3D Printing Event

Tinkercad has signed a deal where Autodesk will purchase the Tinkercad site and core technologies.

admin — Mon, 20 May 2013 12:20:56 +0000

This is a great day for all Tinkercad users, Autodesk is a very enthusiastic and capable steward.

There are two main impacts of this deal: the site is fully operational and Autodesk has some very exciting plans for Tinkercad.

The shutdown plan has been rolled back and effective immediately new users are again able to sign up for the site. Even better, at the request of Autodesk, we have supercharged the free plan. You can now create unlimited designs, all import and export functionality is enabled and ShapeScripts are turned on for free accounts. We have automatically upgraded all existing free accounts to this new powerful plan. This account will be offered for a limited time only so make sure you sign up as soon as possible.

Before signing the deal the we spent a lot of time talking to Autodesk engineers and product people about their vision for Tinkercad. We were impressed by the deep insight the Autodesk team had into the Tinkercad interface and the underlying technology. There is also a strong alignment on topics like furthering education and the vision of making design more accessible. But most of all we are very excited about the roadmap Autodesk has drafted for Tinkercad.

As our team continues working on Airstone I’m pleased to see Tinkercad find a safe and welcoming home. I can speak for everyone when I say that we are looking forward to using Tinkercad for a long time to come.

SkinPrint: 3D Bio-printed human skin can help burn victims (VIDEO)

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 12:35:52 +0000

SkinPrint, a concept developed by four students from Leiden University in the Netherlands, won the Digital Award of the Philips Innovation Award
The need for human skin is urgent and ever growing. Patients with burn wounds and skin diseases suffer intensely, due to the removal of skin from a donor site. Many patients cannot be accurately treated with current therapies, since the amount and quality of human skin produced by current techniques is insufficient. Therefore, improvement of human skin production is desperately needed.

SkinPrint will solve this major issue by the production of human skin with a 3D Bioprinter. SkinPrint will combine the 3D Bioprinter with the advanced technology of induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (iPS) which enables the creation of stem cells from specialized cells, such as hair or skin cells. These cells are then used as the ink for the bioprinter. The printed cells will eventually form all the layers of the skin. With the use of iPS personalized medicine is achieved: the patient is treated with own cells. The treatment of patients can be hugely increased by printing the personalized skin.

The incorporation of iPS technology with the 3D Bioprinter will speed up the skin production process, together with improved quality of the skin. SkinPrint aims to improve treatment for patients by producing the Skin of the Future.

In summary:

Urgent need for transplantable human skin
SkinPrint: Bioprint personalized human skin
Suitable treatment for burn wound patients

In order to print human skin the team must obtain a Certification mark from the European Medicines Agency. Therefore the team needs to prove that this method is safe. In order to realize that, they work with the Swiss Professor Ernst Reichmann, an expert in the field of skin. With his help, the team thinks hospitals should be able to make 3D printed human skin within five years.

Philips Innovation Award is the largest student entrepreneurs award in the Netherlands

Google image search snag translates into buxom 3D Printed sculpture

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:25:38 +0000

Matthew Plummer-Fernandez creates his Venus of Google by using an altered algorithm.

London-based digital process artist Matthew Plummer-Fernandez takes ordinary objects and turns them into works of art by altering them using an algorithm. The original basis of his latest project, Venus of Google, believe it or not, came from a photo of a box.

The project was commissioned by Design Exquis. In a game of exquisite corpse, a method where different images or words are assembled together to create a single piece of work, Plummer-Fernandez was given a photo of a box, which he uploaded on Google’s reverse image search. One of the image results was a photo of a woman wearing a body-wrap undergarment. He then altered the image using his Hill-Climbing algorithm.

Read more
Source: PSFK

The prototyping event, 25/26 June at BUDAFACTORY, Kortrijk, Belgium

admin — Thu, 16 May 2013 07:20:25 +0000

Howest | Industrial Design Center with its ProtoLab has joined forces with Design Platform Flanders and BUDA::lab, to present the 6th edition of the Prototyping Event, unique in its kind in Flanders. A two day event with an Industry Day and a Public Day.

25/26 June at BUDAFACTORY, Kortrijk, Belgium.

Prototyping Event 2013 offers a mixture of state of the art, home applications, real cases concerning prototyping during a design process, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, materials and virtual tools.

A perfect opportunity to meet numerous distributors, manufacturers and users of various technologies. Speakers from home and abroad bring testimonials from industrial, artistic, architectural and other contexts. Provided workshops will lead you into the world of materialization.

The Prototyping Event consists of 2 one day events and one exhibition (9 days):

Industry Day (June 25th 2013), Focusing on industrial cases, machinery and applications. Where do prototyping and corporate strategy meet? In several phases of a design process, prototypes give information about functionality, shape, tactility, assembly, etc. They visualize concepts and speed up decision making. Choosing between traditional, additive or virtual techniques and estimating time and budget, are important aspects in a strategic point of view of every company involved in product development, architecture, entertainment etc.
Public Day (June 26th 2013), Focusing on the home professionals, open source applications, low end equipment. Where do prototyping and corporate strategy meet? In several phases of a design process, prototypes give information about functionality, shape, tactility, assembly, etc. They visualize concepts and speed up decision making. Choosing between traditional, additive or virtual techniques and estimating time and budget, are important aspects in a strategic point of view of every company involved in product development, architecture, entertainment etc.
Exhibition Shaping Matter, 22/06/2013 – 30/06/2013. The Official opening of the exhibition Shaping Matter will take place at 25/06/2013

Visit the site of Prototyping Event.

E-Waste 3D Printer to Mars?

admin — Wed, 15 May 2013 08:02:27 +0000

In an ambitious plan, a Togolese designer who created a 3D printer from e-waste dreams that one day his machines might help colonize Mars. (VIDEO)

The West African nation of Togo, like other nations in the region, has become a place where e-waste from Europe and US is dumped. In most instances, this e-waste is processed by locals who tear down discarded electronics to their core components in the hopes of turning the waste to profit. However, in a complete rethinking of this system, Afate, a Togolese designer, has decide to begin up-cycling rather than recycling the West’s e-waste.

Based off the design of the Mendel 3D Printer that was purchased for Togo’s first hackerspace, WoeLab, the aptly named W.AFATE (WoeLab & Afate) 3D printer has ambitions of being a 3D printer that is proudly “Made in Africa”.

Read more
Source: Engineering

Mass Customization and Fast Prototyping Age?

admin — Mon, 13 May 2013 06:26:50 +0000

This article is less about technique and more about thoughts that I had while designing my last project.

It was based on an idea I had a few days ago: a reminder that you place in top of a medicine tube to remember the last time you took your medicine.

So what are the consequences of these short prototype cycles? Can these 3D printer be used by the end customer to get exactly the right custom product?

When we think about the “2D” version of printing we can see and evolution with:

Scribes and monks reproducing parchment by hand
Gutenberg and the print press with mass production of books
To reach mass customization with modern printer technologies like inkjet or laser

Donated Makerbot 3D printers accelerate distribution of Robohand mechanical hands

admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 08:20:52 +0000

A few months ago 3D Printer.net covered the story of a little boy named Liam getting a new hand. (VIDEO)

Liam was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome (ABS), a condition that can result in missing extremities out of the womb. In his case, he has no fingers on his right hand. It wasn’t until he was fitted for a Robohand that he could grasp a ball with the hand, and now others are enjoying the same.

Robohand came out of a collaboration between Richard Van As and Ivan Owen. Richard lost four of his fingers in an unfortunate workshop accident and was unsatisfied with the expensive prosthetic options. He therefore took on the task of restoring his hand by his own means. After building prototypes by hand for a while, he stumbled on a video of Ivan demonstrating his mechanical hand. Richard contacted him and Ivan gladly joined the project. With Richard in South Africa and Ivan in Washington State, their work was slow. But then Makerbot kindly donated a Replicator 2 to each of them, and their progress accelerated greatly.

3d printers go on sale at Staples

admin — Fri, 10 May 2013 07:15:50 +0000

This new technology may no longer be relegated to the realm of enthusiasts as they hit retail shelves around the country.

As 3D printing continues to find more and more ways to be useful and garners greater interest amongst the general population – it was only a matter of time before they became available through a big name shopping outlet.

Staples will be offering the 3D Systems Cube 3D Printer – a printer that is manufactured by one of the oldest and most trusted 3D manufacturers on the market. The printer itself can use two types of plastic: ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) or PLA (polylactic acid).

Read more
Source: PSFK

3D Printing could be a boon for small business

admin — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:14:35 +0000

For small businesses that make things and for entrepreneurs who dream of doing the same, the greatest challenge is almost always the cost of technology for turning an idea into a tangible product.

Often, the chore of even creating a prototype is so daunting, great ideas are simply left on the table.

That common obstacle is exactly why 3D printing technology is a potential game changer for small business. While manufacturing was once a big money, big business proposition, these new gadgets can put the power of prototyping and one-off manufacturing into the hands of the little guy. With one machine and a digital design, 3D printers can build a three-dimensional object of virtually anything right on the spot.

Source: Forbes.com: Technology News

Working gun made with 3D printer

admin — Tue, 07 May 2013 08:31:16 +0000

The world’s first gun made with 3D printer technology has been successfully fired in the US. (VIDEO)

The controversial group which created the firearm, Defense Distributed, plans to make the blueprints available online.

The group has spent a year trying to create the firearm, which was successfully tested on Saturday at a firing range south of Austin, Texas.

Anti-gun campaigners have criticised the project.