electro^plankton

« The Abandoned City | Main | Reef Surf Tent »

July 23, 2006

Print Me A 3D Plane

When I was just a wee-geek-boy, I remember watching a show called Beyond 2000 and in a particular episode, they covered a new technology called 3d printing which uses lasers to carve and melt polymer together. At the time, it was just small projects - little objects that could help designers better envision and test their creations. This opened the doors to rapid prototyping.

Fast forward almost 20 years and it seems the technology has advanced far enough to print not only the object, but the mechanics inside as well.

One of the first to fruition from this technology is of course, funded by the military. It's called the Polecat UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle), designed to test cheaper and faster manufacturing technologies. Since most of its parts are laser printed, there is less room for manufacturing errors as computers are far more accurate and consistent.

If the project proves successful, we could see the technology trickle down to consumer levels. 3D laser printing could be the bridge between current manufacturing methodologies and the often romanticized nano technology.

via new scientist tech

Posted by tranism at 6:37 PM | Permalink

Comments

Posted by: Sten31284 at January 15, 2007 5:36 AM

Posted by: Sten13506 at January 20, 2007 11:34 PM

Posted by: Wilfred at March 1, 2007 8:26 AM

Posted by: Karen at March 1, 2007 2:02 PM

Posted by: Michael at March 3, 2007 2:28 AM

Posted by: Dolly at March 7, 2007 6:13 PM

Posted by: ApemoVapwoott at July 31, 2007 1:20 AM

Post a comment

Name:

Email Address:

URL:
Remember Me? YesNo

Comments: (you may use HTML tags for style)