Every year, great strides are made in medical 3D printing. Stories that used to be headline news around the world are now becoming more commonplace as personalized healthcare is here to stay: surgeries performed with the aid of 3D printed organ models, people regaining their mobility with help from 3D printed prosthetics. But each year brings new innovations, as well, and there was a lot in 2017 that wowed everyone. Here’s a look at some of the brand new 3D printed medical developments that arose over the past year.

3D Printed Vaccines

[Image: MIT]

In developing countries, access to vaccines is unreliable, and trying to put a child on the same kind of vaccine schedule that a child in the United States is on can be unrealistic. It would be ideal, thought engineers at MIT, if children could be given all of their vaccines in one shot that would release the vaccines at spaced-out, predetermined times. Using 3D printing, those engineers

that resembled a cup and could be filled with specific doses of medicine or vaccine. The cups would then biodegrade at predetermined rates, releasing their contents into the bloodstream at different times according to a schedule.

“We are very excited about this work because, for the first time, we can create a library of tiny, encased vaccine particles, each programmed to release at a precise, predictable time, so that people could potentially receive a single injection that, in effect, would have multiple boosters already built into it,” said Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Professor at MIT. “This could have a significant impact on patients everywhere, especially in the developing world where patient compliance is particularly poor.”

3D Printed Spermbots

It may sound weird, but researchers are looking at a new way of fighting cervical cancer: spermbots. The 3D printed biohybrid microbots are being used to deliver drugs to cancer cells, utilizing sperm’s natural ability to swim to reach their target. The technology isn’t yet ready for practical applications, but it looks promising in terms of targeted therapy.

“We decided to work with sperm cells because they have the ability to naturally swim in the female reproductive tract,” said Mariana Medina-Sánchez, leader of the Micro and Nanobiomedical Engineering Group at the Institute for Integrative Nanosciences (IIN) at IFW Dresden. “The sperm has the natural ability to fuse with the [egg cell], and this is very beneficial. It can do the same thing with the cancer cells and release the drug inside the cancer cells, making the treatment much more effective.”

3D Printed Silicone Heart 

Researchers at ETH Zurich 3D printed the first-ever entirely soft artificial heart in July, creating it out of silicone. Unlike other 3D printed heart models that have been made, this one actually feels and beats like a real heart, thanks to pressurized air that inflates and deflates it. The heart was not designed for implantation, but it was created to give researchers a better idea about the direction that could be taken in the development of implantable artificial hearts.

[Image: Zurich Heart]

Logan Williams [Image: University of Canterbury]

Some people with epilepsy can have seizures triggered by flashing lights, prompting warning signs on the doors of clubs and theatres. But Logan Williams, a 22-year-old student at the University of Canterbury, believes he can prevent these types of seizures with a

that he calls Polar Optics.

“I was inspired to develop Polar Optics by one of my close friends who suffers from photosensitive epilepsy,” said Williams. “The only treatment that gives sufferers some form of protection against the threat of a fit is medication, which can restrict diet, lifestyle, and have other adverse potential side effects. Polar Optics mitigates environmental threats, enabling sufferers to go about their daily lives without fear of a seizure. It has the potential to really make a difference to people all over the world with photosensitive epilepsy, and will also help anyone who suffers from headaches and migraines from bright light.”

Tuberculosis Diagnostic Device 

The Global Good Fund turned to Carbon’s 3D printing technology to prototype an affordable and easy-to-use diagnostic device for tuberculosis, taking another step towards battling a disease that 10 million people around the world still contract every year. Early diagnosis is key for successfully treating the disease, and Global Good is working to create a device that can diagnose it quickly in countries that don’t have strong health care systems. 3D printing helped to speed up the development of the device, and Global Good was able to field test more than 1,000 of them.

[Image: Carbon]

Those are just a few highlights picked out from what was an incredibly productive year in the medical 3D printing world. It’s impossible to count how many people’s lives were saved in 2017 by 3D printing, and how many more lives will be saved in the future by developments currently underway. If you want a reason to be hopeful in the new year, browse through some of our stories on

 to see some more of the many ways that lives are being improved and saved every day with help from 3D printing technology.

What are your favorite health-related stories from the year? Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. 

New companies like Netherlands-based CONCR3DE are showing us exactly how 3D printing will change so many industries—with concrete and construction at the top of the list. With the ability to use sustainable concrete for the parts they make at their Rotterdam facility, the CONCR3DE team has been involved in several innovative projects—one of which earned them awards at the recent 3D Pioneers Challenge (3DPC), organized by d.sign21 and held at Rapid.Tech + FabCon 3.D.

3D printed piece of the Palmyra Arc by CONCR3DE

Lauded for the use of abandoned materials that can then be used for 3D printing in their concrete mix, CONCR3DE was founded by Eric Geboers and Matteo Baldassari. They have created custom materials in the form of 3D printing powder and binders that can create parts that are not only high end but are part of a technique that the company states can save up to 80 percent of CO₂ output currently being produced in the concrete industry. The progressive 3D printing company can 3D print ‘any shape imaginable’ with a resolution of 100 microns. The parts they fabricate offer a range of different functionalities and are available in a variety of colors.

The re-creation of the beloved Palmyra Arch, destroyed by ISIS, has been a project we saw taken on by the Institute for Digital Archaeology over the past couple of years, with their 3D printed replica traveling the world. It has also caught the attention of the CONCR3DE team, and was one of the pieces that won them an award in the 3DPC challenge.

“The ancient city of Palmyra in Syria was destroyed by ISIS in 2015 – but together with the New Palmyra Project, we can rebuild it,” states the CONCR3DE team on their website. “We have 3D printed a piece of the Arch of Palmyra in our high end concrete. With a bigger machine, we could 3D print entire columns, arches and ornaments.”

Other projects include:

• 

  3D printed concrete architecture prototype

  A prototype for an abri (a shelter or overhang), 3D printed in a 1:10 scale model for Studio RAP so they could demonstrate the model idea to clients. According to the CONCR3DE team, their technology was the only way such a complex shape could be made in thin concrete.

• Creating complex 3D printed architectures, such as arches and other unique geometries that can be fabricated in a range of colors, materials, and with many different details. These pieces will be easily transportable by truck, as well as quickly assembled by workers once they arrive on the site.
• Artistic pieces, such as their ‘Coral Lamp,’ inspired by brain coral. These 3D printed pieces are meant for the home or office, offered as an extension of their other innovative architectural creations.

While CONCR3DE has taken 3D printing with concrete to a unique and expanded level—as well as a more environmentally conscious one, many other companies are using the technology in building also, from tiny houses to bridges and far more.

What do you think of this news? Let us know your thoughts; join the discussion of this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below.

[Images:

]

3D printing, across its varied technologies, offers a remarkable manufacturing technique seeing rising adoption across the world — and one that will not in and of itself offer disruption in the form of total replacement of tradtitional manufacturing technologies. Hybrid manufacturing offers a more holistic view of an end-to-end production solution, utilizing both subtractive and additive manufacturing technologies in a complementary process. While often this comes in the form of separate machines (e.g., a metal 3D printed part finished via CNC), we’re more frequently seeing all-in-one solutions arise that bring processes together into a single machine.

For all the benefits of an all-in-one machine bringing together subtractive and additive manufacturing into a single footprint on a factory floor, barriers to adoption echo refrains familiar to many new technological offerings. Particularly for smaller enterprises, bringing in new machinery can be a daunting undertaking, and many manufacturers are risk-averse. Fortunately, the makers of many hybrid offerings realize this barrier and are seeking to educate and elucidate.

Pittsburgh-based BoXZY, co-founded by brothers Joel and Justin Johnson two years ago, offers their hybrid tool — as well as a well-thought-out ethos behind hybridity and what it means for any piece of manufacturing equipment to be not just a tool, but one based on communication. I met CEO Joel in a Pittsburgh makerspace earlier this year, as we discussed philosophies of manufacturing. He has since shared updates on high-strength capabilities of the tool, and now Joel is back with some interesting thoughts on hybridity and the nature of tools in manufacturing.

Rather than try to sum up his industry insider perspective, the following are thoughts directly from BoXZY CEO Joel Johnson.

Hybrid 3D printers, like BoXZY,  may seem like the epitome of feature creep. But, there are profound reasons for the hybrid design. It’s naive to assume that adding another CNC capability provides a buyer a psychologically persuasive reason to buy. In fact, that’s not true.

There are many reasons to avoid selling a hybrid tool. Hybrid tools give potential customers more reason to feel intimidated. It’s like saying, ‘Hey! Look here’s one thing that you’re already afraid to learn—let me throw something else terrifying at you!’

On the contrary, having all the capabilities in the same hybrid 3D printer actually makes everything easier to learn. You just learn one interface and one machine to do three. However, that’s not the way it’s typically perceived, most especially by new users. The hedonistic math here is subtractive. The more you add, the less people want it.

We knew this when we designed BoXZY, and we still made BoXZY a hybrid 3D printer. This sounds like madness, and maybe it is. But, we didn’t imagine ourselves designing another tool just to make stuff. We created a communication device. For me, it’s the link between people that matters more than the machine. We were trying to create a better link.

We set out to create the real-time delivery of mechanical designs. Adding CNC milling and laser engraving to 3D printing was about adding new ‘inks’ to the communication. If this was inkjet printing, BoXZY is full-color and regular 3D printing is black-and-white.

With hybrids, you ‘print’ in more materials than just plastic. With BoXZY, your ‘inks’ are steel, wood, titanium, PCBs, leather, and even the stones you find in your yard. You can use almost any material as ‘ink’ so that your design communications aren’t limited. 3D printing communicates impossible shapes in plastics. CNC carving and laser engraving empowers you to transport everything else.

Material matters. Most mechanical or electrical designs require more than plastic. If you’re to create and communicate most of your designs, you need to be able to shape and translate a wider array of materials. A load bearing component may require titanium or steel, and your electrical component might require a PCB board, while all of those may need to be enclosed in a plastic insulator. A hybrid, like BoXZY, allows you to communicate it all.

If you conceive of fabrication tools differently—as communication devices—you start to see differently. You start to see that standardization across locations matters.

Standardization means better, faster communications. If you have the same BoXZY in different locations, you can communicate the exact design with the exact setup—fast. Everything’s identical. Same calibration, same setup, same abilities. You have all the same ‘inks’ printing exactly the same way.

Even a completely untrained person could receive exact material solutions from an expert. All they need to do is copy the setup and use the file. They don’t need to know the principles, the settings, or have any of the skills—they just need to copy the expert.

With the same BoXZY across different locations, there aren’t days or weeks of troubleshooting to get your different tools to align. Push this, set that, hit print. There’s perfect fidelity between designs. BoXZY is as close as we get to Star Trek transporters.

Tools are just a means to a human end, not an end in themselves. Tools should be seen as a way to enrich human connection and collaboration, and BoXZY is designed to create more effective collaboration. BoXZY Is designed to fully equip the communication with the ability to send complete mechanical designs across vast distances using a single solution.

My desire was to see designers from economically secure nations create solutions that ultilize local materials in developing nations. I was inspired by the problem that industrial and post-industrial nations have creating sustainable solutions for developing nations. The old model was a failure. Charities sent our tech to nations that couldn’t sustain that technology for long. The machines would break down and the locals would have no way to fix those machines. Water pumps, medical devices and infant incubators would fail and become a useless artifacts of past aid. BoXZY equips designers from industrial nations and post-industrial nations to design complete, sustainable technology for developing nations with the materials that are most available in those developing nations. And, BoXZY is designed to equip people in those developing nations with the ability to build and sustain technologies designed in industrial nations and post industrial nations.

The power of innovation lies in the human network. The more fully innovators can communicate mechanical designs, the greater the innovation. Focusing on the network creates an exponential design path and a greater distribution of hardware solutions. My design focus is on the network not just the machine. BoXZY serves the network. We designed BoXZY for the network’s needs. In America and Europe, that means rapid innovation and faster development. In developing nations, that means having the basics of health and wealth fare.

As Joel notes, creation is about more than a technology or a tool — it comes down to the creator to innovate.

We’ll be hearing more in 2018 from BoXZY as the company has some interesting projects in the works, with details we’re excited to share.

[Images provided by BoXZY]

We often see 3D printing technology used to breathe life back into history and art through models, replicas, and miniatures.

Chinese 3D printer and scanner manufacturer Shining 3D, well-known for its EinStart 3D printers, EinScan software, and 3D scanners, began an ambitious art preservation initiative last year, asking people to 3D scan museum art and artifacts to create an online database of art and other historically significant items.

Recently, the company heard from Professor Nan Yu, with the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, who used Shining 3D’s technology to, as the company put it, convey “the Chinese traditional culture of respecting teachers” in some very fascinating artwork.

Shining 3D’s Yuan Ruan told 3DPrint.com, “We recently received a very artistic case study of applying 3D scanning and 3D printing technologies into miniature artwork creation.”

Nan Yu led a team of sculpture majors from the institution in reproducing a historic scene from Chinese history – the appointment of Tso Tsung-Tang, one of four important ministers from the late Qing Dynasty, to the position of principal at Lujiang Academy. Every single figure in the vast miniature scene is precisely sculpted, and stands, perfectly staged in the scene, about 10 cm tall.

Nan Yu said in the case study, “The combination of art and 3D technology can make the abstract history representational, allowing more public to relive history, experience the traditional virtual of respecting teachers, and memorizing the historical people and events.”

The artistic process for the project began with the concept design, as Nan Yu drafted out the five historically accurate parts of the appointment scene with the help of ancient records. The five separate appointment scenes are as follows:

1. The chief of Lujiang Academy asked the magistrate to issue the letter of appointment, in order to prepare for the appointment ceremony.
2. The next spring, Tso Tsung-Tang arrived at the academy and joined the banquet, together with the magistrate, the two instructors, the disciplinarian, and the chief.
3. The chief of the academy led students in a salute to both Confucius and the new principal.
4. After school had started, the chief of the academy invited the new principal, the magistrate, and both instructors for a drink.
5. After a few days, Tso Tsung-Tang was invited to the Xingxian Hall for a banquet in “a highly respectful manner.”

Once the design for the overall concept was completed, several team members then put on costumes and posed in the proper positions, as other members used Shining 3D’s handheld EinScan Pro 3D scanner to scan the life-size characters.

Then, Nan Yu and the team modified the 3D data collected by the EinScan Pro, and created the architecture for the five scenes using 3D data modeling. In addition, the team members combined all of the scanned characters into the proper scene.

Nan Yu and his team of sculptors used Shining 3D’s highly accurate iSLA 350 SLA 3D printing technology to fabricate all of the many characters, along with the architecture, from the five scenes, before finally painting the 3D printed miniatures and placing them in the final “Principal Appointment” scene.

This case study, and the resulting 3D scanned and printed miniature scene, is just one more example of 3D printing technology bringing history to life.

Let us know your thoughts on this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share in the Facebook comments below. 

[Images provided by Shining 3D]

We’ve been doing a lot of looking back at 2017 over the past few days, as the new year approaches. The coming of a new year, however, also involves a lot of looking ahead, and one of the first things to look forward to in 2018 is CES. The technological showcase is only a few weeks away, and companies are preparing to introduce their new products for the new year, some of which will become the most talked-about products of 2018. One company that has a lot to show off at CES is CRP Group. Along with US partner CRP USA and subsidiary Energica, the additive manufacturing and CNC machining company will be at Booth #8910 in the 3D Printing Marketplace at the LVCC.

Attendees will be able to see some examples of CRP and Energica’s products for aerospace and F1 racing. Energica was selected by Dorna as the single manufacturer for the FIM Moto-e World Cup, and is also the first Italian manufacturer of high-performance motorcycles. In 2016 the company debuted its Ego electric motorbike at CES, and as the bike goes into pre-series production, attendees at CES will be able to get an up close look at its 3D printed seats and dashboards. A finely tuned version of the bike will be used by teams racing in the FIM Moto-e World Cup.

CRP Group will play a critical role in the development of the new bike for the World Cup, lending its SLS, DMLS, and High Precision CNC Machining techniques along with its Windform composite materials to the Energica team as it carries out R&D for the tuned version of the Ego.

“We are proud to have been chosen by Dorna,” said Livia Cevolini, CEO Energica Motor Company S.p.A. “The passion for engines is what brought us here, to build new dream vehicles right at the beating heart of speed, Modena, the Italian Motor Valley. Our history comes from racing, our passion for this sector has never faded. FIM Moto-e World Cup is an excellent project. After all, it is what we hoped since our racing years, now it can be managed professionally thanks to Dorna and its unique and long-lasting experience.”

Energica will also be showcasing the Energica Eva and the new Eva EsseEsse9 motorcycles at CES.

CRP Group and CRP USA will also be showing off the Tundra-M, the functional prototype of Hexadrone’s first fully modular, easy-to-use drone. It’s designed for industrial and multi-purpose tasks, particularly in extreme weather conditions. The body and arms of the drone are manufactured from Windform XT 2.0 and Windform SP, carbon fiber reinforced composite materials. Originally developed for the motorsports industry, Windform materials are now being used for a wider range of applications that include drones and even art.

Speaking of satellites, CRP will also be displaying the TuPOD, the first fully 3D printed smallsat to be launched by the International Space Station. It’s also 3D printed from Windform XT 2.0 and is classified as a TubeSat, a longer form of the well-known CubeSat.

Last year at CES, CRP was showing off its smart golf club, and let us have a swing. CES 2018 is taking place in Las Vegas from January 9th through January 12th. 3DPrint.com will be there, and we’ll bring you all the latest news right from the show floor.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. 

[Images provided by CRP Group]

When you’re waiting outside for public transportation, it’s nice to have someplace to sit down and get out of the elements – that’s why they invented the simple, but ingenious, bus stop. The Shanghai-based engineering, architecture, and construction company Winsun, which recently presented at what’s being touted by 3D Printhuset as the largest 3D construction printing conference, is bringing innovation to the tried and true bus stop, in the form of 3D printing technology.

The sometimes controversial Winsun, which is also known as Yingchuang Building Technique, knows a thing or two about 3D printing in the construction industry. The company, already well known for its 3D printed office buildings and landscaping projects, is in the midst of a collaborative effort with the Saudi Arabian government to 3D print 1.5 million homes in five years, and this summer signed a 3D printing agreement, worth $1.5 billion, to lease 100 of its own 3D printers to a contractor in Saudi Arabia.

Now, the company wants to use its 3D printing technology to benefit the people of China, with the world’s first 3D printed bus stop. While China has recently seen the start of a 3D printed toilet revolution, Winsun is bringing the bus stop revolution to the country, with its first bus stop located in the culturally iconic town of Fengjing Ancient Town, Jinshan. The 3D printed bus stop was placed on Fengjing Road Four out in the country, in the Jinshan Garden. According to the company, it was actually 3D printed in the garden in Zhangjiang, and then shipped out to the bus line for use.

Winsun has long promoted the use of clean, recycled materials to build sustainable interior infrastructures and houses, and last year 3D printed garden villas out of recycled massive construction waste in Suzhou, as a part of an initiative to promote low-carbon construction.

The company did the same thing with its 3D printed bus stop, which was based on the development concept of harmonious environmental protection, combined with art, culture, nature, science, and technology. Winsun reused raw, recycled building waste materials to construct the bus stop in just one night, which surprised passengers at the stop who didn’t realize the structure had been 3D printed.

Previously, the bus stop had housed only a stop board, and if you look at the surface of 3D printed bus stop frame, you will find traces of the original gray 3D printing ink, which Winsun says “is a mean to express nature by high-end luxury brands.”

Zhang Bing, the secretary of the party committee in Fengjing, introduced the 3D printed bus stop, which is now being used as a pilot demonstration; a small desk will be added to the stop later.

Winsun’s 3D printed bus stop is part of a new project revolving around a ‘science & technology city’ in Fengjing, which promotes the application of technology for local enterprises. Other 3D printing projects, besides the bus stop, include a 3D printed road, technology town, and a 3D printing technology experience garden. China has been increasing its focus on 3D printing and advanced technologies as a matter of policy, and the country will likely only be seeing more and more innovative structures and developments.

What do you think about this 3D printed bus stop? Let us know your thoughts on this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share in the Facebook comments below. 

[Source/Images:

]

With each year that goes by, it gets more and more important to do whatever we can to help our environment, save wildlife and prevent climate change, not to mention helping our fellow human beings. As we’ve seen over the years, there are plenty of ways that 3D printing can be used to help the environment and people in need, whether it’s through recycling plastic into filament, building robots to clean up beaches, or coming up with new ways to filter and deliver water. While a lot of bad things happened in 2017, there was also plenty that gave us reason to hope, and 3D printing played a big role in making the future better in many ways. Here are some of our favorite environmental and humanitarian stories from this year.

Recycling

The Refabricator [Image: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given via Newsweek]

Recycling is important not just on the Earth, but above it as well, and this fall the

that the plastic-recycling Refabricator would be sent up to the International Space Station to recycle plastic into 3D printing material in the spring. The goal is for the machine to not only make space a zero-waste zone, but also eventually to be used on the moon and Mars, reducing the amount of material that will need to be brought along on long missions.

Back on Earth, startup Fishy Filaments made a splash (sorry) by raising money through a successful crowdfunding campaign and then garnering support from numerous investors. The Cornwall-based company was formed for the purpose of helping to clean up the oceans by recycling used fishing nets into 3D printer filament. Supporters and investors were enthusiastic about the idea, eager to reduce the amount of wildlife caught in discarded nets and the amount of plastic clogging up landfills.

The organization Re:Purpose for Good initiated a recycling project that benefited not only the environment, but people with missing limbs. The group held a successful crowdfunding campaign that involved creating robotic prosthetic devices out of recycled plastic and e-waste. Re:Purpose for Good planned to create custom prosthetics out of recycled for people in need, and also to teach children about the 3D printing and prosthetic assembly process.

[Image: Re:Purpose for Good]

Erin Kennedy founded Robot Missions for the purpose of 3D printing robots that would clean up beaches. The robots are designed to work in swarms, trundling along beaches and scooping up the smaller pieces of plastic that are easily missed by human trash-pickers. One of the robots has undergone several field tests and is in the process of being perfected. Robot Missions has another purpose – bringing together makers and environmentalists to combine their skills in order to help save the planet.

[Image: Robot Missions]

“…Makers are super creative with limited resources and bring their tools. However, they sometimes do not see how to apply their skills to a problem,” said Kennedy. “Environmentalists can give direction to the problems, and understand the deeper parts of it. Sometimes they can be skeptical of the technology, as they haven’t been a part of its development or had any input about it. If we are able to help both groups work together, then we will be able to implement the innovations into existing efforts faster.”

[Image: Alain Herzog/EPFL]

Speaking of beach robots, the

is designed to swim through water and gather information about different forms of water pollution. The robot looks and moves like an eel and was specially designed so that it doesn’t disturb aquatic life forms when it swims through. It is composed of multiple modules that each contain a type of sensor, whether mechanical or biological, and its creators hope that it will eventually be able to detect heavy metals such as mercury.

Clean Water

In developing countries, one of the most pressing issues is that of access to clean water. In many countries, simply getting enough water for daily needs involves walking an average of three miles round trip, carrying a jug weighing 40 pounds on the way back. In areas suffering from drought, the walk can be 15 miles or more. Women and children are often tasked with getting water, which takes up most of their time and keeps them away from things like pursuing education.

The solar-powered, partially 3D printed Watt-r cart is designed to carry a dozen 20-liter containers of water at a time. It’s aimed at entrepreneurs who will sell water to local villages, taking the burden of collecting water off women and children and providing a means of income. Jose Paris, the inventor of Watt-r, plans to test the design in Kenya in early 2018.

[Image: Jose Paris]

Being able to access water is crucial, but that water also has to be clean enough to safely drink, and that’s another big issue. But Emma Emanuelsson, a chemical engineer at the University of Bath, used 3D printing to prototype a

made of black plastic that heats up in the sun. The device collects and passes water through a labyrinth-like series of channels, and the heat from the black plastic kills any pathogens that may be in the water. Emanuelsson and her team hope that eventually, about 10,000 of the devices will be produced every year by local workers, primarily in Africa where there is a dire need for clean water.

[Image: University of Bath]

Those are just a few of the ways that people have been using 3D printing to improve the Earth and the lives of people living on it. There’s a tremendous amount of good that can be done using 3D printing, and our hope for the new year is that people continue to use their ingenuity and compassion to help others and the planet with the technology.

Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts below. 

Taking a look back at the previous year in the 3D printing world as 2018 rapidly approaches, one of several major themes that emerged was innovation in construction 3D printing. Applications for the technology in the construction industry were on the rise this year, as multiple countries and companies determined the reality of construction-focused additive manufacturing. Within this theme, we discovered a few smaller themes as well, as we look back at a year of construction 3D printing in 2017.

Materials Innovation

While London-based Bottletop was declared last month to be the world’s first store with a 3D printed interior, constructed out of sustainable materials and a 3D printed lattice structure by KUKA robots, and the IAAC used soil to demonstrate its 3D printing construction technology, we’ve heard a lot more 3D printing news in the construction industry about structural materials like concrete, cement, and steel. Concrete is one of the biggest materials currently being developed in the 3D printing world, because it’s able to be fabricated into nearly any shape – even army barracks and public bathrooms – creates zero waste, and is able to be locally sourced in areas where building materials are scarce.

The Technical University of Munich (TUM) has been studying the advantages of 3D printed concrete, and using it to create thin, extremely lightweight but strong pipes, not dissimilar to the delicate bones of a bird. The pipes are supported inside by an intricate bracing structure 3D printed with a selective binding method – the structure would have been impossible to create through conventional methods of manufacturing.

Vancouver-based LifeTec Construction Group is working on some private projects with its disruptive technology, which is able to 3D print studs out of structural steel for home construction. The company uses the advanced end-to-end design and build Framecad system to rapidly construct quality buildings without the use of lasers to shape the material, and steel is an ideal construction material, because it’s environmentally friendly, more resistant to mold and warping, and durable.

Robotic Construction

X1

2017 has been an extremely busy year in terms of innovation in robotic construction. Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, the creator of large-scale 3D printing method Contour Crafting, brought his 2015 prediction that the robotic 3D printing machines would be commercially available within a couple years to fruition this summer, not long before the IAAC publicly demonstrated the ability of its large cable-driven robots to 3D print large structures directly on a construction site. Caterpillar and the private equity fund Rusnano Sistema Sicar both made investments in robotic 3D printing construction this year, while Fraunhofer ILT and Cazza Construction each debuted new robotic 3D printing construction innovations.

Chris Kelsey, the CEO and Co-Founder of Cazza, told 3DPrint.com in September, “The possibilities of 3D printing are still being explored and it’s an incredibly exciting time to be involved with this technology. We feel that architecture presents the greatest promise in terms of efficiency and capabilities. We intend to revolutionize the construction industry through disruptive technology, making building safer, faster, more cost effective and environmentally-friendly.”

Different Types of 3D Printed Structures

Robotic 3D printing technology was also used to manufacture the first robotic 3D printed bridges, which were made with modified plastic and stand at Tongji University’s College of Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP).

The Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) in the Netherlands began developing a giant concrete 3D printer two years ago for a large-scale research project. The concrete 3D printer, which also makes use of a construction robot, was used in a collaborative project to 3D print a concrete pedestrian and bike bridge, which officially opened to cyclists this fall. The most unique bridge of all was proposed in Mosul, and would be home to 3D printed houses, as between 50% and 75% of the city was destroyed by ISIS over the last few years.

Bridges weren’t the only structure 3D printed this year – in Russia, just a few months after a 38-square-meter house was 3D printed in 24 hours, 2017 saw the completed construction of a residential house, made out of standard M-300 concrete sand with a 3D portal printer.

“It was important for us to create a precedent, to show in practice that 3D construction technology is working,” said Alexander Maslov, General Director of the AMT-SPECAVIA group of companies in a translated quote. “At that time, printing houses – it was something from the realm of fantasy. We set the task to make it real.”

According to ETH Zurich, the DFAB House it’s building with several business partners will be the first house to be designed, planned, and built with almost entirely digital processes, including robotic construction and 3D printing. Chinese construction company WinSun agreed to lease 100 3D printers to a Saudi Arabian contracting company, which will be used to 3D print 1.5 million affordable homes.

A creative agency based in New York and Oslo started a project to create modular hexagonal pods, featuring 3D printed interiors made out of recycled polycarbonate, as personal shelters for the homeless in NYC, and CyBe Construction showed off its speed and skill by 3D printing five concrete benches in a single day.

What did you think of these 3D printing construction stories? Let us know – discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. 

We have heard a lot about the extensive line of 3D printers from CoLiDo, a subsidiary of Hong Kong print consumables company Print-Rite Holdings. Last year, the young company released its ninth 3D printer in an ongoing series, the Delta D1315. CoLiDo 3D printers offer quiet operation, easy-removal glass print platforms, and several specialty material offerings; the company even offers a 3D printing pen, in addition to its other 3D printer offerings.

But one type of 3D printer that CoLiDo did not offer is a machine that can 3D print with metal materials…until now. The company recently introduced its new AMSS (Additive Manufacturing Selective Sintering) metal 3D printing technology, and it was showcased to the public for the first time at this fall’s RemaxWorld Expo. CoLiDo began developing the technology in October 2015, and AMSS is a cost-effective way for more corporations to integrate metal 3D printing into their workflows in order to improve productivity.

The easy-to-use AMSS 3D printing process, which CoLiDo says is similar in method and speed to FDM printing, has three steps: first, the object is 3D printed using special metal filament, before the system uses high temperatures in a debinding process to remove the binder from inside the 3D printed object. Then, a sintering process compacts the object, again using high temperature, to a solid mass.

If users already have their own debinding and sintering equipment, they can use it according to CoLiDo’s parameters; however, they can also purchase the company’s recommended debinding/sintering machine.

The AMSS metal 3D printer, built out of stainless steel, weighs 100 kg, and measures 600 x 530 x 1500 mm. It features a build size of 200 x 200 x 300 mm, for builds up to 170 x 170 x 255 mm after the sintering process. Its patented nozzle design, coupled with the nozzle cleaning system, enables smooth filament extrusion, and print quality is improved thanks to constant temperature in the chamber. The printer’s filament system will stop if the filament breaks or runs out, and printing will resume automatically if the power is interrupted during a print job. The first available material is stainless steel 316L.

Additional technical specs for the CoLiDo AMSS metal 3D printer include:

• 0.1~0.4 mm layer resolution
• 0.011 mm XY position accuracy
• 0.0025 mm Z position accuracy
• 0.4 mm nozzle diameter
• operates at 15° – 32°C
• connects with both USB and SD card

CoLiDo’s AMSS metal 3D printer is easy to maintain, and the company says that the total cost, including operation and maintenance, is only 20% of the existing major metal 3D printing solutions, and it operates faster than them as well.

The company will be showcasing the AMSS metal 3D printer next month at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, and also plans to launch more metal 3D printing filament, such as titanium and aluminum, early in 2018. A second generation metal 3D printer is scheduled to be launched in early 2019. To get a closer look at CoLiDo’s AMSS metal 3D printing technology, visit the company at CES, January 9-12, at booth #8507, LVCC, in the North Hall. You can also pre-order the AMSS 3D printer now, with shipment beginning in Q1 of 2018.

VIDEO

What do you think of this new metal 3D printer? Let us know your thoughts on this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share in the Facebook comments below. 

[Images provided by CoLiDo]

New Year’s Eve is one of those holidays that comes with a lot of pressure. You’re kind of made to feel like there’s something wrong with you if don’t have plans – big plans, full of glitz and glamour. Sometimes, though, you just want to stay in and watch a movie – or 3D print some things, and that’s perfectly okay. Speaking of 3D printing, though, there are plenty of things out there to 3D print for the New Year – whether you’re having a party, or just staying in and doing some printing by yourself. Whatever way you decide to welcome 2018, it’s easy to make 3D printing a part of it. Here are just a few of the New Year-themed 3D printables we found.

2018 Year of the Dog Decorations

Although Chinese New Year isn’t until February, the upcoming year will be the Year of the Dog, and Thingiverse user sysmes decided to get a head start by designing some dog-themed 2018 decorations. These creatively incorporate dogs right into the year itself, and would look nice mounted on a wall or on a door welcoming people in to celebrate the New Year.

Champagne Lamp

New Year’s Eve parties generally mean champagne, and if you’d like to empty a few bottles before the party starts (maybe not all at once), you can make some cool lighting out of them. Thingiverse user GREGWEED 3D printed a base and a bulb holder, complete with on/off switch, for a champagne bottle, creating a classy and festive lamp.

Champagne Glass

Speaking of champagne, things can get a little crazy at a New Year’s Eve party, so why risk your good glass champagne flutes getting broken? 3D print some out of a clear filament with this design from Youmagine user I-Magine, and they’ll look just as good as the real thing. Just please make sure you’re using food-safe filament.

2018 Happy New Year Fun Glasses

It also wouldn’t be New Year’s Eve without at least one person wearing giant glasses in the shape of the year to come, so why not be that person yourself? 2017 was an awkward year when it came to glasses design, as there was no obvious place to put a second eyehole, but 2018 puts us right back on track with two nice round numbers to peer through thanks to Thingiverse designer Auggie.

2018 Earrings

These 2018 earrings from Thingiverse user catf are quick and easy if you’re looking for a last-minute way to jazz up your outfit for New Year’s Eve. 3D print them in gold, silver or a clear crystal-like filament and they’ll look especially fancy. 3D print one more and you can make yourself a necklace, too.

Those are just a few of the fun New Year’s Eve-themed 3D models that are out there – there’s plenty of festive stuff to 3D print, and if you’d like to get a head start on next year’s holiday season, you can check out our roundup of holiday models as well. However you end up celebrating the New Year this year, please be careful, don’t drink and drive, and always be hopeful about the year to come.

Have you 3D printed anything for New Year’s? Let us know at 3DPrintBoard.com or below.