Project description
The 3D printer is quickly beginning to revolutionise the way people can become their own engineer. 3D printing is a quick and convenient way to create prototypes and models, as well as building replacement parts and new creations out of ABS plastic. The UP Plus 2, made by 3D Printing Systems, is the new and improved version of the previous model, the UP Plus. Made in 2013, it was to be completely redesigned and be made faster, more accurate and easier to use for the consumer in comparison to the original. The 3D printer is an example of a combination of mechanical and electrical engineering, which are my disciplines of interest.
I have used a 3D printer quite a lot, and I find that it is so useful for making little things that you can’t go out and buy. I have worked on modelling projects for school and designed custom-made things for around the house. This could be the future – creating objects and having parts at your disposal in your home or office. Models can be drawn up with most 3D modelling software, and some programs, such as Google SketchUp are free and easy to use. This makes the Up Plus 2 easy for the consumer to use and makes modelling and designing more convenient with accurate results.
Role of a typical engineer
An engineer is someone who creates and designs things to make either a more sustainable, practical alternative for something already existing, or to create something completely new to meet a need. An engineer takes problem and dreams up, draws up and builds a solution. Engineers have shaped our modern lifestyles and are, essentially, changing the world.
Essential disciplines of engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is the discipline that I personally am most int...
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... we already have. There are no limits when it comes to what can be created. Even large-scale models can be broken down into smaller pieces and stuck together. One example being a metre-tall model of the Eiffel Tower made solely out of parts printed with the UP Plus 2.
Potentially, this could be the beginning of changing the world when it comes to that little light bulb that pops in your head. All around the world there is are children without clean water. What if someone came up with a revolutionary idea and alternate way to filter water? With a 3D printer they could come up with a design and if it was small enough for a only few pieces each item, the printer could be used it print off numerous pieces all at once and use the new creation to give these children clean water. Imagine the possibilities of the printer and how they could change the way people live.
The idea behind this scene in the movie is not too far-fetched and it features some technologies that are very similar to what is being developed today. The first thing the movie gets right about bio-printing is the fact that each body system is printed using a different tool. Today there are three main techniques used in bio-printing (ink-jet printing, laser printing, and extrusive printing) and each one has different strengths and weaknesses. Ink-jet based bio-printing uses “a “bio-ink,” made of cells and bio-materials, to print living cells in the form of droplets (each contains 10,000–30,000 cells) by using a non-contact
With the massive rise in the quality, lower prices and availability 3d printers anybody anywhere in the world now has the ability to produce almost anything they like. Websites like https://www.thingiverse.com/ offer millions of models for almost anything someone needs to produce. Websites like https://www.upwork.com offer online consulting for 3d modelers that will design anything you need. Prior to the availability of 3d printers anything that was designed had to be manufactured at professional production facilities at huge costs relative to 3d printing it. 3d Printing lowers the barriers of entry into a market that was previously dominated by a few people because of the cost of prototyping.
Taskforce, M. E. W. (2012, April 1). People: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Melbourne. Retrieved 22 May 2014, from http://www.mech.unimelb.edu.au/people/staff.php?person_ID=188333
In additive manufacturing, parts are produced by slicing a CAD model into thin layers and then depositing material one layer at a time to create the 3D part. While current methods are very precise and have high resolutions, I have identified 3 main limitations of additive manufacturing.
3D printing has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything. 3D printing was invented in the mid 1980s and was initially known as additive manufacturing. It consists of the fabrication of products through the use of printers which either employ lasers to burn materials (sintering) or place layer upon layer of material (known as stereolithography), eventually resulting in a finished item. Unlike the traditional manufacturing process, which involves milling, drilling, grinding or forging molded items to make the final product, 3D printing “forms” the product layer by layer. There are many different technological variants but almost every existing, 3D printing machine functions in a similar way: a 3D computer-aided engineering (CAD) file is sliced into a series of 2D planar sections and these are deposited by the printer, one above the other, to construct the part.
The field of bioprinting, using 3D printing technology for producing live cells with extreme accuracy, could be the answer to many of the problems we as humans face in the medical field. It could be the end to organ waiting lists and an alternative for organ transplants. In 3D printing technology lies the potential to replace the testing of new drugs on animals. However, the idea of applying 3 dimensional printing to the health industry is still quite new and yet to have a major impact. Manufacturing working 3D organs remains an enormous challenge, but in theory could solve major issues present today.
...linsky, Eric. “Using 3-D Printers…” All Tech Considered. Feb 06, 2013. Nov 5, 2013. .
"If you want to be adaptable, you have to be able to design and manufacture on the fly, and that's where 3D printing in space comes in...
This bin will be left at a local municipal building in Kitchener, Waterloo for residents to place either old phone cases or regular plastics. When full, bins will be transported to the site of the 3D printer and compressed into appropriate sized pieces depending on specific consumer requests. Felix Preston, 2013, stated that the need for an environmentally conscious 3D printing process that consists of the reuse of printed materials is mandatory to innovate within the green community. 3D printing can also promote local marketing, product efficiency, and saving resources that would be required to make a certain product, such as a phone case, in a factory setting (Preston, 2013). Therefore, the use of the 3D printer will contribute to general sustainability factors, including eco-efficient operations, where pollutants are not given off, and the ability to reuse
The 3D Printer can be a bad thing in other people's opinions because it can cause people to illegally print out guns or even side effects that can happen with the Printer. One major thing is that the 3D Printer can cause is that it can use up a lot of electricity that can cost you a lot to pay for your electric bills. This can cause you to waste your money for your future and having not enough money to pay for your other bills because of the use of 3D Printers. “3D Printers consume about 50 to 100 times more electrical energy” (Gilpin). 3D Printers have a lot of parts in the machine to make the Printer work properly, which can also determine how much power it has to use when using it, and if you Printer is complex, this can use a lot of energy which can cause you to rise up your electric bill by a bunch which can cause
...ooner than we think. Within the near future we will have brand new 3D printing technology that will benefit the entire world.
Additive manufacturing technology, more commonly known as 3D printing, is changing the world as we know it. Within the last few years, the 3D printing revolution has pioneered a new way of hyper-local manufacturing, allowing for the production of new things that were previously impossible to make. The rapidly evolving technology is making people wonder, “What will be next?” Avi Reichental, the President and CEO of 3D Systems, is the man with the answer. As the owner of the world’s first and largest 3D printing company, Reichental is on the forefront of 3D printing. In the TED Talk “What’s next in 3D printing,” Reichental advocates 3D printing technology as a way to propel society into the future while also connecting people to their heritage.
Advanced CNC fabrication tools and 3D printing machines have made notable improvements in the construction industry. The benefits of this new approach have been developed over many years to increase...
4D printing offers the ability to make things that literally pull themselves together. The technology could also create objects that last longer than their 3D-printed counterparts and adapt to specific conditions on command. 4D printing is relay about using a 3d printer to print self requfingering programmable material. For example you have a non-living object that can change his shape and behavior over time kind like a robot but no microprocessors, in fact something that looks like a plastic. Skylar Tibet’s, the man who came up with whole idea has gone even fodder; he created a programmable sheet material. It look like a plastic, that in combination with the water it could change the shape in the cube. And the cube is just a beginning. It will be a million of shapes. It could be so useful, not just on the Earth but in the orbit as well. This idea could change the world, and living on it. Imagine you could just print your furniture. An...
After learning all this about 3D printing my conclusion is I like the use of it, and sometimes it is an easier way to produce 3D models, but it still has to be developed a lot, since the prices are yet not so affordable and I don’t think that the idea of having everything 3D printed is good, since the upcoming generations will lose the value of handmade and artisanal stuff and many talented people will lose their job, just because now everything is in the hands of technology and new machines, that are able to do anything that seems impossible to be done by