| Firstly lets clarify what is meant by 3D printing, well in | | | | There are a number of different 3D printers available |
| a nut shell it is a way of fabricating objects designed | | | | on the market today, all with slightly different |
| on computer, for example if you designed a mug | | | | advantages, disadvantages, quirks and features. |
| using computer aided design, within a few hours you | | | | Some interesting projects include an open source 3D |
| could have the real thing sitting in front of you. It is | | | | printer which has successfully been used to fabricate |
| possible to watch your very creations come to life in | | | | better parts to replace existing parts on the printer |
| true Star Trek fashion, before your very eyes. | | | | itself. The ultimate goal of 3d printers is to perfectly |
| To go into more detail, currently printers are fairly | | | | replicate themselves, allowing much more cost |
| slow, limited and not tremendously precise. A home | | | | effective manufacturing. |
| 3D printer will typically set up back about ten | | | | The future for 3D printing seems very promising, it is |
| thousand pounds, but this is cheap considering the | | | | the fastest growing part of the rapid-prototyping |
| first commercially available printers cost at least ten | | | | industry with revenues this year expected to be |
| times that amount. 3D printers presently are capable | | | | approximately a billion US dollars. Many industries are |
| of fabricating objects using silicon and certain types | | | | showing huge amounts of interest and are seem |
| of metal, other substances that have been tested | | | | great potential in different applications where they |
| are plaster, play-doh and even chocolate! | | | | could utilize three dimensional printing. The US army |
| A home 3D printer is about the size of a Microwave | | | | have experimented using rapid prototyping to create |
| and connects directly to a desktop computer running | | | | parts for broken tanks, guns and other hardware in |
| software that controls its operation. It then creates | | | | combat situations. Businesses believe a rapid |
| objects layer-by-layer by squeezing material from a | | | | prototyping machine could prove invaluable in showing |
| mechanically-controlled syringe. Unfortunately printers | | | | factories how to assemble parts remotely, for |
| are somewhat limited in the sense they still produce | | | | example in China. Even NASA has requested a high |
| a fairly rough end product and the time scale it takes | | | | resolution machine to manufacture crucial parts in |
| to print an object is considerable. | | | | space. |
| Despite all the technical implications, there are huge | | | | In conclusion what is stopping you being part of a |
| possibilities for the future of 3D printing. All ground | | | | truly revolutionary technology, which could become |
| breaking technology starts somewhere, for example | | | | one of the major breakthroughs of the twenty first |
| in the case of the PC, mainframes had existed for | | | | century? 3D printing has merely been science fiction |
| years, but personal computing only took off in the | | | | until recently, where it is now most certainly science |
| late seventies. A cheap self-assembly computer called | | | | fact. What can we expect to see in the not so far |
| the Altair 8800, launched in 1975, sparked the rapid | | | | away future? Well one ultimate goal is printable |
| development of personal computing. In similar | | | | organic parts, for example replacement organs, |
| circumstances self assembly 3D printers hope to | | | | identical skin grafts and even limbs, to combat victims |
| spark the same rapid development in rapid | | | | of illness, disease and war. |
| prototyping. | | | | |