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.

helloI really like your writing so a lot share we keep up a correspondence extra approximately your post on AOL I need an expert in this house to unravel my problem May be that is you Taking a look ahead to see you

The storm decimated a region rich with dozens of species already struggling with habitat loss and disease

Tentatively called D55, the film is produced by Sushmita Anbuchezian under the Gopuram Films banner

Torrential rain, made worse by climate change, has lashed Spain, with Valencia bearing the brunt of the floodwaters

An AllTrials report for the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee this week has found that 33 NHS trust sponsors and six UK universities are reporting none of their clinical trial results, while others have gone from 0% to 100% following an announcement from the Select Committee in January that universities and NHS […]

Trans-Atlantic Information Flow

Video 1 Preview Image Caption

No Blank Screens, London

Northwestern Mutual, presenting sponsor of the Rose Bowl Game�, revealed renderings of its Tournament of Roses� Parade float, inspired by Peyton Richardson, a teenage ballerina who is fighting cancer.

HGTV Dream Home 90-second Tour

Plackers presents nutrition and dental health tips to keep kids� teeth clean and mouths healthy.

Power washing is made even easier with POWERflow+ Technology by Briggs & Stratton. This pressure washer allows you to do deep cleaning, remove mold and mildew and reach second stories.

Praised as the most beautiful countryside in China, the unique view of shaiqiu can only be found in Huangling village where baskets of colorful harvest bask in the sunshine.

Dr. Lewicky-Gaupp knows what a significant problem UI can be for millions of women � many of whom suffer in silence. Here she explains why the PeriCoach System is an important new treatment option.

Northwestern Mutual Rose Parade float will support the fight against childhood cancer

We’re expanding flood forecasting to over 100 countries and making our breakthrough AI model available to researchers and partners.

Bathe “Avalon” “Avalon” is a song about wanting to be somewhere else. You can go a few different directions with that idea – like, you could focus on conveying discomfort, dissatisfaction, a burning desire to get out of your current setting. The R&B duo Bathe opted for evoking the place they’d rather be. The music […]

Interesting redesign for TAK flour...

The Renaissance artist Michelangelo had carried out human dissections, which may have led him to include women with breast cancer in some of his pieces

Although the COP16 summit in Colombia ended with some important agreements, countries still aren’t moving fast enough to stem biodiversity loss

A surprising reversal of our usual understanding of the second law of thermodynamics shows that it may be possible for heat to move in the “wrong” direction, flowing from a cold area to a warm one

NYC emergency officials have begun using drones for the first time as a weather warning system.

The warming impact of the vapour trails that emerge from airplanes is being discussed at climate gathering.

In patients hospitalized for medlinkacute myocardial infarction/medlink (MI), the SGLT2 inhibitor empagliflozin offers significant kidney protection.

Highlights: Suparnaa Chadda is a dedicated founder advocating for menstrual hygiene awareness and sustainability th

Highlights: India introduces the Aarogya Maitri Aid Cube, a portable hospital designed for swift deployment in

Experts meet in Patna to discuss new initiative that could “future‐proof” one million smallholders.

The post Press Release: Space technology to help develop flood insurance for India’s farmers first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

For the first time, maps have been prepared by a consortium consisting of IWMI, the Disaster Management Centre of the Ministry of Disaster Management (MoDM) and the UN’s space based information service for disaster management and emergency response (UN-SPIDER).

The post Press Release: New maps aid flood relief efforts first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

A new initiative launched in Uttar Pradesh could revolutionize flood management while at the same time boost groundwater stocks for dry season irrigation.

The post Press Release: Ganga floodwater to be stored underground first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

New mobile connected device can transform data collection say experts.

The post Press Release: DIY weather stations will aid flood control efforts first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Experts meet in Delhi to discuss a new initiative to "future-proof" livelihoods of one million smallholder farmers in South Asia

The post Press Release: Satellite based flood insurance product set to be launched in Bihar first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

IWMI is supporting the Government of Pakistan for flood damage assessment and aiding recovery efforts, following the extreme flooding events across the country.

The post IWMI supporting the government of Pakistan to deal with unprecedented floods first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

World's smallest nations, which contribute the least to climate change, are disproportionately affected by its harmful impacts. This trend is expected to intensify in the future.

An intense monsoon season in Pakistan means the country’s food system faces the challenge of both extreme floods and extended droughts.

The post Three months of floods, or nine months of drought first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

The innovative WISDOM research project, supported by the European Commission, commenced on June 4th-5th, 2024. Its primary goal is to reduce the effects

Holistic, integrated planning across sectors is vital to ensure disaster response is timely and effective.

The post Floods in Kenya underscore urgent need for anticipatory action in disaster situations first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

How the residents of Chrystler’s Farm took a proactive approach to disaster response.

The post Staying afloat when disaster strikes first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).

Bridging gaps between research, policy and implementation can make cities flood-resilient.

The post Our cities are flooding but funding has dried up first appeared on International Water Management Institute (IWMI).