News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Engineers from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have successfully developed an artificial neural network using 3D printing. The physical device is reportedly capable of analyzing large amounts of data and identifying objects at the speed of light and could have important applications in autonomous vehicles and more.
With Mars nearer to us than it’s been in over a decade, it’s no wonder that space exploration and Mars missions have felt more palpable than ever. But it’s not only because the red planet could be seen by the naked eye this past week, it’s also because space organization NASA has been making some important inroads.
Beginning in 2014, the NASA 3D-Printed Habitat Competition has been challenging teams from around the world to propose effective solutions for colonizing the red planet through robotic building systems (which are now generally understood to be different types of 3D printers). After two stages where NASA awarded a total of over $1 million to competitors, the final prize was awarded to the top 5 projects.
In 2014, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) awarded Ohio-based Fabrisonic seed funding to develop its hybrid Ultrasonic Additive Manufacturing (UAM) process for improved metal heat exchangers. With continued support from JPL over the years and with in depth development and testing, Fabrisonic has successfully developed pumped fluid loop heat exchangers which are lighter, more efficient and faster to produce than traditional epoxy tube heat exchangers.
With many exciting developments in the intersecting industries of additive manufacturing and space exploration this past week, we were hardly surprised to hear that Made In Space, a pioneer of 3D printing in space, also had some news. The company, responsible for sending the first 3D printer (the AMF system) into space in 2016, is now developing power systems for small satellites which will provide them with large satellite power and capability.
Swiss 3D printer manufacturer Sintratec signed L.corporation as a distributor for South Korea. Sintratec’s compact SLS 3D printers are now being sold in the world’s 8th largest market for 3D printing.
hpl structural, a German engineering and construction firm specializing in complex steel structures, has found a way to dramatically improve its development process with the integration of 3D printing. Whereas the company’s designers would have typically inspected a digital CAD model to determine its structural feasibility, it can now 3D print physical models of the structures for a more detailed analysis and more accurate presentation.
ACTLAB, the experimental architecture laboratory at the Politecnico di Milano University in Italy has announced the completion of its 3D printed Trabeculae Pavilion. The ethereal, lightweight shell, which spans 36 square meters, demonstrates how 3D printing and bio-inspired computational design can come together to create truly stunning architecture.
The DFAB construction project underway at ETH Zurich aims to use all the latest digital technologies to produce a real three-story house. After using the robotic additive deposition to produce walls and advance composite materials for internal complex structures, now the researchers at ETH Zurich have fabricated an 80 m2 lightweight concrete “Smart Slab” lab using large format binder jetting technology. This makes the DFAB house the world’s first full-scale architectural project to use 3D sand printing for its formwork.
Despite the fact that construction 3D printing is still just taking off here on Earth, some companies are already looking beyond the Stratosphere towards building 3D printed habitats and liveable structures in space. The ambitious and quite niche branch of AM research, spurred on by space exploration organizations such as NASA and ESA, is being pioneered by a handful of companies who believe their construction AM platforms have the potential to be adapted for the harsh environments of the Moon and Mars.