffee beans for eating purposes sounded quite intricate at 6:00am but a most unpractical idea got me thinking of a simpler solution: 3D printing (the filters, not the coffee itself).

When we talk about 3D printing, we are usually thinking about medical applications, innovative solutions to complex problems and some other noble curiosities. What about those little things that bother the common person on a daily basis? I am talking about household supplies. Unappreciated, neglected and even ignored, until you need them the most.

Probably the most iconic situation would be the depravation of hygienic paper; a videographic example is seen in the following link:

To produce, in your household, the disposable items that you use on a daily basis? People are already doing it! Here is a video of a 3D printed disposable fork under bend test, and it seems much more durable than your conventional one-time use fork.

Just imagine, instead of wasting your time making a huge shopping list, having tons of boxes delivered at your door every week, you can just print whatever you need whenever you need it!

Think about it…

“Honey there are no more coffee filters!” -- Print it!

“We’re all out of the baby’s diapers!”  -- PRINT IT!

It would even be inventory friendly. Forget the huge stock of different items and just use the basic necessities for production.

The cynics, of course, will start discussing quality standards, the dangers of homemade plastic cups and the lack of an iconic mascot on the front of their recently made plastic bag. They may even argue about the benefits of a quick walk to the supermarket on a Saturday morning, but frankly, it’s probably cold, you don´t want to change out of your jammies and meet that annoying neighbor that always complains about your dog ruining his plants.

From a practical point of view there are some technological barriers. So far, there is only a certain range of materials that can be used for 3D printing: metals, plastics, ceramics and waxes. No cellulose printing is available, thus impairing conventional paper production.

The constant innovations in 3D printing show a wide spectrum of future application.  This service might form an entirely new market in the future and make our daily chores that much easier! Can you see yourself in a couple of years making your own, verbena scented, extra fluffy, blueberry lollypop flavored napkin?


Written by: Luiz Junqueira