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The Wooden Spoon Press: Cine Lino https://ift.tt/3A8iVz5 Linocut printmaker, Phillip Kingsbury, who creates under the name of The Wooden Spoon Press, has recently produced a series of linocut prints using classic films as inspiration. “I am trying to squeeze entire films into small 200mm x 150mm linocuts,” describes the printmaker. He continues; “It is great fun working out which bits to include and which bits to leave out, whilst still being recognisable and telling the story of the film”. Phillip starts the designs as very quick sketches which he then refines as he begins the lino carving process. The pieces are then printed using black Caligo ink on Canaletto 300gsm paper. “It is very exciting after spending hours and hours on the carving, then rolling ink over the top and revealing the linoprint. Seeing all the hours of work in one go, same as seeing the whole film in one go,” says Phillip. In the prints, Phillip twists the perspective so that several scenes of the recognisable films are happening all at the same time, creating a surrealist and unique result. So far he has created prints based upon films including Jaws, Jurassic Park, and Back to the Future. www.the-wooden-spoon-press.myshopify.com Printing via People of Print https://ift.tt/2DhgcW7 June 28, 2021 at 05:45AM
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3D Printing Webinar and Event Roundup: June 27, 2021 https://ift.tt/3jeQwBj As we move from June into July, we’ve got a little less hectic schedule of events and webinars for you this week, with topics ranging from leveraging AM for end-use production and 3D printed drones to the principles of polymer 3D printing and a virtual career fair. You can find all the details below! Sinterit: Compact SLS Setup Webinar Kicking things off this week at 8 am EST on Tuesday, June 29th is Sinterit with another popular webinar about compact SLS 3D printing, “What do I really need to get into SLS 3D printing?” The webinar is a hybrid format, with the presentation already pre-recorded, but followed up with a live Q&A with Sinterit’s International Sales Manager Dominik Stasiak and Support Manager Robert Garbacz. In the pre-recorded portion, the two will discuss what SLS 3D printing is, if you really need it, how to compose an SLS solution of your own, how big and detailed you can expect the prints to be, if third party materials are required, the importance of support and training, and more.
You can register for the webinar here. Materialise & Metal 3D Printing Potential Later that day, or earlier depending on what time zone you’re in, Materialise is holding three sessions of one webinar titled “Unlock the Potential of Metal 3D Printing,” with one session at 1 pm SGT for the APAC region, another one at 11 am CEST for Europe, and a third at 11 am EST for the US; all three will be held in English. In each, three Materialise experts will discuss the impact and importance of strong metal AM expertise, how to optimize costs for current or new applications, and real-life examples from companies that had successful applications for metal AM.
3D Printing with HP for End-Use Production At 2 pm EST on Tuesday the 29th, HP will host a webinar called “Curious How to Leverage 3D Printing for End-Use Production?” Erik Cooper, the Co-Founder and Head of Design at OVR Technology, will talk with Protolabs‘ 3D Printing Applications Engineer Eric Utley, HP’s Director of Vertical Market Development Lee Dockstader, and Protolabs’ Senior 3D Printing Sales Manager Nils Hegland, about how the three companies worked together to evolve OVR’s virtual reality experiences for clinicians and patients, and decrease development time on its R&D roadmap, using HP’s Multi Jet Fusion technology. Cooper will discuss the design challenges his medtech startup faced, and how he landed on HP’s 3D printing at Protolabs to create the OX1, a lightweight, wireless device that attaches to the bottom of a VR head-mounted display and “emits microscopic, millisecond-long bursts of various scented liquids into a small area under the user’s nose.”
You can register for the webinar here. 3D Printing Drones with Shapeways Moving on to Wednesday, June 30th, at 10 am EST, Shapeways and long-time partner Quantum-Systems will present a webinar called “Soaring High with Drones and 3D Printing,” and I’m betting you can guess the subject of discussion! Steve Weart, the Director of Customer Success at Shapeways, and Sebastian Sattler, a Systems Engineer at Quantum-Systems, will discuss the history of drone technology and its various applications, the structure of drones—including weight and material properties—along with the advantages of outsourcing drone production and the production cycle for drones and their parts, starting with 3D design and 3D printed prototypes all the way to functional end-use parts.
You can register for the webinar here. ASTM: Principles of Polymer AM Another 10 am EST webinar option for you on the 30th is “AM Processes: Principles of Polymer Additive Manufacturing,” hosted by ASTM International’s Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence (AM CoE). Sheku Kamara, the Dean of Applied Research at Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), is the instructor of this webinar, which is meant for manufacturing engineers, research engineers, and AM process engineers. During the webinar, the different types of polymers used in 3D printing will be introduced, along with their mode, method of generation, and associated systems, and attendees will learn to navigate the range of materials and systems for their specific applications.
You can register for the webinar here, for a $49 fee. GE Additive & Additive Manufacturing Certifications Wednesday at 10 am EST is shaping up to be a pretty busy hour this week, as another webinar, this one by GE Additive, is also taking place at that time. During the “AS9100/ISO 9001 Certification for Additive Manufacturing–What’s Involved?” webinar, the company’s Quality Manager Maria King will discuss what she learned as she went through the process of getting GE Additive Cincinnati to its recent AS9100/ISO 9001 certification, and why it’s important to get certified. Attendees will learn the difference between AS9100 and ISO9001, the benefits of both, how long certification takes, obstacles to overcome, other certifications you can achieve, and more.
You can register for the webinar here. TriMech: SOLIDWORKS CAM & CAMWorks Live If you’re interested in wire EDM or 5-axis programming, you’ll want to tune in to TriMech’s webinar, “SOLIDWORKS CAM Professional and CAMWorks: See it LIVE,” on Wednesday the 30th. While many of TriMech’s webinars are only 30 minutes long, this one starts at 11 am and goes until 12:30 pm EST, and will feature TriMech Application Engineers Sawyer Gara and Paul Ludwick, and TriMech Territory Sales Manager Andrea Petty, as they discuss SOLIDWORKS CAM Professional and CAMWorks, and how they can be used to increase efficiency and reduce delivery times. Topics include tolerance-based machining, toolpath optimization and cycle-time reduction with VoluMill, NestingWorks and the 3DEXPERIENCE Shop Floor, knowledge-based machining for higher efficiencies, and more. Plus, if you’ve got a part you need to work on in this capacity, upload it here, and you may even get to see the presenters program it live!
You can register for the webinar here. Wi3DP’s Virtual Career Fair From 12:30-4 pm EST on the 30th, Women in 3D Printing is holding its first Virtual Career Fair. Early registration and networking will take place during the first half hour, and then Wi3DP’s Director of DEI Initiatives, and 3DPrint.com’s former Editor in Chief, Sarah Goehrke will briefly kick things off, before a panel focused on AM recruiting and training advice by The Barnes Global Advisors‘ (TBGA) Additive Manufacturing Leader Laura Ely, Additae Global‘s Founder and Director Greg Waters, and TBGA’s Director – North America Jennifer Killingback. Then, several recruiting companies, including Formlabs, Fast Radius, Boeing, Xometry, and Henkel, will hold a Lightning Round Intro, before it’s time for virtual networking with the hiring managers.
You can register for the free Virtual Career Fair here. Sinterit – Open, Compact SLS 3D Printer Benefits Moving on to July, Sinterit is holding another edition of its “The benefits of an open and compact SLS 3D printing system” webinar at 2 pm on Thursday, July 1st. Team members Robert Garbacz and Konrad Glowacki will provide an overview of Sinterit’s own SLS solution and its Sinterit Studio, before moving on to discuss the difference between an open and closed SLS 3D printing system, the benefits of printing parameters that can be modified, the role of temperature distribution in SLS 3D printing, new materials development, custom applications, cost management, and more.
You can register for the webinar here. Materialise CSI Virtual 2021 Sessions This week’s final webinar will be held at 10 am EST on Friday the 2nd, and it’s another Materialise session in the free series of live webinars from CSI Virtual 2021, dedicated to the promotion of 3D-CT planning development in the global field of structural heart interventions. The company is presenting three of these sessions, all focused on using 3D-CT planning through its Mimics Enlight software for TMVR and LAAO procedures, including the one this Friday, called “Mitral Valve Interventions: Advanced 3D simulation/modeling and printing in TMVR.” Moderators Nicolas Van Mieghem, Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands, and Eberhard Grube, Germany’s Heart Center Bonn, will moderate a panel of medical professionals as they discuss the benefits of 3D-CT planning and AI for mitral valve procedures and shape the future of cardiovascular planning. Bushra Rana, with London’s Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, will moderate a Q&A session at the end.
You can register for the session here. Do you have news to share about any future webinars or virtual and live events? Please let us know! Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 27, 2021 at 07:18AM
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3D Printing News Briefs, June 26, 2021: TU Braunschweig, Desktop Health, 9T Labs, Alfa Romeo & AM Solutions, Alquist & Virginia Tech, Creaform & USAF https://ift.tt/3qqCkXz In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re going over some interesting AM research, and then moving on to certifications, partnerships, military applications, and 3D printed video game characters. Read on for all the details! Automated Integration of Textile Reinforcement for Concrete AM For a few years now, researchers at the Technische Universität Braunschweig have been working to develop an automated method for integrating textile reinforcement with concrete additive manufacturing, using the novel Shotcrete 3D Printing (SC3DP) method developed at the university, which not only extrudes the material but also sprays it with pressure to build a vertical 3D structure. Integrating structural reinforcement into 3D printed concrete components is a big challenge in the additive construction industry, and while a number of strategies are currently being investigated, such as manually inserting conventional steel reinforcement into a 3D printed lost formwork, simultaneous printing with wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) technology, injecting nails and screws to vertically connect layers, and more. TU Braunschweig researchers recently published another paper, “Development of a Robot-Based Multi-Directional Dynamic Fiber Winding Process for Additive Manufacturing Using Shotcrete 3D Printing,” about their continued work in this area.
Desktop Health: Flexcera Dentures CE Mark Certification & Launch A few months ago, Desktop Metal (NYSE: DM) launched a new division, called Desktop Health, which is, as you might expect, focused on bioprinting and AM solutions and advanced materials for personalized patient care and healthcare-adjacent 3D printed products. Recently the division announced that its proprietary resin, Flexcera Base, had received FDA 510(k) clearance, so it can be used to print dental prosthetics. Flexcera resin has the strength of ceramic, paired with long chain chemistry for optimal denture properties, and when used exclusively with EnvisionTEC printers, eight customized dentures can be printed, with moisture resistance to prevent discoloration and high fracture resistance, in less than two hours. Now, Desktop Health has revealed that its Flexcera resin has achieved CE Mark certification, which means that the proprietary materials meet the requirements of the European Medical Devices Directive—one step closer to launching the resins to dental professionals in the EU.
Desktop Health’s Flexcera resin is expected to launch commercially in the US and Canada by the end of this month, and in Europe by the end of the summer. 9T Labs Receives Solar Impulse Approval for Red Series 9T Labs announced that its patented Red Series Additive Fusion Solution has been awarded the Solar Impulse Efficient Solutions label, which was developed by the Swiss environmental non-profit Solar Impulse Foundation. The non-profit, which was co-founded in 2003 in collaboration with the Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), is committed to speeding up the implementation of clean, profitable technology to make a positive impact on the environment and our quality of life, and it’s well-known for sponsoring the first completely solar-powered flight with experimental, long-range aircraft back in 2016. That same year, the Foundation announced the Solar Impulse Efficient Solutions program, with a goal of identifying 1,000 or more clean, profitable solutions from business startups that don’t compromise on economic growth and address environmental challenges—a goal it has since achieved. The Red Series Additive Fusion Solution platform, with its hybrid manufacturing process of 3D printing and compression molding, allows for the affordable, rapid, and repeatable fabrication of carbon fiber-reinforced structural composite parts. It’s made up of a Build Module, which is a 3D printer that takes care of the fiber layup and preform production, and a Fusion Module, featuring a compact compression press that consolidates the preform and completes final part forming. The hybrid system, supported by 9T Labs’ Fibrify design suite, can produce high-performance structural parts, in small to medium-sized and thick sections, in production volumes from 100 to 10,000 parts per year, using high-performance thermoplastic composites like PA12 and PEKK. These parts could potentially replace metals in challenging environments, and can be made with high levels of R&R and very low amounts of waste. Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN Partners with AM Solutions AM Solutions, a brand of surface finishing expert the Rösler Group, and Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN are partnering together for the purposes of post-processing the F1 team’s 3D printed racecar innovations. The Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN C41 car, which is racing in the 2021 Formula One World Championship, features several 3D printed parts, and with AM Solutions as a partner, the team will be able to ensure more efficient, precisely printed and finished parts. The company’s S1 system for automatic powder removal and cleaning, which is ideal for small to mid-size volumes of 3D printed parts, has plenty of handy features, including a specially developed wear protection lining made of non-staining anti-static polyurethane, a new basket design for optimal distribution and circulation of the parts, safe and ergonomic handling, and ATEX conformity.
Alquist & Virginia Tech 3D Printing Single-Family Home The Virginia Center for Housing Research (VCHR) at Virginia Tech and additive construction company Alquist are working together on a new type of 3D printed home, and one they’re calling the first of its kind in the US: a 3D printed single-family home funded by a private-public partnership grant. Using the $500,000 Innovation Demonstration Grant from Virginia Housing, Alquist purchased the modular BOD2 construction 3D printer from COBOD, which can be set up and taken down again in just a few hours and only requires two trained construction works to operate; 3D printing can supposedly be complete in less than 15 hours. The team broke ground on the three-bedroom, 1,500 sq. ft. prototype home earlier this month, and it’s set to be finished in October. Alquist, which hopes to use this project as an example of the kind of low-cost housing that could be developed for rural communities across the country, is using a concrete mix to print the exterior walls only, which will help keep costs down. The university developed a proprietary Raspberry Pi-based smart home monitoring system, which includes a security and alarm system, emergency management, indoor environment sensing for things like humidity, lighting, and air quality, energy consumption optimization, and more.
Additional project partners are general contractor RMT Construction & Development Group and local non-profits Project: HOMES and the Better Housing Coalition. Using 3D Scanning in the Military Obviously, aircraft are pretty useless if they’re not flightworthy, and the personnel responsible for upkeep are always on the lookout for more efficient ways to increase maintenance turnaround and reduce costs and risks. 3D scanning and measurement technology are very helpful in these scenarios, as they can be used to effectively provide CAD files for 3D printed replacement aircraft parts and prototypes, help to remedy user error discrepancies, and allow for quicker MRO and reverse engineering operations, which then improves mission effectiveness. One such tool is the Creaform handheld HandySCAN 3D scanner, which was used at the 366th Maintenance Squadron (MXS) at Mountain Home Air Force Base (MHAFB) in Idaho to quickly scan large aircraft structures, rather than using facsimile molds for reverse engineering. Fairfield, California’s Travis AFB, via the 60th MXS, also uses the HandySCAN, in addition to the SmartDENT 3D and onsite 3D printers, to help replace damaged aircraft parts, thanks to funds allocated by the Air Force to Squadron Innovation Funds. Once, a C-5 aircraft was damaged by hail, and using Creaform’s HandySCAN AEROPACK, Travis Airmen were able inspect the aircraft to locate and measure the dents on the surface of the wings in just 30 minutes.
3D Printed Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart Character Ending things on a fun note, the Insomniac Games’ Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart video game for PlayStation 5 recently launched, and a fan celebrated the arrival with a cool, extremely detailed 3D printed version of the robot character Clank, which he’s been working on for months. Twitter user Tom Lacey used Blender to create the model, which hasn’t changed much over the years, and printed the robot with a Creality CR-10 S4 3D printer. He used a clear resin print and honeycomb pattern to get the character’s huge eyes right, and the 3D printed Clank does appear to have a moveable head and mouth. Lacey had to spend a long time sanding down the various parts of Clank, and then filled it using a spray putty, before airbrushing it with mainly Alclad chrome paint. The results are pretty amazing!
Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 26, 2021 at 07:06AM
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CEAD Releases New E50 Printhead for Large-Scale Composite 3D Printing https://ift.tt/2SstNXx Since breaking out of desktop 3D printer manufacturing, Lucas Janssen and Maarten Logtenberg have been focused on large-scale 3D printing and composites. With CEAD, the former Leapfrog cofounders are attempting to fill the huge potential for additive manufacturing in the industrial space. After having developed a large-format continuous fiber additive manufacturing (CFAM) machine, as well as a smaller robotic system, the Dutch firm has announced the release of a new extruder capable of printing big parts at even faster rates. The E50 is an upgrade of the previous E25 printhead. While the E25 was able to 3D print using plastic pellets at a rate of 12 kg/hr, the new model can extrude materials at a whopping 84 kg/hr (185 lbs/hr). This was based on using polypropylene reinforced with glass fiber at 30 percent by weight. According to CEAD, this was only running at 60 percent of the E50’s maximum speed. E50 users have access to nozzle sizes ranging from 8 to 20 millimeters in diameter. It comes with a thermoplastic pellet feeder and Siemens PLC-based control, managed by either analog 0-10v or digital 0-24v signals, and can be mounted to a robotic arm or CNC gantry. Powered by a 15 kW motor, the new printhead can print at temperatures of up to 400°C, making it possible to 3D print performance materials, such as carbon-filled PESU and peek. A 400-litter pellet dyer can also be purchased, integrated with the firm’s pellet feeding system. So far, such users as ETH Zurich, University of Stuttgart, Rapid Prototyping, and Tampere University have been relying on the E25 extruder, either on robotic arms or CNC machines. Now, the E50 can speed up the printing of customers like these. Naturally, these speeds are necessary for producing large objects, otherwise it would take far too long to justify 3D printing items at such scales. For comparison, the LSAM machines of CEAD competitor Thermwood can print at a rate of up to 100 lbs/hour. The Big Area Additive Manufacturing system from Cincinnati Inc. can achieve 80 lbs/hr. The massive Ingersoll MasterPrint can achieve rates up to 1,000 lbs/hr. Quote request Are you looking to buy a 3D printer or 3D scanner? We're here to help. Get free expert advice and quotes from trusted suppliers in your area. Powered by Aniwaa CEAD will be integrating the E50 onto its larger BEAD machines, a gantry-style, hybrid 3D printer and CNC machine developed with CNC developer Belotti. Prints with layers created by nozzles measuring 8 to 20 mm in diameter need to be machined to finish. Therefore, the hybrid system is able to process large parts to the necessary final tolerances. The BEAD systems are capable of 3D printing objects up to 6-50 meters in length, 2.6-11 meters in width and 1.5-5 meters in height. As mentioned, CEAD is one of a handful of companies that have developed large-scale composites 3D printing technologies. From what I understand, they and Ingersoll are the only firms offering continuous fiber reinforcement, though this is only the case for CEAD’s CFAM machine and not necessarily the robotic arm extruders like the E50. Because CEAD has strong partners in Siemens and DSM, it could prove to be an important player in the space. However, Ingersoll and Cincinnati are teamed with the U.S. Department of Energy through Oak Ridge National Laboratory, so it will have some pretty big competition, literally and figuratively. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 25, 2021 at 09:06AM
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3D Printing, A Pedalution – Part Seven: Why Use 3D Printing At All? https://ift.tt/2T92YI1 Now that we’ve looked at how 3D printing is being applied to bicycle production, what technologies can be used for what components, who is likely to rely on 3D printing, and what drivers there would be for the industry, we need to ask: why use 3D printing at all? Or to frame it better yet: What unique things can 3D printing do for a bike company and its customers? A lot of individuals turn to 3D printing for the fun or excitement. But, when 3D printing succeeds in fundamentally disrupting an industry, there are always advantages for manufacturers and their customers. We’ve already shown you some key business drivers that could lead to broad spectrum 3D printing adoption. But, can we foresee any marketable improvements to bicycles that 3D printing and 3D printing alone can do? Mass CustomizationIn this case, the most obvious use for the technology is in mass customization. Mass customization allows a customer to choose a style or easily produce something that conforms to their body, which can increase their affect for it or its utility, while getting the manufacturer a higher profit for the item. Mass customization in bicycles will be the most impactful on these fronts:
Frame geometry could be customized by printing an entirely custom frame or by making customized lugs for use with custom-cut tubes. This can in a relatively inexpensive way manufacture custom frames in which the size and geometry is adapted to the user very specifically. This could be done with other technologies or by hand to a certain extent. But, the automated design and calculation coupled with automated manufacturing could make 3D printing the easiest way to perform this well and repeatedly. Crankshafts, pedals, and even gears could be entirely and completely customized to the individual rider, as well. Your motion and body could be used to make individual geometries for these components, in such a way that the entire motion of the vehicle is made optimally for just you not everyone. There could be a Mary Cruise gear, a Mary accelerate-to-sprint gear, a Mary full-sprint gear, all optimized to her and her riding style. You could even optimize groupsets for a single stage or part of a race. Using Twikit in combination with HP Multi Jet Fusion polypropelyene or TPU, you could make customized handlebars and grips just for you. Based on a 3D scan, you could create an optimal grip for your hand. Different grips could be made for different rider positions in various portions of a run to optimize your experience. You could put your signature, drawing, shape, favorite item on top of your bike. Or your shifter could come with your logo on it or your frame could have your decal on it. Customized optical components are to be used in automobiles. May they also find widespread applications in bicycles? If you’ve ever ridden for long duration, you’ll realize that the seat is crucial. Mass-customized seats have been attempted by Specialized and others, but no breakthrough components have been offered to consumers at scale as of yet. Ideally, we could make a gradient seat or a saddle that has variable density at every point. A 3D scan could be the basis of a seat made just for you. For large multi-day races, like the Giro and Vuelta, professional teams could even make new saddles for every day of the stage to disperse weight and potential blisters and make riders more comfortable across many weeks of touring. Light-weightingUniquely 3D printing could be used to lightweight almost any component of the bike. We could redesign every individual component and reduce its weight by 20 to 50 percent to specifically produce a lighter part or region of a bike, or the bicycle as a whole. DampeningWith specifically designed components, vibrations, feedback, “road noise”, shocks, uneven surfaces and more can be dampened. Bicycles can be made to be much more comfortable and one could ride them longer with more comfort. Energy from riders could also be directed and used more effectively. These components can also be integrated into existing ones: e.g., a seat post or handlebars that dampens vibration. This is a relatively new area to which to apply additive, but it would make for a huge leap forward in rider comfort. New Suspension ComponentsRockShox and other components have been improving rides for a long time now. Domin is working on automotive hydraulic suspension parts for Aston and others that could also be used to create higher comfort on bicycles in a low-weight, low-mass package using 3D printed hydraulics. Completely New Derraileur or Other Groupset PartsMuch of the bike market has been impervious to new developments in gears and drivetrain components. Rohloffhubs and Pinion gearboxes, as well as Gates drive chains, have been almost completely ignored by the likes of Shimano, Campagnolo, and SRAM. So, perhaps it would be a bit optimistic to ask them to take to new materials. But, 3D printed bulk metallic glass components could mean completely lubricant free gearboxes that are ultralight and maintenance-free, as well as high-performance. Companies such as Heraeus and Exmet are focusing their attention elsewhere, but the performance improvement would be significant. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 25, 2021 at 08:36AM Missouri stamp to honor state bicentennial https://ift.tt/3bxIa3X June 25, 2021 Missouri Stamp to Honor State Bicentennial
Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic, or at Post Office locations nationwide. The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations. ### Printing via USPS News https://ift.tt/2hH9aDC June 25, 2021 at 08:30AM
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Local Motors Places $7.3M Order for Protean Electric Motors https://ift.tt/3gVdWKh In a three-year contract with British electric motor manufacturer Protean Electric, Local Motors has agreed to order thousands of Protean’s in-wheel drive motors, a deal valued at $7.3 million. These systems will be installed on Local Motors’ Olli 2.0 autonomous shuttles, which are 80 percent 3D printed. Though the original Olli released in 2016 was developed by Local Motors and IBM, the Olli 2.0 unveiled in 2019 is driven by Robotic Research’s AutoDrive, an “autonomy kit” that “allows the vehicle to think, perceive and navigate in diverse, mixed-traffic environments.” And while the first Olli was only 30 percent 3D printed, its successor is 80 percent 3D printed using the Big Area Additive Manufacturing system from Cincinnati Inc. The company also says that the polymers used to construct Olli’s body are 100 percent recycled. The motors for the system were also swapped out, with the Olli 1.0 featuring axle motors, while the newer model relies on Protean’s wheel hub motors. In-wheel motors are meant to increase passenger space, while also improving vehicle range and reliability. One clear benefit from this move has been the ability for Olli 2.0 to fit two wheelchairs in the vehicle that can also turn around and exit.
The financial impetus for this new deal may be coming in part from Local Motors’ recent round of $15 million in funding, received in fall of 2020. The company is now pushing its autonomous vehicle (AV) platform around the world. In June, for instance, it established a partnership with software developer door2door to prep Olli 2.0 for further use across Europe. This came just after Germany was poised to adopt legislation for the use of some AVs on public roads. Protean is an interesting company, founded in 2008 and acquired by Saab’s successor company NEVS (National Electric Vehicle Sweden) in 2019. NEVS is, in turn, owned by Evergrande Group, China’s second-largest property developer by sales. But, while Local Motors would like to have operations in China, the company so far has no sales there, according to an interview with electrive.com. Protean noted that there is a growing demand for battery electric vehicles, with BloombergNEF suggesting that it will grow from three percent of global automotive sales in 2020 to 28 percent in 2030 and 58 percent in 2040. The firm also points out that 17 percent of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) come from road transportation. While electrification of vehicles is crucial to staving off the worst effects of global warming, there may need to be more significant changes to our socioeconomic infrastructure in order to prevent the world from tipping past 1.5°C above pre-industrial temperatures. For instance, there may not be enough lithium or cobalt to meet demand for these vehicles. By switching from personal vehicles, for which it used to be known, to shuttles, Local Motors may have made a smart move, as mass transit may be crucial to reducing GHGs associated with road transportation. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 25, 2021 at 08:06AM
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Apple’s new privacy policy is a garden of opportunity https://ift.tt/3vQopuZ Recently Apple announced that they are changing their privacy policy with the upcoming iOS 15 and macOS Monterey update — and we’re (email marketers) all doomed. OK OK, that’s not true at all! Well, the first part is, but in no way is this a death knell for email or email marketing. In fact, we believe it’s a very positive move, and is an opportunity for everyone as a whole. Afterall, we’re users too. We want our privacy, and we want to control who knows what about us and our activity online. With the recent announcement, come this fall (between September and November), Apple will give users the option to protect their privacy further and mask location-identifying IP addresses. This would disrupt tracking of major marketing tools such as data on who opens your emails and who does not (open rate) and IP Address (which provides the valuable geographic data) on iOS devices and through Apple Mail. The road ahead may be changing, but the vehicle you’re driving can stay the same. We don’t know what we don’t know yet, as Apple likes to keep some things close to the vest. But we’re going to navigate this road together, and make the ride as smooth as possible for all of us. Let’s start with the basics of what is happening. If you’re already in the know on this, skip on down to the next section where we’ll give some tips, advice, suggestions, and even expand on why this is a really, really good thing, not something to fear. Let’s bite into this, together. Onward! Stay up to date on our blog, where we’ll keep you posted as things evolve. Wait, so what’s happening?Apple recently announced its new operating system – the iOS 15. Along with plenty of improvements to their core apps, they’ve also introduced additional privacy controls to their Mail application. When enabled, this upcoming feature will prevent email senders from collecting information on email opens, location, and IP address from Apple Mail apps users. While this won’t affect all users, it will change the way we (as an emails sender) approach our lists and email KPIs in general. The Mail Privacy Protection features will:
Now, it’s not clear as to how Apple will stop tracking pixels from being loaded. It’s hard to imagine that they’ll be able distinguish between the tracking pixel and regular images present in emails. The likely approach is that Apple will preload images (and hide the IP address) for the recipients, similar to what Gmail has implemented in the past. While this may not necessarily mean we’ll completely lose the ability to track opens, the opens will appear right after the message has been delivered and not when the recipient actually opens the message. The rationale for why Apple’s doing this? Privacy has become Apple’s USP, a good reason to pay premium for otherwise not-so-unique-anymore products. At the same time, the conspiracy theory seekers might think that Apple’s playing a long-term game, where they’ll let marketers target their users more accurately only if they pay for some additional services (for example, advertising space). The problematic part:
Who it will affectThe changes will affect the Mail app users on iOS 15, iPadOS 15, and macOS Monterey. It’s hard to estimate how many Apple Mail app users there really are. According to the latest data from Litmus, Apple iPhone holds the 1st spot (47.1%) and Apple Mail holds the 3rd (13%), in terms of market share. What does this mean for you?Learning to trust other metrics and rely on other data other than focusing on open rate (OR). Eventually, this common metric to gauge success of sent emails and email campaigns, to see who actually has opened your emails and who has not, will no longer be as reliable and valuable as it is now. There will still be a reason to look at it, especially if you can segment your audience to see which of your customers use Apple/iOS and which are on Android. But for those customers who opt to have their privacy protected, you’ll no longer be able to see if they have opened your message or not, thereby skewing your data. Look at this as an opportunity, though. For now, open rate is still useful and reliable, so dig into your data now and over the next couple months to see what correlates well with open rate for your customer base and your lists. Check out your most engaged (and all) users, is there a metric, such as conversions, that aligns strongly with OR for you? It could be click-through rate, conversions, replies – each industry and audience will be a bit different. As things progress, we’ll dive into this deeper and show you some ways to unearth hidden gems to keep you moving forward and keep your marketing campaigns successful. One other thing to bear in mind is that, if you have marketing automation or autoresponder flows set to engage your audience members who do not open a message, either by resending the message or sending another follow-up communication, you’ll want to change this when the policy is launched. Because if you don’t, you could wind up sending follow-up emails to people who actually did open your email (you just couldn’t track it and see it), and you risk annoying them or even getting an unsubscribe by sending an unnecessary email. This also could mean, according to our friends at Really Good Emails, “that also means that time stamps, forwarding, device identifiers, and even live content (like the cool countdown timers we use) will become useless too.” Empower your audienceAlthough IP tracking will all but vanish on Apple/iOS devices, that doesn’t mean you are left in the dark as to where your audience lives. You just need to get creative, and keep it as simple as just asking them for the information. Engage your audience with authenticity. Put the power in their hands, and give them the option to share information with you. In your messaging, be upfront and honest and reflect on this change as a positive. One great way to get ahead of the curve is to run an email campaign acknowledging the coming change, and telling them you’re on board with this. Then, try asking for the information directly from the source. Ask if they’re willing to share some information with you, and let them know how you’ll use it (for example, you won’t sell their info, you’ll only use it to make sure they are getting the absolute best and most relevant content from you). Explain how tailored content is a benefit to them, to receiving special deals and offers, and that by allowing you to have certain information (in lieu of tracking) they aren’t wandering around aimlessly in the digital shopping world, but rather are able to find what they want and need much more easily. You can use a preference center, and give them a short survey or questionnaire seeing if they’re willing to voluntarily give you their geographic location, or maybe even just their region or time zone. These can still be very valuable. In this way, you’ve been given a perfect opportunity to gain even more trust from your audience, and to reestablish your connection with them. Talk to them as a user yourself, as someone who values your own privacy. You could try telling them that this will help you deliver to them the content they want and signed up for. Remind them why they’re on your list to begin with, and mark this as the next stage in your relationship. And of course, this is an opportunity to really start A/B testing your content to see what your audience loves the most. Most of all, test out your CTAs to see what gets more clicks, and even get creative with what your provide as CTAs to focus in on clicks as a very reliable and handy metric. What’s next?Where there is a lack of information there are sure to be rumors and speculation right nearby. Apple is playing it close to the vest, and guessing at what they’ll ultimately do and how it will play out is just that, guessing. So here’s what we do know, and what we can surmise from there. Will others follow suit? Well, Apple’s biggest competitor on the mobile market is Android, which is owned by Google. Google could very likely come up with their own contingency plan to address privacy and tracking. If that happens, then open rates will all but vanish as those two platforms account for nearly all phone operating systems. Then there’s the other mail providers. Will Yahoo! for instance make an effort to show that they are serious about privacy, too, and follow suit? Without clear answers, the best thing to do is be prepared. In our advancing digital age, with more commerce occurring online every day, having a diverse, multipronged effort toward your marketing is already crucial. Even if you haven’t branched out to other avenues, such as SMS, now is the time to test it out and see what you can learn about it, and about your audience. Give social ads a whirl. Add some new CTAs and offers in your emails and try tracking your clicks in different ways. Printing via GetResponse Blog https://ift.tt/2Xap2TD June 25, 2021 at 07:54AM
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3D Pioneers Challenge Winners Range from 3D Printed Helmets to Bioprinted Meat https://ift.tt/3wYWCK1 The winners of the 3D Pioneers Challenge have just been announced. The First Prizer winner of one of 3D printing’s most prestigious awards was the 3D printed helmet from HEXR, which also won the FashionTech category. Winner Robin Spicer and his team receive €10,000 and an nTopology license. The HEXR is a 3D printed bike helmet that is available for purchase now. Made with Arkema’s Rilsan Polyamide 11, which comes from castor beans, the custom-fit helmet promises better protection, comfort and aerodynamics. Felicia Hamm, from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences, won the “Best Student Award” taking hom €4,000 and a MakerBot Sketch for her “Self Adjusting Fire” project. The fireplace-oven combination opens and closes according to the weight of the wood on top of it as it burns. In this way, it is more energy-efficient than other ovens and fireplaces. In the Mobility category, the Waldwiesel “Gravel” e-bike was the winner for Urwahn Engineering and Sebastian Meinecke. Here, 3D printing was used in the frame and Jury member Ross Lovegrove stated, “In the new age of design, engineering and design converges, dealing in a new way with energy. The new generation of cyclist is being privileged to be able to ride this elegant and advanced bike.“ Anyone who has been reading my series on 3D printing for the cycling industry will know that this was a personal favorite. 3D Medlab and Laura Revol won the MedTech category with their Custom made mitral valve. This project aims to make customized NiTinol implants that decrease morbidity through a CAD-to-implant workflow for these devices. The valve’s struts are even custom-made to change the force and flow of the valve for better outcomes. Israeli company MeaTech won in the Technology & Process category for its 3D printed meat. MeaTech, which we’ve covered in the past, uses umbilical cord samples from animals like cows and incubates and grows them into edible products. Lithium Designers by way of Alamir Mohsen won the Architecture prize with their Hive 3D printed facade concept. Protomycokion by Lund University, with Ana Goidea and David Andréen, won in the Sustainability and Material category. This concept is a unification of a material extrusion process with living fungus, which is then bound with wood particles after deposition, resulting in a novel biological material that could replace polymers. The winner in the Digital category was THE BRUSH by Philipp Süß. The Brush is a 3D printed tool that hopes to allow users to manipulate the virtual world. Valentina Kerst of the State secretary Ministry of Economics, Science and Digital Society Thuringia, said of the concept, “Advanced Technologies are used so wisely in this winning entry. They rethink a traditional product from the ground up and completely redesign its performance. The jury was impressed about how the team used digital tools to realise the concept.“ “Again – we are thrilled of this years pioneers. Every time we think there is no increase possible, advanced technologies teach us better – these creative minds never stop pushing boundaries. We are proud that it is the 3DPC platform where everyone can feel the paradigm shift of this pulsating epoch,” said Founders of the 3D Pioneers Awards, Simone and Christoph Völcker. Entries came from 32 countries and were winnowed down and selected by a 21 member jury. This was done in several rounds with one made up of a grueling discussion that lasted until two in the morning. I was honored to be a part of the jury and have never before encountered a group that was as serious, diligent, and exacting in its selection of awards. The 3D Pioneers Challenge was conceived as a way to urge the technology of 3D printing ever onward and upward and I really believe that this year has a suite of reachable, but ambitious entries that could collectively help engender a more exciting future for 3D printing. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 25, 2021 at 07:36AM
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New Technique Allows Researchers to Custom 3D Print Bacteria-Resistant Medical Devices https://ift.tt/2UBMgl8 A team of engineers and health experts led by mechanics professor Ricky Wildman from the University of Nottingham, UK, found a new way to design and manufacture custom medical devices to boost performance and bacterial resistance. Using a combination of multi-material inkjet 3D printing and genetic algorithms, the researchers designed tailored composite artificial body parts and other medical devices with built-in functionality that offer better shape and durability while cutting the risk of bacterial infection at the same time. The study opens the possibility of a new manufacturing concept to produce devices with spatially distributed, customizable material functionalities in a cost-effective manner. Medical device-associated infections, such as those on implanted prostheses, can easily become contaminated with bacteria and often result in poor clinical outcomes. This has led to major challenges in treating bacterial biofilm, which have numerous harmful effects. Biofilms are communities of bacteria isolated within a self-produced extracellular matrix that achieves up to 1,000 times greater tolerance to antibiotics, host immune system defenses. They are a major unsolved global biomedical problem that accounts for 25.6% of all healthcare-associated infections within the U.S. alone. According to experts, there are major challenges in treating biofilms, such as difficult diagnosis, and in the clinic, biofilms can also be hard to eradicate due to their high tolerance to antibiotics, which are widely used to reduce device infections but are often accompanied by localized toxicity, and other side effects. There have been several approaches to reducing the adhesion of bacteria on medical devices, including antibacterial medication coatings in 3D printable polymers. Inspired by the need to address device associated bacterial infections and antimicrobial resistance, the novel process proposed by the researchers and published in the journal Advanced Science proposes using a computer-aided, multi-material 3D printing technique that demonstrates it is possible to combine complex functions within one customized healthcare device to enhance patient wellbeing. According to the study’s lead author and Transitional Assistant Professor at the University of Nottingham’s Faculty of Engineering Yinfeng He, most mass-produced medical devices fail to meet their users’ unique and complex needs completely. At the same time, single-material 3D printing methods have design limitations that cannot produce a bespoke device with multiple biological or mechanical functions. Aging populations worldwide, rising cases of chronic disease, and global health crisis are leading to a natural and increasing demand for medical devices, where 3D printing has turned into an ally thanks to its cost-effectiveness compared to conventional manufacturing techniques. 3D printed medical devices are cheaper and can be tailored and more easily replaced when parts are damaged and as children grow. Moreover, with the new technique from the University of Nottingham researchers, the healthcare field could further improve patients’ lives and ease the financial burden on growing government health budgets. The study authors hope that the innovative design process can be applied to 3D print any medical device that needs customizable shapes and functions. For example, the method could be adapted to create a highly-bespoke one-piece prosthetic limb or joint to replace a lost finger or leg that can fit the patient perfectly to improve their comfort and the prosthetic’s durability. Alternatively, it could be used to print customized pills containing multiple drugs – known as polypills – optimized to release into the body in a pre-designed therapeutic sequence. For this study, the researchers applied a computer algorithm to design and manufacture – pixel by pixel – 3D printed objects made up of two polymer materials of differing stiffness that also prevent the build-up of bacterial biofilm. They successfully achieved custom-shaped and -sized parts that offer the required flexibility and strength by optimizing the stiffness. Through multi-material inkjet 3D printing, via a dual-head PiXDRO LP50 inkjet printer from SUSS MicroTec, they were able to engineer the ratio of different inks in each voxel to exhibit the required performance, such as modulus or transparency. They used both inkjet printable biofilm-resistant formulations and a computational design approach to direct the manufacture of multi-material devices. As part of the study, the team was able to 3D print a finger joint with the traditional functionality of artificial finger joint replacements that are also rigid enough to implant into the bone. Additionally, they customized its size and strength to meet individual patient requirements. With an added level of design control, the team performed their new style of 3D printing with multi-materials that are intrinsically bacteria-resistant and bio-functional, allowing them to be implanted and combat infection (which can occur during and after surgery) without the use of added antibiotic drugs. They also adopted a new high-resolution characterization technique from German electronics manufacturer IONTOF. The 3D orbiSIMS instrument was used to 3D-map the chemistry of the print structures and to test the bonding between them throughout the part. This identified that – at very small scales – the two materials were intermingling at their interfaces, a sign of good bonding which means a better device is less likely to break. Today, a few antibacterial polymers are available on the market. Still, techniques to 3D print bacterial biofilm-resistant products are lacking, and prevention of bacterial biofilm formation at the surfaces of medical devices is critical. This study carried out by the University of Nottingham’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing (CfAM) and funded by the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council allow the design and manufacture of highly personalized devices that avoid biofilm formation and, more importantly, do not contribute to antimicrobial resistance. Before commercializing the technique, the researchers plan to broaden its potential uses by testing it on more advanced materials with extra functionalities such as controlling immune responses and promoting stem cell attachment. Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com June 25, 2021 at 07:12AM |
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