Rapid Ready Roundup: State Department, Printers for Peace, Food and Star Trek
In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing (AM), I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up every so often and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.
If you follow AM news you’ll almost certainly be aware of the controversy surrounding Defense Distributed’s successful firing of a 3D printed firearm. The US State Department apparently heard about it as well and sent the company a takedown order, along with a suggestion the “Liberator” breaks international gun control laws. Continue reading
GE Prepares to Test the Potential of Additive Manufacturing
By now it’s no secret that aerospace manufacturers are very interested in 3D printing. Additive manufacturing (AM) has begun to make its presence known at airshows, was already at work in the prototyping process and has become a key part of building a few, small aircraft and UAVs.
GE is just one company that has taken notice of AM and, late last year, made a significant investment in the technology when it acquired Morris Technologies, and its 3D printing service, Rapid Quality Manufacturing. Now GE is getting ready to flex its AM muscle with a large scale industrial test of 3D printing. Continue reading
Rapid Ready Roundup: KamerMaker, Organovo, Custom Speakers and Tonearms
In the course of my diligent efforts to keep you good people up to date on the state of additive manufacturing (AM), I come across many interesting news items. I’ll gather them up every so often and present them in a Rapid Ready Roundup (like this one). You can find the last Roundup here.
Let’s begin today’s Roundup by building on past work. The era of 3D printed homes may soon be upon us. Innovators have taken a number of different approaches to the idea, and Netherlands-based KamerMaker is another process looking to provide you with shelter. Continue reading
Additive Manufacturing to the Rescue for Hospital in Ethiopia
As interesting as I find the development and potential expressed by each new additive manufacturing (AM) system, I enjoy writing about humanitarian applications of the technology. AM offers the possibility of changing the world in so many different ways, such as 3D printing projects developed to help the blind better experience the world around them.
Another example of how AM can help individuals can be seen at a hospital in Walga, Ethiopia. A defective turbine wheel resulted in the hospital’s loss of electricity, and the clinic was unable to afford to purchase a replacement part. An effort to aid the hospital, led by Turbal AG, and assisted by Voxeljet, among other companies, led to the gift of a new turbine wheel. Continue reading
Kappius Components Brings 3D Printing to Professional Mountain-Bike Racing
About four years ago, Russ Kappius—mountain-bike enthusiast, winner of six Masters racing titles, and a research geophysicist/software developer—became obsessed with bicycle hubs. After working out a design for an oversized hub and high-performance drive assembly that would transfer more power from pedal to chain to wheel, Kappius patented the concept and began looking for a way to fabricate the parts.
For two years, Kappius and his son, Brady (an engineer and pro mountain-bike rider), field-tested versions of their hub and tweaked its design. The team tested traditional subtractive manufacturing methods such as water-jet cutting and wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). WEDM proved satisfactory for production, but required a fairly long turnaround time and could only fabricate 2.5D geometries, a constraint to component shape. Continue reading
