News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Adidas launched the new ALPHAEDGE 4D, its unique sneaker engineered with the ADIDAS 4D midsole, for controlled energy return and breathable cushioning during intensive training runs. The popular German sports brand has been working with AM industry “unicorn” startup Carbon on mass production of generatively designed midsoles for its FUTURECRAFT brand.
We often talk about the potential of additive manufacturing to revolutionize the medical industry through implants, but there is one healthcare area where 3D printed implants are already having very real impacts: in the veterinary field.
With all the excitement of Formnext, we missed an important date this week: November 19th, otherwise known as World Toilet Day. No, World Toilet Day isn’t akin to World Pancake Day, it is a real event organized by the United Nations as a call to action to overcome the world’s sanitation crisis. To mark the observance day, SPARK Architects, a Singapore, Shanghai and London-based architecture firm introduced its Big Arse Toilet concept, an easily transportable 3D printed toilet.
The European Space Agency released details about a series of 3D printed ceramic objects it made using a simulated lunar regolith. The parts, consisting of small gears, screws and other components, demonstrate how 3D printing could one day be used on the moon’s surface, using local materials to print details parts to support a lunar base camp.
3D Systems revealed this week that it has been working closely with nonprofit organization OpHeart over the past four years to provide 3D printed tools and devices to pediatric heart surgeons to help with surgical preparation. OpHeart is a U.S.-based organization dedicated to improving treatments for children born with life-threatening heart defects.
The inside mirror base for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Coupé (W 198 model series), the spark plug holder from the tool kit of this iconic sports car as well as the sliding sunroof rollers for the W 110, W 111, W 112 and W 123 model series: these are important replacement parts for faithfully maintaining this classic of the brand with the star. They are once again available in genuine quality. Mercedes-Benz Classic has them newly produced in a 3D print. The process is particularly well-suited to smaller quantities and if the genuine tools are no longer available, for example. Mercedes 3D printed spare parts allow gaps in the replacement part supply of classic vehicles to be closed.
BMW Group has reached a big milestone in its use of additive manufacturing. According to the company, it has produced over a million parts with 3D printing over the past decade. By the end of this year alone it expects to reach more than 200,000 3D printed parts, marking a 42% increase over last year’s total.
Software company PTC has acquired generative design software developer Frustum Inc. The acquisition deal, worth about $70 million, will see PTC add Frustum’s AI-powered generative design tools to its Creo software portfolio.
NASA recently expressed interest in working with the UK’s Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). The organizations have announced they will form a collaboration to enable NASA to explore the use of MTC’s additive manufacturing technology for future space exploration missions. The MTC has been home to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) additive manufacturing benchmarking center since its launch in 2017.
Though there is still an important focus on Mars for its potential to host a human colony someday in the future, NASA is already thinking beyond the red planet and looking further out in the solar system to Saturn and Jupiter, whose moons may be the most likely places in the galaxy to show signs of life.