Dec 05
3D printing and additive manufacturing may be destined to change how we make and acquire objects forever. But it’s also spurring a shadow revolution—one that focuses on how to stop us from replicating.
     |
Dec 05
We don’t know about you, but we’re obsessed with 3D printed pizza. As soon as 3D printers are able to allow us to create a pizza pie as well as that machine in Back to the Future 2, we’ll gladly throw money at it. The first 3D printed pizza was shown off at SXSW Eco a few months ago from Anjan Contractor, but Natural Machines decided to show off their 3D printed pizza. PIZZA FIGHT!!! (more…)
Natural Machines’ 3D Printed Pizza Actually Looks Edible original content from Ubergizmo. 
| |
Dec 04
Great Gifts You Can 3D Print
Posted in: Today's Chili
The best gifts are the ones that aren’t obvious. Oh you’re going to get your sister another pair of earrings? Nah. This time you should go for a set that were 3D printed instead. In order to wow your family and everyone on your list this year, here’s are some magical presents that came out of a printer.
| |
Dec 04
Stratasys, one of the two giants in the 3D printing market (the other is 3DSystems), is on a roll. This summer it bought one of the biggest and beloved home 3D-printer makers, MakerBot, and watched its printers churn out the first 3D-printed gun. Now it’s back in the news for suing printer reseller Afinia for infringing on its patents.
These patents cover some of the most basic aspects of 3D printing, from the process of creating “infill,” the cross-hatched pattern that printers use to support the inside, to the heated plate that keeps objects stuck during printing. MakerBot, in fact, has long infringed on these very same patents and, for most of its existence, has skirted lawsuits, albeit with positive results. Many smaller manufactures haven’t been so lucky.
Even Formlabs, makers of the Form One stereolithographic machine, weren’t immune. They went to market last December while facing down 3D Systems lawyers for daring to use a similar printing technique.
Why is Big 3D finally paying attention to little guys like Formlabs and Afinia aka Microboards Technology, LLC? It’s because they’re finally getting traction in the home market. While it’s usually fine for B2B companies to snipe each other – nobody cares when big CRM smashes some puny competitor – this sniping is actually hurting the industry. By slowing down the adopting of home 3D printing, Stratasys and 3D Systems are cutting into their own bottom line. IBM, in the 1980s, never actively attacked the “clones” that sprung up on the market and we now have a variegated ecosystem of hardware that ranges from mobile devices to mainframes. No one stopped Linux from copying techniques and tricks used by Unix and, eventually, Windows, and the result is a deep and rich vein of open source computing prowess.
Patents served Stratasys and 3D Systems well when 3D printing was hard. To compete with them, competitors had to have deep pockets and be ready to pay licensing fees. Now that literally anyone can build an MakerBot-like FDM machine out of a few simple parts – this guy made one for $100 – the impetus for protection is far more mercenary. They are, in short, threatened.
The EFF has been trying to swat down fake patents, for better or worse, but the problem will continue to plague small makers until the patents expire. It does not benefit Stratasys to troll the small guy (unless it’s to protect its MakerBot investment, which would be a delightful bit of irony) and, in the end, it hurts the industry as a whole. The more people who know how to do home 3D printing, the more people who will be interested in professional products. That said, perhaps Stratasys is concerned that the home 3D printers will supplant its professional business. If this is the case, it’s a baseless fear akin to Ford being afraid of go-kart hobbyists.
Patents are fine when they truly protect the filers from predators. When the filers themselves, become the predators, however, the issue clouds the market, destroys innovation, and makes the big guys look mean. That’s not good for anyone.
Dec 03
Ramping up to the release of the second Hobbit movie in theaters, the folks at Microsoft have let it be known that they’ll be sending out a file for 3D-printer users that’ll have them creating the mythical Key to Erebor. This oddity means that Microsoft and Warner Bros. UK will be the first in history […]
Dec 03
Robots may not have souls, but pretty soon they might have real, 3D-printed, fluid-pumping hearts. Except those hearts won’t be pumping blood; they’ll be pumping pee
| |
Dec 03
One of the limitations of 3D printing is in the materials—plastic might be the most affordable and widely available, but it’s also cheap and brittle. So some students at Michigan Tech University have made a relatively cheap metal 3D printer, and they’re releasing the plans to the masses.
| |
Dec 03
Picatinny Arsenal is considered its own municipality by the New Jersey State government—which makes sense, given its 6,500 acre property. The difference between it and a normal town is that, inside Picatinny, nearly 2,500 engineers and scientists work with advanced weapons systems, military-grade 3D printers, and enough ammunition for multiple branches of the U.S. military. Gizmodo got inside.
| |
Dec 03
At the dawn of rapid prototyping, a common predication was that 3D printing would transform manufacturing, spurring a consumer revolution that would put a printer in every home. That hasn’t quite happened—-and like so many emerging technologies, rapid prototyping has found its foothold in a surprisingly different field: Medicine.
| |
Dec 02
It’s been three years since a massive earthquake ravaged Haiti, and the island nation is still recovering. One large and pervasive obstacle is a lack of supplies—specifically, medical supplies. So iLab Haiti is exploring how 3D printing can be used to just make them on the spot.
| |
Who's in charge here?
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.