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New Technology Could Lead To 3D Printers
Posted by
kdawson
on Sat Feb 24, 2007 02:38 PM
from the chemical-origami dept.
from the chemical-origami dept.
nomoreself writes "PhysicsWeb reports that a team of scientists in Jerusalem has come up with a method for creating self-assembling 3-dimensional models from a single sheet of paper. The 'chemical origami' is created by etching a pattern of monomer onto the paper and then heating it. The chemical's reaction to the heat causes bends of varying degree in the paper, molding the sheet into the patterned model. A professor in the US with no apparent ties to the study says in the article that the technique could be used to create self-assembling prototypes, or even a printer that prints 3D objects."
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Excellent! (Score:5, Funny)
porn? (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Fully-automated Universal Construction Kit
They already have 3D printers (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:They already have 3D printers (Score:5, Informative)
Bah! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Not much technical detail... (Score:2)
In fact, here's the complete text of the article, since it's so short:
Re: (Score:2)
Ryan Fenton
Re: (Score:2)
Ayup. Thanks for posting that. Could not wrap my head around what the 'printout' would look like from TFA.
Would be a cool way of making realistic looking ashtrays out of thick wads of flashpaper, provided the flashpa
Office parties (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
It loses its luster when it says PC Load Letter [docteurconseil.com] about 200 times before completion.
Spore (Score:2, Interesting)
Oh Christ no no NO! (Score:4, Funny)
3D object printed becomes 3D printer for infinite recursiveness! If these printers came with automatic paper feed, then the world will be finished in weeks, hundreds of self replicating 3D printers converting the Earth into an infinite series of... 3D printers!
It's like Skynet and grey goo all rolled into one
Re: (Score:2)
What I can't wait for... (Score:3, Funny)
Don't try this at home kids! (Score:3, Informative)
Why I look forward to 3d printing. (Score:2)
Think about the hassle of maintaing a Warhammer 40,000 army, versus just printing out the pieces you need when you need them, then recycling them into the "toner cartridge" when you're done.
Finally 3d printers! (Score:5, Interesting)
Despite the bad description of why this is important it actually is pretty interesting. This sort of approach is much more efficient for creating 2d sheets with varied 3d geometry than traditional 3d printing which would have to build them up layer by layer and might not even have sufficient structural stability to make the object if it's too bendy.
What would really make this technique useful is if there was some way to combine it with more traditional 3d printing technologies. For instance if you could start with a nice curved surface like this and add layers that would be really cool. However, there are such serious problems with doing this that I think it is unlikely.
Frankly, while interesting I suspect this is just a sidelight in the development of 3d printing technology. What I want to know is why it is taking so long. When will we all have our own 3d printers? When can we shut down those vast numbers of assembly lines that make nothing but strangely shaped 3d objects?
Re: (Score:2)
and (Score:2)
Picture (Score:2)
Also, it's not exactly "paper" they're printing on:
"We used N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPA) gels to construct sheets with inducible non-Euclidean gtar. The gels are produced b
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scan your kids, & family (Score:2)
take a look at the ability of
http://zcorp.com/products/printersdetail.asp?ID=2 [zcorp.com]
or this
http://flickr.com/photos/garyfixler/31107069/ [flickr.com]
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)