If you need something while up in space, soon all you'll have to do is print it.

DC chef Erik Bruner-Yang interviews Jill-of-all-trades Kaitlyn Hova about her plan to infuse STEM education with open source, 3D printable instruments.

One day, doctors might be able to 3D print copies of your organs in order to test a variety of drugs, thanks to a new technique that uses light and sound for rapid printing

One day, doctors might be able to 3D print copies of your organs in order to test a variety of drugs, thanks to a new technique that uses light and sound for rapid printing

Waiting for each part of a 3D-printed project to finish, taking it out of the printer, and then installing it on location can be tedious for multi-part projects. What if there was a way for your printer to print its creation exactly where you needed it? That’s the promise of MobiPrint, a new 3D printing robot that can move around a room, printing designs directly onto the floor.

MobiPrint, designed by Daniel Campos Zamora at the University of Washington, consists of a modified off-the-shelf 3D printer atop a home vacuum robot. First it autonomously maps its space—be it a room, a hallway, or an entire floor of a house. Users can then choose from a prebuilt library or upload their own design to be printed anywhere in the mapped area. The robot then traverses the room and prints the design.

It’s “a new system that combines robotics and 3D printing that could actually go and print in the real world,” Campos Zamora says. He presented MobiPrint on 15 October at the ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology.

Campos Zamora and his team started with a Roborock S5 vacuum robot and installed firmware that allowed it to communicate with the open source program Valetudo. Valetudo disconnects personal robots from their manufacturer’s cloud, connecting them to a local server instead. Data collected by the robot, such as environmental mapping, movement tracking, and path planning, can all be observed locally, enabling users to see the robot’s LIDAR-created map.

Campos Zamora built a layer of software that connects the robot’s perception of its environment to the 3D printer’s print commands. The printer, a modified Prusa Mini+, can print on carpet, hardwood, and vinyl, with maximum printing dimensions of 180 by 180 by 65 millimeters. The robot has printed pet food bowls, signage, and accessibility markers as sample objects.

MakeabilityLab/YouTube

Currently, MobiPrint can only “park and print.” The robot base cannot move during printing to make large objects, like a mobility ramp. Printing designs larger than the robot is one of Campos Zamora’s goals in the future. To learn more about the team’s vision for MobiPrint, Campos Zamora answered a few questions from IEEE Spectrum.

What was the inspiration for creating your mobile 3D printer?

Daniel Campos Zamora: My lab is focused on building systems with an eye towards accessibility. One of the things that really inspired this project was looking at the tactile surface indicators that help blind and low vision users find their way around a space. And so we were like, what if we made something that could automatically go and deploy these things? Especially in indoor environments, which are generally a little trickier and change more frequently over time.

We had to step back and build this entirely different thing, using the environment as a design element. We asked: how do you integrate the real world environment into the design process, and then what kind of things can you print out in the world? That’s how this printer was born.

What were some surprising moments in your design process?

Campos Zamora: When I was testing the robot on different surfaces, I was not expecting the 3D printed designs to stick extremely well to the carpet. It stuck way too well. Like, you know, just completely bonded down there.

I think there’s also just a lot of joy in seeing this printer move. When I was doing a demonstration of it at this conference last week, it almost seemed like the robot had a personality. A vacuum robot can seem to have a personality, but this printer can actually make objects in my environment, so I feel a different relationship to the machine.

Where do you hope to take MobiPrint in the future?

Campos Zamora: There’s several directions I think we could go. Instead of controlling the robot remotely, we could have it follow someone around and print accessibility markers along a path they walk. Or we could integrate an AI system that recommends objects be printed in different locations. I also want to explore having the robot remove and recycle the objects it prints.

Robert Musselle, customer engineering manager EMEA at Protolabs shares what you need to consider with 3D printing and plastics prototyping.

Modern innovation typically occurs one step-improvement at a time. Some clients initially question whether their new application of an existing technology is patentable. Usually, the answer is ‘yes.’ Under U.S. law (and most other jurisdictions), an innovation to an existing technology is patentable so long as at least one claim limitation is novel and non-obvious....… Continue Reading

One day, doctors might be able to 3D print copies of your organs in order to test a variety of drugs, thanks to a new technique that uses light and sound for rapid printing

Bengaluru-based biotech firm, Pandorum Technologies, has announced that it has developed artificial living tissue using 3D printing which performs the function of a human liver.

Samiya Parvez, along with her husband Naveed, co-founded medical device service startup Andiamo, which uses 3D printing to reduce wait times for custom orthoses for children with disabilities from six months down to one week. "The ingredients are all there," Parvez says of the current system. "But, you can't get to things fast enough and it's not gelled together." In this video, Parvez shares their startup's journey and how caring for their late son, Diamo, inspired his parents to develop a patient-centric, efficient and effective process for children with disabilities. ABOUT WIRED HEALTH 600 innovators, scientists and business leaders gathered at The Francis Crick Institute in London, for WIRED Health on March 26, 2019. Discover some of the fascinating insights from speakers here: http://wired.uk/health-event ABOUT WIRED EVENTS WIRED events shine a spotlight on the innovators, inventors and entrepreneurs who are changing our world for the better. Explore this channel for videos showing on-stage talks, behind-the-scenes action, exclusive interviews and performances from our roster of events. Join us as we uncover the most relevant, up-and-coming trends and meet the people building the future. ABOUT WIRED WIRED brings you the future as it happens - the people, the trends, the big ideas that will change our lives. An award-winning printed monthly and online publication. WIRED is an agenda-setting magazine offering brain food on a wide range of topics, from science, technology and business to pop-culture and politics. CONNECT WITH WIRED Events: http://wired.uk/events Subscribe for Events Information: http://wired.uk/signup Web: http://bit.ly/VideoWired Twitter: http://bit.ly/TwitterWired Facebook: http://bit.ly/FacebookWired Instagram: http://bit.ly/InstagramWired Magazine: http://bit.ly/MagazineWired Newsletter: http://bit.ly/NewslettersWired

To live on Mars humans may have to rely on robotically 3D printed homes like the structures designed by AI SpaceFactory. WIRED's Arielle Pardes talks with AI SpaceFactory CEO and architect David Mallot about how this new technology works and could be used here on Earth as well.

A disruptive technology, says researcher

‘By using this technology, a villa project that would typically take 24 to 36 months can be completed in 12 months’

Long-time Slashdot reader blackbearnh writes: Since the COVID-19 pandemic has made Personal Protective Equipment worth it's weight in gold, Makers have been trying to help bridge the gap. While sewn masks have been the most common solution, the 3D printing community has been pitching in as well. The Montana Mask has been one of the most popular designs... Thursday, the group Make the Masks announced that the design files and STLs to print the mask have been released under the GNU General Public License v3, allowing anyone to print, sell, remix or improve the design, as long as they conform to the license. Importantly, the GPLv3 includes an international non-exclusive patent grant, meaning that even if the inventors decide to apply for a patent, it will not restrict anyone from using the design.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Apr. 13 - A team of self-described geeks in Taipei have taken to the streets on a bicycle equipped with a 3D printer which they're using to turn plastic waste into useful products. They call their printer the "Mobile Fab" and say it not only helps promote recycling, but also demonstrates how technology can be applied in a socially responsible way. Tara Cleary reports.

Say hello to the 3D printed Czinger 21C. It's been created by the LA-based auto maker and just 80 will be produced. Everything has been developed in-house, including a 1,233bhp drivetrain.

The two-storey 6,900 square foot structure will be used as an office for general administrative functions by the Dubai Municipality.It was designed in collaboration with Apis Cor, a 3D printing and construction company in Boston.

As 3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing (AM), begins to replace conventional manufacturing, the environmental impacts of its implementation must be assessed. This study conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) to investigate the environmental and resource implications of using AM to manufacture the metal parts of an engine in a light distribution truck. In the LCA, the impacts of both present and possible future states of AM technology were compared with current conventional manufacturing. The results suggest that there are potential environmental and resource benefits1 to AM technologies, but that these benefits rely on the achievement of a clean energy source and further technological development.

Desktop three-dimensional (3D) printers, available for use in offices and homes, can release between 20 and 200 billion ultra-fine particles (UFPs) per minute, finds new research. UFPs may pose a risk to health, and the study’s authors recommend caution when operating 3D printers inside unventilated or unfiltered indoor environments.

A nanoscale 3D printing technique could be useful for nanomanufacturing processes with environmental applications. The authors of a new study have found a way to control their printing process by incorporating a simple pattern into the printing surface. They say their technique could reduce costs for nanoscale printing.

Initial batches have been supplied in Chennai, while some were in the process of being scaled up towards mass production for use in hospitals and clinics across the country.

Despite the fact that 3D printing has already become extremely popular worldwide, majority of people associate this technology with desktop 3D printers able to fabricate object with use of synthetic polymers commonly known as plastics.

Sam (Corridor Digital) has been experimenting with 3D printing scans of his ears for binaural sound capture. He's using a pair of Sennheiser wireless lav mics inside the fake ear's canals. For a quick proof of concept experiment, this worked extremely well.

When the hype around 3D printing was at its peak, it was confidently predicted that every household would soon have a personal printer. That’s not the way it turned out. But 3D printing is coming back and it’s slowly making its way toward the verdant “plateau of productivity”.

Fifteen-year-old Connor Meldrum, who was badly injured in a cliff accident, will undergo surgery to have fitted to his skull a custom-printed polyethylene material that mimics the properties of living bone.

UK based Victrex has announced a multimillion euro investment in Bond High Performance 3D Technology.

Although 3D printing is being used for a variety of applications in healthcare, biomedical engineering and manufacturing, it is still pretty limited

A group of researchers from the Harvard University Wyss Institute and the Massachusets Institute of Technology Computer Science Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, or MIT CSAIL have developed a robot gripper that uses a 3D printed origami structure to lift up to 100 times its own weight.

Nanofabrica, an Israel-based developer of precision additve manufacturing technologies, has announced the commercial launch of its micro-level resolution AM technology.

Jun Aizaki, the founder of New York-based design studio Crème Design, and his team created HyO, a completely organic, biodegradable cup made from a gourd grown inside a 3D printed mould to take their functional shape.

University of Huddersfield scientists have teamed with the Huddersfield company Reliance Precision for two successive 3D printing projects that have earned £2.25 million funding from Innovate UK.

A team of researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) and Delft University of Technology (TU Delft) has developed a new method for generating stress adapted orthotropic infill for 3D printing.

Digital Artisan, a Japanese design lab has teamed up with chemicals company JSR Corporation, , Castem, a manufacturer of precision casting parts, to create “Generative Heel – Formless” high heel shoes using 3D printing technology.

We recently wrote about several projects that aim to increase the strength of 3D printed components. In November 2018, the “Father of RepRap,” Dr. Adrian Bowyer, demonstrated how hollow tubes could make 3D prints stronger. Later, Stefan Hermann at CNC Kitchen experimented with Smart Infill for stronger 3D prints.

Japanese company Open Meals is fusing science and sushi to create nutrient-rich foods that is tailored to each diner. By using “biological samples” including “saliva, urine, [and] stool,”

NASA researchers with the Glenn Research Center (GRC) and Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) teamed up to develop GRCop-42, a copper-based high strength alloy with high conductivity. Using powder bed fusion (PBF) 3D printing, NASA researchers successfully 3D printed near-fully-dense GRCop-42 components that are resistant to deformation and remain strong even at elevated temperatures.

We’ve reported before on 3D printing technology being used to make parts for satellites and other spacecraft, and this trend looks set to continue in the future, with Thales Alenia Space being one of the major companies leading the way.

Building on the success of its Aceo Open Print Lab in Burghausen, Germany, Wacker Chemie A.G. has opened its first United States-based rubber silicone 3D printing lab.

A team of Chinese researchers has developed a new technique to use 3D printers to bind the electronic materials to the clothing textiles and enable them to harvest biomechanical energy from human motion.

Bioscientists are developing 3D printed artificial tissues that may help heal bone and cartilage typically damaged in sports-related injuries.