3D Printing PEN

3D Printing PEN

The concept is around for some time. Most 3D pen operates on FDM concept (except no 3D model and slicer needed) which we learned earlier. Don't know what is FDM, please check out Oct, 9th post. Are they any useful. Let us look at one of the review. He is for sure FUNNY.

Alright, so have you watched the video. What do think? Do you think 3D Printing pens are USELESS after watching the video.

Well... hold on buddy....don't make up your mind yet. You know, 3D printing pens are not for engineers. They are for artists, so if you have an artist's hands and crave for creativity you can do magic with it. Watch the video below and you will know what i mean. Visit her video channel you will be amazed with the work she has done with the pen.

References:
"creative world"
"Baranacalus Nardgasm"

3D Printing in SPACE

The first permanent 3D printing facility on the International Space Station (ISS) is being made possible thanks to a partnership between Lowe’s Innovation Labs and Made in Space, the creators of the first 3D printer in space. While Made in Space prepares the new Additive Manufacturing Facility, Lowe’s Innovation Labs will be working with Lowe’s Corporations to launch the next-generation Lowe’s Holoroom. The new virtual reality design tool allows customers to create the room of their dreams both in-store and at-home using advanced virtual reality technology.

 

Refrences:
"3D print.com"
"Low's Home Improvement video"

Grab Your Camera and Have Fun

3D Model from Photos

As promised let us look at 123D Catch today. It is an APP to convert photos int o 3D models. The app is fun to play with and free to download. Available for your Apple or Android devices. PC version can be found as well.

  Download 123D Catch here

 

Here is how it works.

Step1

Place the model on a piece of newspaper.
Why newspaper? The text on the newspaper acts as reference points for the app to calculate the position of each photo.

Step2

Shoot photos in loop at every 15 to 20 degrees roughly. As shown in the image below.

Take additional closer snaps of finer details on your model. 

 

Step3

Launch 123D-Catch and upload all photos to the cloud.

Step4

The App will process and stitch photos together and create 3D model. You can fix holes and clean unnecessary details from model in the app. Model can be downloaded and 3D printed. 

 

My findings after using the App

• It does not work well if model is too glossy or reflective.
• It won't work with clear/see through/glass object.
• Moderate and uniform light in the room will help in getting the best results.
• The app is good for art use but not for engineering use where higher accuracy is needed.

Listen from a student who took the App to a whole new level.

Refrences:
"123dapp.com"
Video from "Ehsan Noursalehi" You Tube cahnnel

3D Scanning and 3D Printing

The project is still at the kickstarter stage. It could bring affordability and accuracy together once fully developed.
A high-precision 3D Scanner that can capture and convert the physical world into high-definition 3D meshes all on your Smartphone. A typical scan takes just 5 minutes and generates up to 8 million points. Export models as .ply, .obj or .stl. Learn more about the project here

 

In the next post will look at another App to convert photos in to 3D models. It is fun to play with...most importantly it is FREE. Have a nice weekend.

 

Refrences:
"eroa3d.com"

 

3D Printed Prosthetic

Printed prosthetic are getting more and more mainstream attention.
The Hawaii-born, Las-Vegas-based Orioles fan was born with Poland syndrome, leaving her with a partially undeveloped right hand.
Fortunately, students from the University of Nevada Las Vegas were able to design and 3D print a custom hand for Hailey, using orange and black to represent the colors of her favorite team. More importantly, she was able to throw a pitch to her favorite player, Manny Machado.

Low-cost 3D-printed prosthetics, such as the e-Nable open-source prosthetic hand, are doing wonderful things for amputees. Over time, more groups are attempting their own designs, advancing the technology while keeping costs low.....read more on c-net




Refrences:
"Masn Oioless youtube videos"
"cnet.com"

Metal 3D Printing, 

We will be flying on 3D Printed parts soon.

SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) we discussed yesterday is the most used method for Metal 3D Printing. Some expert call it Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), the process is very similar. Why DMLS is used for metal 3D printing? The simple reason is, high temperature required to defuse metals can be achieved more efficiently by high power laser. This method has been very successful and some of the big player in the industry are keen to use this technology. Another method is called Selective Laser Melting (SLM) where metal powder is heated to melting point instead of defusing point.

GE is building Fuel nozzles for jet engines, Bloomberg News
General Electric (GE), on the hunt for ways to build more than 85,000 fuel nozzles for its new Leap jet engines, is making a big investment in 3D printing. Usually the nozzles are assembled from 20 different parts. Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing can create the units in one metal piece, through a successive layering of materials. The process is more efficient and can be used to create designs that can’t be made using traditional techniques, GE says. The finished product is stronger and lighter than those made on the assembly line and can withstand the extreme temperatures (up to 2,400F) inside an engine. There’s just one problem: Today’s industrial 3D printers don’t have enough capacity to handle GE’s production needs, which require faster, higher-quality output at a lower cost.

Fuel Nozzle for Jet Engine

Next Industrial Revolution Video

Refrences:
"Bloomberg News"
"GE Aviation"

Adidas 3D Printed Shoes, What Technology is it?

The key advantage of 3D printing is that in many cases designers can design and manufacture concepts what was impossible to manufacture conventionally. There is no way we could machine or even mold shoe-sole designed like this.
adidas Futurecraft 3D Printed shoes. 

The technology they are using is one of the most expensive one you can buy. it is called 

"Selective Laser Sintering" (SLS)

A thin layer of powder is spread over the platform of the machine and laser beam sinters the powder defusing it to solid. Sintering happens only in the area where we want to build our slice, controlled by slicer. The process of spreading the powder and sintering continues until the full model is built.

Here is a video to show you ...how

Refrences:
"adidas Futurecraft"
"3D Systems Respare"

Welcome back again everyone.

So far we looked at how FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling) works and we also learned how SLA (Stereolithography) prints, well we also learned that SGC was the first one to print in 1980.

Race of Tallest and Largest

I am changing the topic a bit and want to share the news that looks like that nations are in race to showcase LARGEST 3D printed structure possible, just like race of building a tallest sky scraper.

about a week ago i learned that Museum of Design in Atlanta installed a tallest 3D printed sculpture. The sculpture is printed by Branch-Technology. Once fully developed this technology has potential to revolutionize construction industry. The aim is to build support structure for any building project by a robot before pouring concrete in. This will replace steel reinforcement currently used in construction and will save tons of time and material cost.

 Learn more about Branch Technology


This week i came to know that a largest 3D printed structure appeared in China

Refrences:
"Branch Technology.com"
"Independent Reporter.net"
"3D Printing Industry"

Have you ever wondered when was 3D Printer invented? 

The first concept was invented in 1980 where a photosensitive liquid polymer would cure by shedding UV light through a masked transparency. The process is called "Solid Ground Curing"  

It was "Chuck Hull" who revolutionized 3D printing by inventing a process called Sterolithography in 1984. He then started "3D Systems" (a company of 3D printing machines) 

Sterolithography (SLA) is a process where a computer controlled laser beam moves around on a thin layer of liquid polymer. Liquid cures only where laser hits it. Then new layer of polymer is deployed on the top of the cured one and laser-beam moves around and cures the next layer. Process continue until the model is fully built.

See image and video below.

Want to know more about the history of 3D printing? Read it here

Wiki 3D_printing

Refrences:
Image from "Sniepview.com" and "i.materialize.com"
Video from "3D Systems"
Web "Wikipedia"

Let us review a bit before we move forward.

Steps of 3D Printing are:

1. Drawing of 3D Model
2. Orientations
3. Slicing
4. Printing

First three steps stays same doesn't matter what kind of machine we are using. The last one will differ from one technology to another.

Today we are looking at the most popular one, most of the machines we find around us are using this method. Most of the hobby type and low budget machines are included. This method is called "Fused Deposition Modeling" (FDM). Some people call it "Fused Filament Fabrication" (FFF).
Long wire looking plastic called Filament commonly 1.75mm diameter is forced in to EXTRUDER where it is heated close to its melting temperature. The molten plastic is then purged through NOZZLE on to the machine table where it solidifies again from air cooling. The table and/or extruder moves around to print the shape as per the information sent by the SLICER software.

The file format all 3D printers accept is STL. Most CAD softwares can save your 3D models as STL files. Some features (overhangs, undercuts) of the design may need support structure to print it properly. Support is mostly calculated by the slicer software automatically. Support structure acts like supports construction-workers are using to support the building structure. Supports are removed when the structure is cured properly.

Please read a scholarly article at the link below If you want to learn more about FDM

Fused deposition modeling of novel scaffold architectures for tissue engineering applications


Refrences:
Image from "indistinguishable from science"
Video from "ZSLICE prototype"
Web "Science Alive"

Here is an example of what we discussed previously. I printed this part yesterday using a Hobby-type machine. I used our rule of thumb for orientation. See the CAD model and the printed model.

Step3 of 3D Printing

Once you have your orientation decided. Next action is pressing the PRINT button...again just like everyday printer.
What happens behind the scene once you press the print button is that another software called SLICER kicks in and slices the model bottom up. See the image below.

and slices are sent to the printer and will be printed on the top of each other starting from bottom to build your 3D model.

First three steps (Till slicing) stays the same doesn't matter what brand, size or technology you are using. The last step, how the slices are printed can differ depending upon the technology and the brand of your 3D printing machine. That is what we are going to look at next...what are some of the popular technologies out there and how they work....

Note: Slices can be really thin depending upon the resolution of the machine, in some cases you won't be able to even see them.

The video shows steps of 3D printing.

Refrences
Image from "Coho 3D Learning"
Video from "Mashable"
 

• Step 2 on 3D Printing

So just like everyday printing, Once we have our model ready we will open it up on the 3D Printing machine and ORIENT it the way we want to print it refers to Landscape or Portrait...kind of

I have shown same 3D MODEL with two different orientations but you could rotate the model around and choose any orientation you want. What will be the best orientation? That we will learn down the road. The one rule of thum you can remember is that keep biggest flat surface on your model downward as you see in option1 below.

Option1

Option2

3D Printers works somewhat like inkjet printers. Lets look at what is common and what is not.

Everyday printing step-by-step

• Prepare a document (Word, pdf etc.)
• Select orientation (Landscape or portrait)
• Press PRINT 

 

How about 3D printing?

 3D Printing Step-by-Step

• Draw a 3D model. You can use any of the CAD software...Solidworks, Inventor, Autocad, Mastercam to name few. Want to try free CAD software. Here you go.... download it free for educational use.

http://www.123dapp.com/design

 

If you are lazy and don't want to spend time on drawing. Don't worry you can download thousands of objects from an on-line libraries. Here is the link for one of the most popular one.

 

https://www.thingiverse.com/

 

Yup, if you are thinking of 3D printing impressive cell phone case for your favorite phone, chances are that someone has already designed it uploaded it to the library.

 

That is it for today...stay tuned tomorrow for the next step.