A New Spin On 3D Printing Can Produce an Object In Seconds (arstechnica.com) 31
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: A 3D model is sliced up into hundreds of 2D horizontal layers and slowly built up, one layer at a time. This layer-by-layer process can take hours or even days, but what if we could print the entire model at once? A new technique demonstrated by researchers from Switzerland's Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne (EPFL) -- and further detailed in this Nature article -- does just that and can print an entire model in seconds. The new technique builds a model by hardening a photosensitive resin with a laser, not unlike existing stereolithography (SLA) printers. The big difference here is the application of tomographic techniques, the same used in x-rays and ultrasounds, that allows for rotational printing. Laser light is modulated with a DLP chip (just like in old rear-projection HDTVs) and is blasted into a container full of resin. The laser covers the entire build volume, and the container of resin actually rotates while it's being exposed to the light. The laser projects the model at different rotational perspectives, which is synced up with the spinning resin, and a whole 3D model can be produced in seconds.
The EPFL writes, "The system is currently capable of making two-centimeter structures with a precision of 80 micrometers, about the same as the diameter of a strand of hair. But as the team develops new devices, they should be able to build much bigger objects, potentially up to 15 centimeters." In this first public demonstration, the build volume is 16mm x 16mm x 20mm, making it one of the smallest 3D printers on earth. An 80 um resolution is also nothing to write home about and can be bested by ~$500 consumer SLA printers. It is very fast, though, and the technique is just getting started. The researchers have set up a spin-off company called "Readily 3D" to develop and market the technology.
The EPFL writes, "The system is currently capable of making two-centimeter structures with a precision of 80 micrometers, about the same as the diameter of a strand of hair. But as the team develops new devices, they should be able to build much bigger objects, potentially up to 15 centimeters." In this first public demonstration, the build volume is 16mm x 16mm x 20mm, making it one of the smallest 3D printers on earth. An 80 um resolution is also nothing to write home about and can be bested by ~$500 consumer SLA printers. It is very fast, though, and the technique is just getting started. The researchers have set up a spin-off company called "Readily 3D" to develop and market the technology.
Not the first Star Trek replicator (Score:2)
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Meh.
Call me when this thing can print steaming hot cups of Earl Grey tea.
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Great alternative to current methods (Score:2)
This may not be the next "a 3d printer in every home" type of improvement (nothing will do that anytime soon), but it does provide an alternative to the PLA and resin printers on the market. I don't expect this to get as cheap as current printers but the more alternatives the better. After this is scaled up though there might be an application for the made to order market since this could significantly reduce the time to deliver and possibly avoid problems with leveling.
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I don't expect this to get as cheap as current printers
Or as big.
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Indeed. If it did, the economic upheaval caused by a replicator would be devestating. It's why Star Trek didn't have money - what do you do when greed is mostly eliminated? I mean, if you want that super rare Superman #1 comic, worth millions today, but worthless when a replicator can make you one in a few seconds. Want that rare care your neighbor has? The replicator can make you one just like his. T
Photosensitive resin is not new at all (Score:3)
Only the laser is. But I've seen this, using a flat panel display and a light below, which feels more elegant to me, in a TED talk, years ago.
And the dirty secret reason it's still not on the market, is that 1. that resin is super-toxic an hard/messy to handle and everything, and 2. that the creator was too greedy and priced the thing in the $10,000 range.
If you solve those two problems, it's definitely a great thing.
But: Did you?
Re: Photosensitive resin is not new at all (Score:5, Informative)
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Only the laser is.
Ummm... l think laser/resin printers are quite common now.
The innovation here is spinning the resin around to produce 3D objects directly instead of doing them in layers.
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There are many such resin printers available for under $1000. The printers and supplies are available on Amazon.
From what I have seen, the resin is messy, and you don't want to risk developing sensitivity, so gloves and good ventilation are a must.
It's nowhere near as fast as the method in TFA has the potential to be.
The other popular method, FDM heats a plastic filament and extrudes it layer by layer. The filament is cheaper than resin and is not at all messy to handle (though some need to be stored in a d
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(though some need to be stored in a dry box for best results).
Or if you can't fight the humidity food dehydrators can usually be found at thrift stores for <$5.
Or there's this kickstarter for $130. https://www.printdry.com/produ... [printdry.com]
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The dehydrator is great for drying out a roll of filament. People have also had success with ovens, though my oven cannot be set quite low enough to do that safely.
For storing and dispensing the filament (so it stays dried out), I bought an inexpensive plastic waterproof file box from Staples and added a kilo of reusable dessicant from Amazon. I printed a simple airlock that allows the filament to feed from the box directly to the extruder. Usually, I use PLA which doesn't have humidity problems, but I also
Re: Photosensitive resin is not new at all (Score:2)
Not solving a problem (Score:2)
Photosensitive resins cure time is what determines how long it takes to print the layer. That's determined by the area and intensity of the light. This is faster because it's smaller, otherwise it's printing a rotating XZ layer instead of a moving up and down XY layer. Interesting, sure. But it doesn't change the cure time of photresin.
Re: Not solving a problem (Score:2)
No, this is faster because it only needs one âoelayerâ. This isnâ(TM)t printing a rotating x-z layer. Itâ(TM)s printing all layers at once. The laser does not have a high enough intensity to set the resin from any one angle. The resin only sets when itâ(TM)s exposed to the laser from multiple angles. This, the result is that the resin sets in all areas which appear in all projections of the object. This works in the same way as a CT scanner, but in reverse. In the same way as
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Am I misreading the description of the technology? Because that seems to be a description of steolithography, which is a completely different tech with superficial similarities.
Volume of UV cured/minute is the relevant speed.
(And the shell width is independent of tech used to print.)
Re: Not solving a problem (Score:4, Informative)
They're exposing the resin with "lasers" as it spins around in the vat. I thought they're scanning out the image with a laser and focusing it on different depths but after reading TFA again it seems like they're projecting a layer with a DLP chip into the resin, and changing the image to different slices as it rotates.
If that's the case, the difference compared to the current SLA printers is that they're slicing it vertically around the center as opposed to horizontally and of course doing it in a spinning jar instead of the bottom of the tank. Then the speed improvement is almost entirely from not having to physically peel each layer off the FEP film, which usually takes as much time as exposing it in the first place, since you have to slowly pull the print off, wait for the resin to fill in any gaps, and lower it back.
Not having to mess with supports is a huge win, but on the downside this might be difficult to scale, and also it seems like the resolution on the outside of the print will be much worse in XY as it'll be moving much more per degree of rotation.
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Yeah, I misread the description as well. It's using a different resin that allows for a lot of permeability of light. So it doesn't "not print supports" so much as "make a solid object". It only partially exposes the print, then rotates and partially exposes it again. so the resin needs to be be in the intersection of the two (or N) images to actually cure. Meanwhile, the light penetrates the entire vat (no doubt another reason it's so small).
I didn't know the peeling took that long, but I shouldn't be
Re: Not solving a problem (Score:4, Informative)
"...this doesn't just print the outer layer."
But it can only print transparent stuff.
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prototype prototyping (Score:2)
As a model validation mechanism this could be extremely useful. Build a model in a few seconds without the resolution you need, then when it looks like what you want, kick off the multi-hour build of the actual model.
Not necessarily helpful for people with only occasional printing needs but a nice accelerator for the places that do this a lot.
Cool (Score:2)
Genius. It's like the technique for irradiating tumors where you send in multiple beams from different directions, meeting at the tumor area, so only it gets a lethal dose.
Here no beam is enough to solidify the resin but where they meet it is, so they can work directly on a vat.
Interesting but could be wasteful (Score:2)
I did a quick scan of the articles so I could have missed it but what happens to the resin that isn't used to make the object? Is the user able to add more resin to it and build another object or is it wasted? It would be terrible if one had to use a "cartridge" of resin per printing and then dispose of any remaining resin after the object(s) were created.
Bisphenol A - You'll Be Soaking in It (Score:2)
DLP = old TV? (Score:2)
Laser light is modulated with a DLP chip (just like in old rear-projection HDTVs)
Or modern video projectors. I think most projectors these days use DLP one way or another, DLP with lasers is only found at the higher end.