News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
LM Industries, the parent company of Local Motors – the first company to develop largely 3D printed EVs – raised $15 million from Mirai Creation Fund II (managed by SPARX Group Co., Ltd, the Japanese asset management firm). This financing will help Local Motors deliver Olli to customers and consumers who are seeking ways to redefine local mobility.
Three months after its foundation, Additive Drives GmbH, developers of additively manufactured electric motor components, obtained a seven-digit (€1.5 million) seed investment from the Munich-based investor AM Ventures Holding GmbH. The financing round is intended to further advance the market launch. In addition to scaling the business in the area of prototyping, high-performance series applications are also to be enabled. By means of 3D printing, Additive Drives takes electric machines to unexpected levels of performance and efficiency.
When Rolls Royce makes a car it looks at every detail so that you don’t have to. In order to maintain the minimalistic, luxurious style of the original, the new Rolls Royce Ghost Extended went the extra mile to develop unique part geometries that would enable the increased legroom without compromising the car’s style. In order to achieve this, the British car company made intensive use of 3D printed parts.
In anticipation of the 2024 Olympic Games, Plaine Commune Grand Paris has awarded the Freyssinet / Lavigne & Cheron Architects / Quadric / XtreeE / LafargeHolcim consortium the design-build of a 40-meter pedestrian footbridge in Paris whose deck will be entirely made of 3D printed structural concrete.
Scaled Ltd, a UK firm specializing in large format 3D printing via a robotic extrusion process, unveiled its Project Chameleon 3D printed electric vehicle. The company started working on the Chameleon vehicle less than half a year ago, aiming to demonstrate how the way vehicles are manufactured can be revolutionized through AM.
With the technological concept of the Bugatti Bolide, the french luxury car manufacturer is now providing the answer to the question “what if Bugatti built a radically light vehicle around its iconic 8.0-liter w16 engine?” The experimental study of the Bugatti Bolide is a track-oriented hyper sports car featuring a w16 engine derived from series production as powertrain combined with a minimal body for maximum downforce. It, therefore, promises to offer the ultimate Bugatti performance kick.
Yes, we write about 3D printing but we are by no means obligated to only write about 3D printing. We can just as easily cover competing, synergistic or similar technological approaches. Especially when they are as fascinating as the LightVault created by Princeton researchers using robots to deposit glass bricks. And who’s to say that bricklaying is not an additive process anyways?
It’s no longer a secret – if you’ve been following this website – that concrete 3D printing is skyrocketing. As further proof, the technology is now expanding beyond construction, into decorative products and even pranks. Video creator and technology reviewer Jerry Rig Everything turned to Pikus Concrete, developers of a concrete 3D printing system, to play the coolest prank on his best friend, who had recently moved away. How? with a 3D printed statue of himself, of course.
ASU Professor Narayanan Neithalath and four colleagues have been awarded the $2 million 3DConcrete grant from the National Science Foundation to foster collaboration around concrete 3D printing research across more than a dozen countries. Construction 3D printing technology generated these examples shown with Sooraj Nair, a doctoral student in Neithalath’s lab group. The technique offers the potential to change the nature of construction.
BMW Group is now ready to enter a new era for its EV range, by introducing the new BMW iX. Conceived from the outset for purely electric mobility, the iX sees BMW redefining the successful Sports Activity Vehicle (SAV) concept, initially presented two years ago with the iNEXT project. A defining characteristic of the iX/iNEXT is the front grille, which will house sensors and electronic connectors and is vital for highly-automated driving. It allows the integration of camera technology, radar functions and further sensors required for highly developed driver assistance systems into the front end of the vehicle. The original prototype of the grille was, of course, 3D printed, as we revealed back when the project was originally announced. Will the production of the grille component also involve additive manufacturing?