Startups making 3D printers have electrified the tech industry. Just ask Voxel8, a Boston-based startup that makes what it says is the first 3D printer able to print electronic devices. Or ask In-Q-Tel, the venture capital firm with links to the Central Intelligence Agency. In-Q-Tel recently made a strategic equity investment in Voxel8 and also signed a technology development agreement with the startup. Voxel8 announced the news Thursday, although it did not disclose how much the firm invested.
Back in April, a team of Chinese construction workers used a 3D printer to construct houses. By day’s end, there were 10 standing. They were compact and fairly bare bones — nothing much to look at besides the “wow!” factor of there being as many as — count them — 10. But this time around, those same builders have taken the wraps off an achievement that’s roundly more impressive.
The aviation company Pratt & Whitney is exploring whether technology known as additive manufacturing could be used to develop more compact jet engines that could make commercial airplanes lighter and more fuel efficient.
At this year’s edition of the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), going on right now in Detroit, I saw a few things I hadn’t seen in previous years. One was the presence of bomb-sniffing dogs, thanks to a suspicious package left across the street from the auto show that was later determined to be harmless by law enforcement agents.
World-leading helicopter engine manufacturer Turbomeca is setting up new manufacturing capability at its facility in Bordes (France). After years of maturation and prototype testing, Turbomeca has entered serial production of parts using the latest additive manufacturing, or 3D printing process. Bordes facility is one of the first of its kind to serial produce additive components for aerospace propulsion industry in France.
Arrano test and production engines will feature fuel injector nozzles made using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) techniques. This leading-edge manufacturing process will also be used to manufacture Ardiden 3 combustor swirlers. These engines are Turbomeca’s latest models and amongst the most advanced turboshafts ever designed.
500 Startups-backed AstroPrint has made a combination of cloud platform, local software and hardware to enable the management of 3D printing from any device that can connect to the web with a modern browser.
For those not aware, the actual process of 3D printing is about as interesting to watch in real-time as ants building out their tunnels in an ant farm. It happens slowly, with tiny mechanisms adding slice after slice, layer after layer, until you have something that actually looks like a recognizable shape.
Meet Charlie and Billy, the most adorable little robots in all the land.
Billy, the first iteration, is a combination of 3D-printed parts, an Arduino Leonardo, and dual DC motors to form a hexapod robot. Billy is controlled through a simple joystick app on the phone, and can handle various types of terrain based on his build.
Charlie is the second prototype, and is much smaller and smarter. Charlie is able to walk upside down in case he ever tips over, and is able to traverse slopes as steep as 45 degrees. He can even climb over objects as tall as he is.
Both Billy and Charlie were created by Jonathan Spitz, a mechanical engineer getting his PhD at the Technion Institute of Technology in Israel.
3D printers give hardware designers a way to convert their computer models into objects they can see and feel. A Boston-area startup has made a desktop printer that goes one step further: by printing wires, it allows designers to make working prototypes of their electronic creations.
Voxel8 today launched its website and has begun to take orders for a 3D printer that can make plastic three-dimensional objects with embedded electronic circuits. The company, which works out of the Greentown Labs incubator in Somerville, MA, plans to demonstrate the 3D printer at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas and start delivering it later in 2015. It prints plastic and conductive inks, which function as wires for electronic components.
Say goodbye to plastic tchotchkes. Voxel8 is now taking preorders for its electronics-making 3D printer developer kit. The preorder also kicks off availability of Autodesk’s electronics design software, Project Wire.
The new device prints PLA and conductive silver ink, the latter of which allows the printer to embed wires into a 3D-printed device. The technology is based on years of research by Dr. Jennifer A. Lewis, a Voxel8 founder and Harvard University professor.
