Print in Another Dimension
Monday, March 07, 2011 • development, future, new, print technology • 0 comments
Three-dimensional printing — also known as additive manufacturing, desktop manufacturing or rapid prototyping — involves a machine layering plastic, metal, ceramics or other material to build a physical object. The printer is directed by digital 3-D models created either by laser scanner or by industrial 3-D graphic software such as AutoCAD.
A report by the technology analyst firm Gartner last fall predicted 3-D printing would be adopted by the consumer mainstream within five to 10 years — ranking behind media tablets and electronic paper by two to five years, tied with Internet-enabled TVs and wireless power, and ahead of autonomous vehicles and mobile robots by more than a decade.
ABI Research has predicted 3-D printing technology will take off in 2011, growing to a more than $782 million market by 2013.
While it may not be in the average household yet, 3-D printing has been popping up in head-turning research projects. Last month, Wake Forest University researchers announced they were working on scanners and printers that could print customized replacement skin for burn victims.
In December, MIT Media Lab researcher Amit Zoran used an Objet Connex 500 — which resembles the larger ink-jet printers in most offices — to print a working flute made of plastic. Over the course of 15 hours, Zoran printed four plastic parts, and assembled them with a few springs into a flute. (See Youtube video above)
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