Category: 3D Printer

Named BioHome3D, the structure was printed on the world’s largest 3D printer

By Bridget Reed Morawski

Maine doesn’t have enough affordable housing or enough workers to build more, but it does have quite a bit of excess wood fiber from its substantial forestry industry. Seeking a solution to those problems, researchers with the University of Maine have taken the industry byproduct to create an experimental 3D-printed house—named BioHome3D—they say is entirely recyclable and bio-based.

The state’s paper mills were once a reliable consumer of the forestry industry’s wood residues, according to Habib Dagher, the executive director of the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures & Composites Center, which created the 600-square-foot prototype. But several of those mills have closed in recent years, leading to a glut of the material.

“There’s a lot of that waste material now that is generated yearly in our state and in the region,” Dagher tells AD. “We have over a million tons per year of waste wood residues that are accessible to us [and] that can create a lot of homes.”

Continue reading… “This 3D-Printed House Is the First to Be Made Entirely From Bio-Based Materials”

In a conceptual rendering, astronauts watch robots 3D-print structures out of processed lunar dirt.

By Rob Pegoraro

NASA awards Icon a $57.2 million contract to develop a system to build structures on the Moon out of mined lunar dirt.

NASA’s plans to return astronauts to the Moon include giving them someplace roomier to stay than their own spacecraft. So the space agency is paying a company that 3D prints home structures on Earth to develop the same technology for lunar use. 

Under a $57.2 million contract announced Tuesday under NASA’s Small Business Innovation Research program, Austin-based Icon Technology, Inc., will continue previous collaborations with NASA to develop its Project Olympus additive-construction concept into a system to build structures on the moon.

The raw material for the first such structure is already on the Moon: the surface layer of soil, or regolith to geologists. NASA’s plans for long-term exploration of the Moon and, eventually, Mars rely heavily on generating needed materials and supplies from what’s on the ground there—what it calls “In situ resource utilization”—instead of shipping everything from Earth. 

In Icon’s idea, robots will mine regolith for processing by Olympus machines into a material that can then be extruded to create structures that you might think of as exceptionally sci-fi sand castles. 

Continue reading… “Company That 3D-Prints Houses on Earth Lands Lunar Construction Contract”

While the world has already seen the success of 3D dental and orthopedic implants, the next big challenge has been to develop whole new 3D human organs.

By:  Srishti Choudhary

Bioprinting can revolutionise the healthcare market and holds promise for millions of patients stuck in an endless wait for organ transplants — a list that gets longer every minute with a new name added to it.

What comes to your mind when you think of 3D human organ? A computer-generated structure? What if scientists could actually inject life into this structure and help patients get a new lease of life?

Born in the aftermath of the pandemic, a Bengaluru-based deep tech start-up — Avay Biosciences — is attempting to do their bit to transform this long-held dream into a reality, printing one layer of live human tissues at a time. The team of young entrepreneurs has just launched their first product — the indigenous advanced 3D Bioprinter ‘Mito Plus’ — which has been successfully tested at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore, and is ready to print human tissues.

Continue reading… “3D Organs Soon? This Indian Start-up is Breathing Life Into Science, Printing One Layer of Human Tissue at a Time”

The cost of a new prosthetic arm can range from several thousand dollars to tens of thousands, putting them out of reach for many people. Ahmad Ikram recognized this need and decided to design and build a far cheaper, open source version that has myoelectric capabilities.

To begin this project, Ikram decided upon using the InMoov 3D-printed arm design from French sculptor Gael Langevin due to it being easy to construct. The hand itself contains a single wire connected to each finger, while the other end gets wrapped around a servo motor horn so that the finger can bend whenever the serv moves. A Myoware muscle sensor is responsible for reading the electrical signals generated by muscle contractions and converting them into a readable analog voltage, which is read by an Arduino Nano’s analog pin.

Continue reading… “Designing a 3D-printed EMG bionic hand as a low-cost alternative to prosthetic limbs”

Supply chain disruptions continue to plague global economies, especially within the manufacturing industry. In Australia, manufacturers with offshore operations are experiencing significant supply chain issues that threaten productivity and financial stability.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), more than a third of all businesses experienced supply chain disruptions in February 2022. Of those businesses, 88 per cent reported increased time to receive products from suppliers, while 80 per cent reported that existing suppliers were unable to provide products.

Recent changes to the supply chain emerged shortly after the global pandemic was announced, particularly during COVID-19 lockdowns, due to abrupt shifts in demand that created bottlenecks at ports worldwide. Australia’s strong reliance on international trade and foreign investment has made the impact on some supply chains significant. This reflects temporary trade restrictions, reduced transport options, and increased port loading and unloading times.

Supply chain issues started with COVID-19; however, they’re also affected by intensifying geopolitical tensions, increased consumer demand, labour shortages, inflation, depleted inventory levels, and increased freight costs.

The Australian manufacturing sector was, and continues to be, impacted in several ways. According to data from the ABS, the most common supply chain issue facing businesses is domestic and international delivery delays, followed by supply constraints and increased prices. However, soaring transport costs and a significant shortage of parts and raw materials also affect the industry.

Continue reading… “How 3D printing is reshaping the future of supply chains”

Algorithmically engineered aerospike rocket engine printed in copper at AMC

Last night, EOS sister company AMCM completed the print of the world’s largest aerospike rocket engine. It was engineered completely in Hyperganic Core using advanced software algorithms and has never seen a single piece of manual CAD. It’s likely the most complex AM part ever produced — it broke all conventional workflows. AMCM printed it in copper in their massive 1m build volume machine. The engine stands at 80cm tall.

This aerospike rocket engine is a demonstration of what’s possible when you combine the power of software algorithms with the world’s most advanced Additive Manufacturing systems. 

People have been trying to build aerospikes for a long time. The Space Shuttle was supposed to have a linear one. But nobody could make it work at the time, given the manufacturing methods. The aerospike has significant advantages over traditional bell nozzle designs. It’s altitude compensating and does away with the heavy nozzle extension, with a spike in the middle instead. It’s easily 15-20% more efficient than bell nozzle engines. This is a dramatic improvement in the field of rocketry where even fractions of percentage points are worth pursuing. The challenge was always cooling the spike in the middle of the extremely hot exhaust gas.

Continue reading… “We just built the world’s largest 3D-printed aerospike rocket engine.”

All the homes will be powered by rooftop solar panels.

By Ben Munson

An entire community of homes is currently being 3D-printed in Georgetown, a city north of Austin, Texas.

Lennar and ICON are partnering to construct 100 homes in a planned community called Wolf Ranch using only 3D printing.

The homes are being constructed using ICON’s Vulcan robotic construction systems, software and advanced materials.

“For the first time in the history of the world, what we’re witnessing here is a fleet of robots building an entire community of homes,” said ICON CEO Jason Ballard.

“In the future, I believe robots and drones will build entire neighborhoods, towns, and cities,” he added.

Continue reading… “A Fleet of Robots is Building a Huge Community of 3D-Printed Homes”

By Edd Gent

Solid-state batteries could be more energy dense, safer, and faster charging than today’s technology, but finding a way to make them commercially viable is challenging. One company thinks 3D printing holds the answer.

In recent years, the lithium-ion batteries that power everything from smartphones to electric vehicles have seen huge improvements in their safety and energy density (a measure of how much power they pack in per pound). But progress is slowing, and it seems likely that we will need to switch to novel battery designs if we want to banish the gas-powered car to the history books.

Solid-state batteries, which replace the liquid electrolyte found in today’s cells with a solid one, are some of the most promising candidates in the near term. They would not only make batteries safer by removing the flammable liquid electrolyte, but could also boost energy density and allow faster charging.

A number of startups have developed promising prototypes, but working out how to manufacture these kinds of batteries at scale is a major challenge. California-based startup Sakuú thinks the answer is to use 3D printing, which would allow them to make much more efficient use of space and therefore produce batteries with much higher capacity than competitors.

Batteries are made up of three key components: a positive electrode called an anode, a negative electrode called a cathode, and an electrolyte that allows ions to travel between the two. In today’s most advanced lithium-ion batteries, the electrodes are made using a production process known as “roll-to-roll” manufacturing.

Continue reading… “A California Startup Says 3D Printing Batteries Could Double Capacity”

A view of the BioFabrication Facility and its ADSEP counterpart.

We can print soft tissues on Earth but gravity is a problem.

WALLOPS ISLAND (VA) – Bioprinting human tissues for implantation in patients to treat injury or disease could be game-changing. However, it’s difficult to print soft tissues on Earth because gravity causes them to collapse under their own weight, and scaffolding is required to keep them upright. To remove this hurdle, researchers are going to the International Space Station (ISS).

When Northrop Grumman’s 18th Commercial Resupply Services (NG-18) mission launches to the ISS, it will carry an upgraded version of Redwire Space’s BioFabrication Facility (BFF), a 3D bioprinter capable of printing human tissue. The project, sponsored by the ISS National Laboratory, will pave the way for in-space bioprinting of tissues (and possibly organs) that could one day help patients back on Earth. 

The materials needed to make prints using the BFF will follow on a subsequent flight, and the first tissue the bioprinter will produce is a human meniscus, a protective piece of cartilage between the bones in the knee.

Printed tissues could not only be implanted in patients but also used as models for drug discovery, providing new avenues to test therapeutics. “Using the BFF, we can create true tissue-like structures in a better way and larger than you can terrestrially,” said Rich Boling, a Redwire vice president. “We can also use the BFF to print organoids, which could be used to test drug efficacy and reduce the need for laboratory animals.”

Continue reading… “Human Tissue 3D Printer Headed to Space Station”

An innovative EV that not only removes pollutants as it travels but can also be used as an office and bedroom

Multi-award-winning British design and architecture studio Heatherwick Studio had been approached by IM Motors to create Airo, a vehicle that has driver and autonomous controls. It is an innovative electric car that not only removes pollutants as it travels but can also be used as an office and bedroom, could be in production next year.

Eagerly watching from the sidelines will be Ogle Models which played a key role in the creation of the pioneering Airo.

Heatherwick, founded by the world-renowned designer Thomas Heatherwick, has a long-established relationship with Ogle and asked the specialist team to make a fully hand-finished and painted model for their clients.

Philip Martin, director of the Herts-based company, said: “We have a long-running relationship with Heatherwick. Over that time, we have worked on numerous projects with them. We offer the high level of quality they look for with quick turnaround times. They appreciate being able to talk to us, knowing that any problem can be overcome with an efficient solution.”

Continue reading… “Ogle brings Airo concept car to life with Neo 800 SLA 3D printer”

Above, Arabidopsis thaliana leaf protoplasts.

BY MICK KULIKOWSKI

Researchers have developed a reproducible way of studying cellular communication among varied types of plant cells by “bioprinting” those cells with a 3D printer.

Learning more about how plant cells communicate with each other—and with their environment—is key to understanding more about plant cell functions and could ultimately lead to creating better crop varieties and optimal growing environments.

The researchers bioprinted cells from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and from soybeans to study not just whether plant cells would live after being bioprinted—and for how long—but also how they acquire and change their identity and function.

“A plant root has a lot of different cell types with specialized functions,” says Lisa Van den Broeck, a postdoctoral researcher at North Carolina State University and first author of a paper describing the work. “There are also different sets of genes being expressed; some are cell-specific. We wanted to know what happens after you bioprint live cells and place them into an environment that you design. Are they alive and doing what they should be doing?”

The process of 3D bioprinting plant cells is mechanically similar to printing ink or plastics, with a few necessary tweaks.

Continue reading… “TEAM USES LIVE PLANT CELLS IN 3D PRINTING”