Something from Nothing

I recently attended a Dorkbot! talk regarding rapid prototyping/3d printing technologies hosted by the UW. It was a pretty great talk on a subject that has been coming up a lot lately. Suffice it to say it left me with a few things to ponder. I love the idea behind this technology, immediate (comparatively) gratification for your designs. On top of that, I feel like it helps reconnect designers with the real world. Too often you’re forced to keep your ideas as electronic representations until the final product comes about.

Here are a few things this technology has had me considering recently.

3D “Velcro”
Given the accuracy of these processes (quite impressive, and bound to improve further) you can manufacture delicate interlocking components in their interlocked state (ex. ball bearings). This is sweet, but imagine taking it a step further and using this ability to simultaneously print interlocked elements of different materials. Granted, I am not a materials expert, but I do understand each material has it’s own particular printing method, not to mention those materials like ceramic or glass that require firing… But! despite these hurdles, you can imagine some fantastic physical applications for this ability. Materials like glass, plastic, ceramic, even wood, interlocked by thousands of precise tiny “fingers”.

Bigger is not only better, it’s required
Now what about size? We’ve got to fix this size problem, as long as we’re so constrained by it we’ll be missing out on proper manufacturing scale opportunities (and personally, I’d like to print my own car panels). So far 3d printers essentially have the same form factor as traditional 2d printers. Though a logical step up, mimicking the form factor of 2d inkjet printers with 3d printing technologies imposes significant restrictions. I think we have to think outside the box. Literally. In the inkjet metaphor, the print head moves horizontally on “rails” within a constrained space (a box). I think we’d be taking a fantastic step forward if we removed the box entirely and had the entirety of the required technology for “printing” constrained within the print head itself. Essentially, a free roaming printer. Easier with extrusion than with powder based print methods, but I’ve got a couple ideas on that whole powder problem as well. Though, I’ll save that for a day when I have less work to get done.