3D printing

There is at last progress on bringing 3D to the web. For years, different companies have tried to solve this problem, but the solutions — often with proprietary browser plugins — were cumbersome and limited. With the creation of WebGL, there is finally a way forward.

One of the problems in 3D design is that 3D models file formats do not — or to a limited extend — capture any design intent. The technical requirements for manufacturing a part or product are hard to extract from a design let alone the functional requirements. We need a better way to capture them.

The problem with space flight today is that we need to haul everything into space. This is expensive. If we want to wander beyond our earth and into our solar system, we need to be able to manufacture in space.

Any new technology suffers from the problem what to call itself. 3D printing is no exception. Here are few terms I see used in the industry.

That is an excellent question. Multiple people invented 3D printing technology around the same time. Some articles on the internet state that Chuck Hull was the inventor of 3D printing. I did some research on the patents in this area and here are my findings.

One of the challenges with 3D printing and on-demand manufacturing, is how to make 3D design accessible. There are two major directions for co-creation. Let me explain.

ASTM is developing a new universal 3D printing file format to replace the defacto standard STL. The effort was headed up by Hod Lipson. The new file format offers much more options and control to specify attributes for 3D printing of 3D models.

I came across again this video and I thought it is a good idea to share it on my blog. In this video Scott Summit gives his vision on the future of 3D printing from a design perspective.

One of the main technical hurdle the current 3D printing technologies need to take is to go from open loop to closed loop control systems. Closed loop control will enable higher resolution and faster printing.