News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Digital manufacturing company 3Diligent was selected by commercial cladding company Walters & Wolf to 3D print a series of exterior curtain wall nodes for the new Rainier Square Tower in Seattle. The building, which is expected to be complete in 2020, will be Seattle’s second tallest building, following the 76-story Columbia Center.
When David Bowie asked “is there life on Mars?” in 1971 you can bet he wasn’t thinking of humans. As it happens, we could very well be bringing life to Mars in the near future thanks to efforts being undertaken by NASA and 3D printing companies. One of those companies, NY-based AI SpaceFactory, is hoping it will be the one to provide homes for when humans do eventually step foot onto the Red Planet.
In the realm of construction 3D printing, bigger always seems to be better, as companies scale up their concrete 3D printing systems to build houses on the spot. Andrey Rudenko, the inventor of the 3D Concrete House 3D printer, however, is showing that there is value in scaling the technology down.
Spain is now home to one of the world’s largest metal hybrid manufacturing systems. The new machine, the Large Additive Subtractive Integrated Modular Machine (LASIMM), has been in development for some time through a collaborative, Europe-wide effort. Now, the large-format system is ready for operation at industrial equipment supplier Loxin’s facilities in Pamplona and will be used for applications in the construction industry.
COBOD International (formerly 3D Printhuset) has deployed one of its construction 3D printers, the BOD1, to Dubai. The 3D printer, which is already being put to use printing concrete structures, is the first gantry construction 3D printer in the Middle Eastern city.
Though we often write about how 3D printing is impacting automotive design, we don’t often see the technology being used to augment the display of a vehicle. As BMW recently demonstrated, however, 3D printing can be used to take an automotive unveiling to a whole new level.
Shanghai has officially unveiled its latest piece of innovative architecture: a 15-meter-long 3D printed footbridge. The pedestrian bridge, 3D printed in partnership with Polymaker, a Chinese developer of 3D printing materials, is the first of its kind in China.
After years of R&D, German industrial binder jetting 3D printer manufacturer voxeljet has perfected 3D printing for complex formworks and now sees the construction industry as a key growth area for its binder jetting technology in the future. The large format binder jetting process from voxeljet has been proven to be particularly helpful for complex 3D printed formworks, breaking away from traditional systems and their stringent geometrical limitation
Singapore-based construction 3D printing company Hamilton Labs has dedicated a portion of its work to the development and production of sanitation systems—such as household and community toilets—to improve public health in India. The company’s work, a response to the Indian government’s Swachh Bharat Mission (which translates to “Clean India Mission”), is now being taken to the next level with the launch of an entry level, gantry-based concrete 3D printer.
After years of research, development, and capital investment, S-Squared 3D Printers (SQ3D), a desktop 3D printer manufacturer from Patchogue, NY, became the latest company to venture into the fascinating realm of construction 3D printing by presenting its patent-pending Autonomous Robotic Construction System, (ARCS).