Wilson's 3D-Printed Basketball Never Goes Flat (gizmodo.com) 47
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Gizmodo: Wilson has been working to redesign the basketball with a prototype that's covered in an intricate pattern of holes but never goes flat. Although calling the basketball "airless" is a bit of a misnomer given air is still able to pass right through it, it's the most common term that's been used to describe this technology that replaces the need for pressurized bladders in objects designed to bounce or absorb impacts. Wilson partnered with a company called EOS which specializes in the use of 3D printing for industrial uses including medical and aerospace applications, to manufacture the unorthodox basketball design that's covered in a pattern of open hexagons instead of sealed leather panels.
EOS relied on additive 3D printing technology which, instead of building up layers of extruded melted plastic, uses a powdered resin that's hardened by a laser to create ultra-thin stacked layers with even more detail. The result is a completely hollow basketball that nearly matches the "performance specifications of a regulation basketball, including its weight, size and rebound (bounce)." The 3D-printed ball can even be dyed in various colors, with the prototype being made all-black for its debut during the 2023 NBA All-Star Game festivities this past weekend. "The NBA currently doesn't have any plans to switch to Wilson's 3D-printed airless basketball design, but that doesn't mean it's a failure," notes Gizmodo. "[E]ven if it never finds its way into the NBA, it could still help make the game more accessible on playground courts across the country where pick-up games will never have to be canceled because no one can find a pump to fix a flat ball."
The company explains how the prototype basketball was made in a video on YouTube.
EOS relied on additive 3D printing technology which, instead of building up layers of extruded melted plastic, uses a powdered resin that's hardened by a laser to create ultra-thin stacked layers with even more detail. The result is a completely hollow basketball that nearly matches the "performance specifications of a regulation basketball, including its weight, size and rebound (bounce)." The 3D-printed ball can even be dyed in various colors, with the prototype being made all-black for its debut during the 2023 NBA All-Star Game festivities this past weekend. "The NBA currently doesn't have any plans to switch to Wilson's 3D-printed airless basketball design, but that doesn't mean it's a failure," notes Gizmodo. "[E]ven if it never finds its way into the NBA, it could still help make the game more accessible on playground courts across the country where pick-up games will never have to be canceled because no one can find a pump to fix a flat ball."
The company explains how the prototype basketball was made in a video on YouTube.
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Here you go. Looks like it has some bounce, but still needs some work. https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
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No video of anyone dribbling it?
Uh huh (Score:2)
[E]ven if it never finds its way into the NBA, it could still help make the game more accessible on playground courts across the country where pick-up games will never have to be canceled because no one can find a pump to fix a flat ball.
I've got $10 that says that for the price of a 3D printed basketball, those playground kids could have at least 2-3 normal basketballs, along with an air pump to keep them inflated.
Re:Uh huh (Score:4, Insightful)
And I've got $10 that says that the pump will not be there when they need it, nor will any of the spare balls.
Besides, this is a 1.0 from only one company. That's always expensive. But it's what leads innovation and change. Soon you can buy one of these from a knock-off brand, at around the same cost as you now buy regular Wilson basketball knock-offs.
Re:Uh huh (Score:5, Insightful)
And I've got $10 that says that the pump will not be there when they need it, nor will any of the spare balls.
Looking across America, one of the first outdoor investments at most schools and playgrounds, is a basketball hoop or court. Not a soccer field. Not a track. Not a football field. So, the infrastructure is certainly there to make it accessible.
Regarding the other shit every other taxpayer doesn't feel like paying for again, go over to your closet and get it. Like most of the country can do.
That's because...
Basketball hoops and related structures are cheap;
Basketball courts use less real estate;
Basketball courts require less maintenance;
Soccer is worldwide because all you need is a ball and a way to mark the goals. Schools, however, must install turf/lawns/pitch and saddle themselves with the related upkeep so that (a) parents like it and (b) insurance companies like it.
That said, I suspect a soccer ball that never goes flat will be a bigger seller.
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"And I've got $10 that says that the pump will not be there when they need it, nor will any of the spare balls."
If that's true, the ball itself will also be gone.
"Besides, this is a 1.0 from only one company. That's always expensive."
An inferior-playing ball that is expensive. A market of few customers. If you don't know why it would not play well, stop talking.
"But it's what leads innovation and change. Soon you can buy one of these from a knock-off brand, at around the same cost as you now buy regular W
Re: Uh huh (Score:1)
Basketballs aren't automobile tires; this is yet another solution without a problem.
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The article says nothing like that.
This is an excellent solution to a common problem. I expect these will be the norm in many parts of the world in the not too far future.
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Common? I've very rarely had to deal with a flat ball.
I've seen balls where the cover on it was starting to fail, with bare worn patches on it, that still hold pressure just fine.
I mean, I have the stuff to fill them, but that's more because I bought a kit set with my compressor that had the tire inflator, blowgun, and the hollow needle for things like balls, along with other bits and bobs.
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I've got $10 saying you do not live in a third world country.
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Put me into the will-fill-up-with-water camp too.
Cheap rubber basketballs are already widely available and the manual air pumps to keep them inflated are likewise widely available and inexpensive. Hell, in may poorer areas, the manual air pump is an essential tool in order to pressurize automobile tires. The only thing extra required is the ball inflation needle. Someone interested in sports using inflatable balls would do well to acquire the tools needed for the game.
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Someone interested in such sports need to be born in a well off country as well then. The complete lack of comprehension that there are people out there feeding a family on under a dollar a day is staggering.
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I expect that the tinkerer in a village or small town will have a bicycle pump and a rubber patch kit more readily than will have the equipment to repair this new invention.
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I've got $10 that says that for the price of a 3D printed basketball, those playground kids could have at least 2-3 normal basketballs, along with an air pump to keep them inflated.
Typical cramped thinking. My reaction to this story is, "Can we do this with tires?"
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It's much easier to do this with tires. The holes in such airless wheels are significantly larger so the crap that gets into them more readily comes out again.
additive 3D printing technology (Score:1)
Wait! What? Theres subtractive 3d printing? Thats far more interesting
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Isn't that just CNC Machining/cutting?
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all 3d printers are additive, hence my shock that the numbnut who wrote the summery felt compelled to include that
Wow they printed a sphere (Score:1)
Just like air free bike tires (Score:3)
Seems like someone tries to engineer away things like air filled tires and now air filled balls every few years. Has anybody found anything that works close to as good as the original? It seems like something that very hard to mimmick with just materials without having the tire/ball filled with air. As you compress the ball/tire, the pressure inside the ball changes, which changes how much it's pushing back. But with an empty ball, it can only ever push back with the material that is in contact with the surface. Even things like exactly how the ball deforms will affect how it behaves in terms of how it bounces.
Does it have the same bounce when you launch it across the court for the buzzer shot? Does it have the same bounce when you just let it fall from your hands? How do the holes affect how the ball rolls or how it can be gripped with the hand?
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Seems like someone tries to engineer away things like air filled tires and now air filled balls every few years. Has anybody found anything that works close to as good as the original?
Tweels are being successfully used now with UTVs, skid steer loaders, and fork lifts. The latter two are obvious easy targets because they move at low speeds, but UTVs are extremely demanding on tires. As soon as they figure out how to work out the liability issues, you can be sure you're going to see them on road-going vehicles. That could take a long time, though, which is sad because I want tweels real bad for our RV. I'd like to move it to super singles front and rear, which would make it track better,
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Does it play off the rim the same, play off the backboard the same? Does it play the same in winter and summer? Dry and wet? How does it react to sweat? Does it travel through the air the same?
This isn't a serious product and serious players do not have a problem requiring a pump. Basketballs are made of leather for a reason. No, this is made to sell to parents who buy something cheap for their kids but want to pay more for it, imagining that the lack of air makes it more convenient for them. Nevermi
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Does it play off the rim the same, play off the backboard the same? Does it play the same in winter and summer? Dry and wet? How does it react to sweat? Does it travel through the air the same?
Maybe, just maybe, they will eventually invent "flubber" :-)
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Has anybody found anything that works close to as good as the original?
It’s a very difficult problem because the main property you need is a spring that is very light weight and very strong. Specifically you want something with a high specific modulus and a high specific strength at failure and for a light spring you would use the square of each on a weight basis and in so doing you can examine a chart of all known materials and instantly see which are suitable. Here [chegg.com] is one for the question you had, it’s called a material selection chart. You simply follow the d
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The one thing that will never be the same as a regular basketball is the aerodynamics when you throw or shoot a spinning ball. I mena everyone can thow an outrageously good curve with a wiffle ball.
Bend it like Beckham (Score:4, Interesting)
They claim to have calibrated the weight, the size and the bounce.
From the pictures, though, this ball looks like it has a lot more drag to it. Which, to my mind, is pretty cool if it allows players to add extra spin and "bend" their shots a bit.
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They claim to have calibrated the weight, the size and the bounce.
From the pictures, though, this ball looks like it has a lot more drag to it. Which, to my mind, is pretty cool if it allows players to add extra spin and "bend" their shots a bit.
I was about to post a comment with the subject line 'Aerodynamics?', but you beat me to the topic. That said, if players can bend shots more, the implication is that even in an 'unbent' shot the ball will experience more drag as it moves through the air. This would necessitate more player effort for a given distance and loft of shot.
Re: Bend it like Beckham (Score:2)
Good, because 74-72 games are boring as F until the last 2 minutes.
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So why does it need to be 3d printed (Score:2)
From the looks of the video, it's just a ball with holes in it. Looks like it could have been made from injection moulded sections which are bonded / annealed together. Probably more cheaply too.
Dribbling Developed in New Britain, Connecticuit (Score:2)
The Real Thing (Score:2)
Kids want what the pros they watch TV / videos use. You can sell an off-brand made out of cheaper materials (though note that the off-brands try to look as close to "the real thing" as they can get away with legally), but if it looks too different, forget it. If Wilson wants this to take off, they're going to need to get the pros to adopt it, or to kids it will just be a dumb toy.
Where's the beef? (Score:2)
Slick video. But I never saw the ball in play.
People in the vid picked up the ball. None of them dropped it. There's a reason for that.
They said "...we would send the ball to our NBA test facility in Aida, OH"...
Alright...what did the testers find?
Anybody can 3d-print a vaguely basketball-shaped object.
- a forgotten element - (Score:2)
Fans will not accept this in serious play. The sound of the ball cannot match the sound of a traditional basketball. This is a serious psychological impediment to the expected aural environment that builds drama. Fans of the game require that crappy noisy drama.
To a lesser extent, friction will prove to be a consideration. How well will a player be able to grip the ball, how will it interact with floor surfaces and bounce around the rim? The friction factor can probably be engineered to match traditional ba
What about volleyballs? (Score:2)
Wilson would had survived! ;)
Once again... (Score:2)
Hexagons are the bestagons.
Forget basketballs... (Score:1)
Can we use this for tires?