Machine To Make Machines Become A 'Printing Reality'

It might be a very different experience for many while working in industry when we won't have any machines in production line or rather we will have only one machine which will produce all the machine parts through a high end Sci-Fi technology called 3DP or #-Link-Snipped-#. Yes, it of course sounds weird but this is what is going to be a futuristic look of many production lines some time in future.

#-Link-Snipped-#
Image Credit: Only Dead Fish

Graduate student Steven Keating and Neri Oxman, an asst. Professor at Media Lab’s Sony Corporation Career Development Assistant Professor of Media Arts and Sciences have achieved a considerable success in what they term as Variable density printing.

In actual technology the raw material which is going to compose the parts is filled in a gun like device. The material is composed of raw material powder and a liquid binder. The material is spread on a metal platform or a substrate through the nozzle. The amount of the raw material powder spread is varied with time as and when required. The machine looks quite similar to an ink jet printer. The material is hence deposited on the substrate layer by layer.

This being just a simple demonstration, the real plan of the researchers is to print a whole structural complex using this technique. The theme behind #-Link-Snipped-# is to use materials of different densities so that they have the optimum of everything. For example a bone consists of a hard outer cover which is supported by a soft core. This gives an advantage of being stiff and hard, while shocks and other disturbances are easily absorbed in the core. They have made a substantial advancement in this.

The plans for developing such technology are on this will really be a dream come true when structures can be completed just like taking out a print.

Check out the video demonstrations below-