This 3D-printed prosthetic hand features a built-in space game

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This Maker duo’s 3D-printed prosthetic hand is out of this world! 

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Perhaps one of, if not, most amazing things to recently come from the 3D printing world has been DIY prosthetics. These artificial limbs have grown by leaps and bounds in the last couple of years. One group helping lead the way has been e-NABLE, a global network of volunteers who are using their 3D printers to create prosthetic hands for those in need. Given the initiative’s open source nature, prostheses can now be made for a fraction of the cost of their commercial counterparts.

One of the more popular e-NABLE models has been what’s called the “Cyborg Beast.” Using this as the base for their project, Maker duo Debbie and Danny Leung decided to develop an intergalactic-looking version of their own that boasts some additional functionality. Though it may work like other 3D-printed limbs, thanks to some modifications, an Arduino Nano (ATmega328) and a few other electronics, the Cosmogony brings an entertainment console right to the palm of a user’s hand.

The Cosmogony hand has two modes: display mode and play mode. In display mode, three rainbow diffused LED lights on the palm and four RGB LED lights in the fingertips repeatedly change colors. There’s also an Adafruit 8×8 dot matrix display connected to an accelerometer, which alters images as the wearer moves their hand. Aside from that, the prosthetic can be converted into a virtual video game that employs its embedded accelerometer.

In order to play “Expand Your Universe,” a user simply moves his or her hand in the direction that they’d like the characters to go. For this game, the main characters are actually four planets moving together at the center. As the wearer advances to each stage, an asteroid from a random direction comes closer. To avoid a collision, the user must try move their hand accordingly to dodge the asteroid in an X or Y direction sensed by the accelerometer.

“The blue lights blink in the fingertips, a smiley face appears, and they spread farther apart. To proceed to the next stage a player must successfully dodge asteroids sweeping across from random directions. If a player fails to dodge an asteroid, the red lights blink in the fingertips, a sad face appears, and the player has to start over at that last stage,” its creators explain.

The hand itself is comprised of flexible NinjaFlex filament, while springs were used for the finger joints. Six strings of fiber optic lights make up spiral shaped “galaxy” on the palm, which has a compartment for the LED dot matrix on top. Housed inside the gauntlet of the hand lies the Arduino, a 9V battery and a dual-axis accelerometer.

Pretty amazing, right? Watch it in action below!

[h/t 3DPrint.com]

MIT researchers have created a 3D printer for molten glass

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Think of G3DP as the next generation of glassblowing. 

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Remember the days when 3D printers were only capable of using plastic filament? Well, the times have changed. Chocolate, ceramics, metal, living tissue — these are just some of the materials now being spit out to make an assortment of things, from the practical to the absurd. Next on that ever-growing list? Glass, thanks to a team of researchers at MIT’s Mediated Matter Group.

That’s because the group has developed an unbelievable 3D printer that can print glass objects. The device, called the G3DP, consists of two heated chambers. The upper chamber is a crucible kiln that operates at a temperature of around 1900°F, and funnels the molten material through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle, while the bottom chamber works to anneal the structures.

The machine doesn’t create glass from scratch, but instead works with the preexisting substance, layering and building out beautifully-constructed geometric shapes according to designs drawn up in a 3D CAD program. This printing method shares many of the same principles as fused deposition modeling (FDM), which is commonly employed by most 3D printers today. Except that it can operate at much higher temps and uses molten glass as the medium, opposed to plastic filament.

How does it all work, you ask? The glass is first melted at an extremely high temperature over a period of roughly four hours. For another two hours, it undergoes a fining process, in which helium may be introduced to the molten material to enlarge and carry small bubbles to the surface, eliminating them. During this stage, the extruder has to be kept cool so that the glass doesn’t begin flowing. Once fining is complete, the crucible and nozzle are set to temperatures of 1904°F  and 1850°F, respectively, and the extrusion process begins. The G3DP is controlled by three independent stepper motors, as well as the combination of an Arduino (assuming based on an ATmega2560) and RAMPS 1.4 shield.

At this time, the researchers have used G3DP to craft things like vases, prisms, and other small decorations, some of which will be on display at the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum next year.

“Two trends in additive manufacturing highlight the value we expect from additive manufacturing of molten glass. First, the freedom that this process provides in terms of the forms that can be created in glass,” its creators explain. “Second, bespoke creation of glass objects provides the opportunity for complex scaffolds, fluidics and labware custom made for individual applications. Moving forward, the simultaneous development of the printer and the design of the printed glass objects will yield both a higher performance system and increasingly complex novel objects.”

As impressive as this may sound, it’s even more mesmerizing to watch it in action. It will surely be interesting to see how the G3DP will influence art, architecture and product design in the future. Intrigued? You can read the team’s entire paper here.

[Images: MIT’s Mediated Matter Group]

Medical applications are leading advancement in 3D printing

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Does healthcare hold the future for 3D printing? 

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According to Gartner’s latest Hype Cycle for 3D Printing, medical applications are leading to some of the most significant deployments of the next-gen technology. The research firm’s report reveals that 3D printing of medical devices has reached the “Peak of Inflated Expectations,” but certain specialist applications are already becoming the norm in medical care.

“In the healthcare industry, 3DP is already in mainstream use to produce medical items that need to be tailored to individuals, such as hearing aids and dental devices,” explained Pete Basiliere, Gartner research director.

One notable example is hearing aids, as manufacturers are now offering personalized devices that fit to the exact shape of a customer’s ear.

“This is evidence that using 3DP for mass customization of consumer goods is now viable, especially given that the transition from traditional manufacturing in this market took less than two years. Routine use of 3DP for dental implants is also not far from this level of market maturity,” Basiliere added.

Some medical 3DP technologies are further from mainstream use, but are equally, if not more, exciting. These include hip and knee replacements, which are a $15 billion industry and one of the most common surgical procedures. Early trials using personalized 3D-printed replacements suggest improved healing times and function of the implant, as well as an increased success rate in more complex operations. Given the size of the market, Gartner predicts that 3D-printed hip and knee replacements, in addition to other recurrent internal and external medical devices, will be in mainstream use within two to five years.

Looking further out, at least five to 10 years to mainstream adoption, there is bioprinting. 3D bioprinting, which has been featured in a number of news stories as of late, is found in two categories on the Hype Cycle: one focused on producing living tissues for human transplant, the other for life sciences’ research and development.

Gartner goes on to note that 3D printers have already proven to be capable of creating cells, proteins, DNA and drugs, but are currently being held back by a couple of “significant barriers.”

There is still rapid advancement outside of medical fields as well. While 3D prototyping has for many years been the only mainstream use, it will likely be joined by many technologies that will spur much wider utilization of printers outside of specialist fields.

“Advancements outside of the actual printers themselves may prove to be the catalyst that brings about widespread adoption,” Basiliere said. “Technologies such as 3D scanning, 3D print creation software and 3D printing service bureaus are all maturing quickly, and all — in their own way — have the potential to make high quality 3DP more accessible and affordable.”

3D printing software, for example, has in the past been limited to commercial 3D CAD programs that were not simple to use. Consumer-oriented design libraries and modelling tools are becoming established, providing a far simpler method for producing printable designs. Moreover, 3D scanners are also advancing in adoption and dropping in price, enabling users to create complex printable models of real-world items without any CAD skills.

Though still several years away, the 3D printing of consumable products has been added to the Hype Cycle. This should come to no surprise, given the recent debuts of food, chocolate and even drug printers. Also listed in the “Innovation Trigger” stage include  intellectual property protection, macro 3D printing and classroom 3D printing.

Beyond that, the emergence of 3DP service bureaus continues to accelerate. This enables enthusiasts and organizations to test and experiment with the capabilities of advanced 3DP systems in situations where an investment in purchasing a 3D printer would be hard to justify. As this ecosystem matures around the printers, so market demand and competition will keep increasing and more use cases will become commonplace.

Interested? You can check out the entire report from Gartner here.

[Image: Gartner]

PRISM adds SLA 3D printing to the FABtotum personal fabricator

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This add-on module is expanding the capabilities of FABtotum’s already impressive all-in-one machine. 

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You may recall FABtotum from the recent crowdfunding campaign for its low-cost, all-in-one fabrication device capable of 3D printing, scanning, CNC milling and engraving. Following the incredible success of the ATmega1280 powered machine, the Italian startup has returned to Indiegogo with an integrated SLA 3D printing platform.

Dubbed PRISM, the 6.5mm thick module will expand the FABtotum personal fabricator’s functionality by bringing high-resolution, stereolithography-based manufacturing to the desktop of Makers. The add-on features a swappable laser head along with a removable resin vat that can easily be mounted to the printing bed.

With PRISM, Makers can 3D print in a wide range of filaments including the ordinary PLA, PETG and ABS, as well as more advance materials such as nylon, brass, wood and aluminum. Aside from that, its built-in high-res camera, touch probe and laser allow users to acquire 3D point clouds and models via multiple 3D scanning methods.

“PRISM is a new manufacturing technology that merges the advantages of Selective Laser Synthering (SLS) with the precision of Digital Light Processing (DLP). Most DLP printers relies on integrating commercially available DLP home projectors wich are expensive and are not designed for 3D printing,” the team writes.

Resin is cured by shining a light with the right wavelength through an LCD matrix. Whereas similar systems use a simple yet expensive UV LED array, PRISM employs a a mirror and a set of collimated light emitters. This reduces the amount of energy consumed and tremendously speeds up the solidifying time.

Impressively, the PRISM can also produce an unprecedented level of detail at around 80µm in XY and 0.47µm in Z.

Like with the rest of their products, FABtotum has made the module entirely open source and encourages feedback from the Maker community to help further improve the platform and solve any issues. Interested? Head over to its official Indiegogo page here, with the team is currently seeking $50,000. Delivery is expected to get underway in February 2016.

This 3D-printed robot can navigate inside confined spaces

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OctaWorm is a 3D-printed, Arduino-based robot that may be the future of search-and-rescue missions. 

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When disaster strikes, one of the biggest problems challenges that rescue teams encounter is locating and reaching survivors amid the rubble. Unfortunately, there are times even with today’s advanced technologies where humans are unable to slip into a tight space and extract an individual. But what if there was a robotic device that could? That is the idea behind a recent project by Juan Cristóbal Zagal.

Developed in collaboration with researchers from the University of Chile and University of Akron, OctaWorm is a 3D-printed octahedral robot that is capable of morphing its body to squeeze through holes, gaps and debris. The latest version, now the third prototype, is comprised mostly of 3D-printed parts and some aluminum rods for enhanced durability. It employs pneumatic-driven servo motors for movement and is operated via a wired controller, though the team hopes to make this wireless in the near future.

Aside from that, the robot is equipped with an Arduino board, an Arduino-compatible shield to controls the relays and three pneumatic solenoid valves. Since the OctaWorm is pneumatically driven, Zagal used high-quality rapid pneumatic connectors and plastic tubing to attach it to the controller.

The robot also features 3D-printed ball joints, which enable it to grip onto and traverse through any type of terrain. These rubbery balls are tasked with handling the deformation motion, and allow it to assume a variety of shapes and configurations as it slips into a crack or crevice.

“The current version of the robot is capable of traveling inside a pipe. It is also capable of dealing with changes on the internal diameter of the pipe. The functional symmetry of the robot allows it to travel along T, L and Y joints in pipelines. Traditional in-pipe robots have many problems for dealing with these types of junctions. In contrast the deformable octahedral robotcan simply squeeze into junctions,” Zagal tells 3DPrint.com. 

The goal of the project was to develop a new way to use robotic motion to access and navigate confined spaces typically found in disaster situations, as well as pipes and air ducts. In the future, Zagal envisions an even tinier version that could be used for medical applications, such as going through blood vessels.

Until then, you can watch the OctaWorm in action below!

[h/t 3DPrint.com]

The Beast is a big 3D printer for big ideas

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The Beast lets Makers 3D print four identical objects at the same time.

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Typically speaking, bigger 3D printers mean bigger prices. However, thanks to one Australian startup, that may no longer be the case. Cultivate3D has developed a gigantic desktop 3D printer that rivals the cost of most existing desktop devices on the market.

Called The Beast, and rightfully so, the 3D printer boasts a number of new and innovative features compared to most others available today. Impressively, the machine is capable of printing four identical objects during a single print in completely different colors and materials, as well as constructing a single object within its massive 470mm x 435mm x 690mm build volume. At this size, Cultivate3D says that’s large enough to print two full-size basketballs, four radio-control transmitters or a small child — all at the same time.

From the looks of things, The Beast has the potential of becoming a go-to piece of equipment for anyone looking to pump out giant prints or speed up production of repeatedly printed parts. According to its creators Dan and Josh Herlihy, the machine is capable of achieving resolutions that are significantly smaller than existing desktop FDM 3D printers — 0.00125 millimeters on the Z axis and 0.00625 on the X and Y axes.

What’s more, the printer can spit out objects 10 times quicker than previous gadgets and can be made yet even faster by throwing on its optional larger nozzle. The Beast was designed with flexibility in mind, and will come with a range of add-ons to help transform its functionality.

As incredible as these specs are, perhaps the most eye-opening thing about The Beast is its price. Starting at just $1,850 for its DIY kit and $3,299 for a fully-assembled unit, Cultivate3D’s cost is dramatically less than other printers of similar size and quality.

“The Beast’s enormous build area allows users to print objects that have never before been possible on a printer with such a low price point,” the startup explains. “Our hope is for ‘The Beast’ to make many previously unattainable projects and prints possible and to make it accessible to as many makers, inventors, DIY enthusiasts and artists as we can.”

• Printer size: 690mm x 715mm x 1110mm
• Build volume
  • Single extruder configuration: 470mm x 435mm x 690m
  • Two-extruder configuration 230mm x 435mm x 690mm
  • Four-extruder configuration: 230mm x 214mm x 690mm
• Printer weight: 66 lbs. (30kg)
• Nozzle diameter: 0.25mm-1mm
• Filament: PLA, ABS (J-head model); all types available (E3D model)
• Connectivity: USB, SD card
• Power supply: 110-240V
• Software: Repetier Host and Slic3r
• Operating system: Windows, OSX, Linux

Have a big idea you’d like to print? Head over to The Beast’s Kickstarter page, where the team has already surpassed its $7,129 goal. Delivery is set for January 2016.

This 3D-printed robot is powered by an ATtiny85

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Canbot is an Ollie-like robot that can autonomously drive itself. 

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Maxmillian Kern has created an adorable, 3D-printed robot that rolls its way across hard surfaces. The Sphero Ollie-like device, aptly named Canbot, is based on an ATtiny85 MCU and comprised of only four 3D-printed parts for the body and wheels, all connected by screws. The “heavier” components, including the servos and 3.7V battery, are embedded in the lower half to to help it remain balanced.

Not only can it autonomously drive itself around via its ultrasonic sensor, the Maker can also use a modified TV remote for control. Commands are received from the infrared signal of the old clicker. As for power, he originally considered adding some kind of plug to program and charge the robot, but settled for a switch due to space constraints.

“There still is a problem with the weight distribution. I put a piece of lead in the front but that didn’t make it much better,” Kern writes. “It needs some kind of stabilization. But that’s difficult with an ATtiny that only has 5 [technically 6] I/O pins. You would have to sacrifice the ultrasonic sensor with a gyro board. There are lots of possible improvements. The first thing would be nice geared motors instead of servos.”

Interested in building your own? You can find all of Canbot’s files on Thingiverse here.

Made In Space is looking to 3D print outside the ISS

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Made In Space is hoping to make in-orbit satellite construction a reality.

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Back in 2014, Made In Space became the first company to build and operate additive manufacturing hardware in space when their hardware completed the first mission phase of NASA’s 3D Printing in Zero-G Technology Demonstration. In total, the machine produced 24 parts that have since been returned to Earth for laboratory analysis. As it turns out, this was merely the beginning of the California-based startup’s elaborate plan which includes a commercial-scale 3D printer, the Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF).

Just the other day, Made In Space announced a breakthrough in their efforts to develop manufacturing technologies for extra terrestrial applications. Following in the footsteps of 3D printing objects on the International Space Station, the team has been devising new ways to operate outside the ISS. Last month, the startup successfully completed a round of tests, proving that their next generation of 3D printers can work in the vacuum of space.

“We believe we are as little as 18 months away from incorporating the current designs into on-orbit tests,” explained Mike Snyder, Chief Engineer at Made In Space, “These preliminary tests, combined with our experience with microgravity additive manufacturing, show that the direct manufacturing of structures in space is possible using Made In Space developed technologies. Soon, structures will be produced in space that are much larger than what could currently fit into a launch fairing, designed for microgravity rather than launch survivability. Complete structural optimization is now possible in space.”

For this phase, Made In Space tested a modified version of their AMF — which is expected to fly later this year — with their proprietary vacuum-compatible extrusion heads, and accumulated over a week of testing inside a vacuum chamber. Various specimens were produced using aerospace-grade thermopolymers to test how the deposition process works in the vacuum environment. While preliminary results suggest that the 3D printing process worked as expected, Made in Space will be analyzing the finished parts to determine if any mechanical properties differ from items created in Earth’s atmosphere.

If all goes to plan, Made In Space would then be theoretically able to place 3D printers into orbit outside of the ISS, if supplied with sufficient raw material. Raw material can be delivered more efficiently to orbit as it could be packed very densely, unlike the prints it would turn into.

On top of that, the startup has revealed another project, which would pave the way for the first off-Earth assembly line. To accomplish this, Made In Space has partnered with NanoRacks to develop an orbital construction-and-deployment service for tiny CubeSats that they are calling “Stash & Deploy.” This service will leverage NanoRacks’ experience in CubeSat deployment and Made In Space’s in-space 3D printing capabilities to deliver on-demand satellite manufacturing and assembly for developers.

A variety of standard and customer-specific satellite components will be cached aboard a satellite deployment platform, such as the ISS. Many of these parts will be built using Made In Space’s AMF, and “stashed” for rapid manufacture of CubeSats.

The idea is that customers will be able to easily and quickly design their satellite or request a satellite be designed based on their requirements. From there, the optimized structure will be created on orbit and the necessary components will be integrated. The satellite will then be deployed into low Earth orbit. The entire assembly and deployment process will occur in a fraction of the time necessary to construct, manifest, launch and deploy satellites from the ground.

“This is a fundamental shift for satellite production,” adds Andrew Rush, President of Made In Space. “In the near future, we envision that satellites will be manufactured quickly and to the customer’s exact needs, without being overbuilt to survive launch or have to wait for the next launch.”

The first steps of the Stash & Deploy system are slated for early 2016. Read all about both endeavors on Made In Space’s website here.

Building a 3D-printed, Arduino-powered telescope at home

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The Open Space Agency is currently developing a range of open source automated robotic observatories.

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The Open Space Agency is hoping to do the same for space as the OpenROV has done for underwater exploration. But instead of navigating the deep blue sea with low-cost robots, the latest initiative wants to use powerful telescopes that can be built right from home.

In order to make this a reality, the OSA has devised what they call ARO, or the Automated Robotic Observatory, which will enable Makers and amateur astronomers to contribute to citizen science projects for a significantly cheaper cost than more profesional-grade equipment. As part of the initiative, the group has created a prototype for their open source, 3D-printable telescope named the Ultrascope.

At the moment, the Ultrascope has two versions in the works: one with a 3.5” mirror, another with an 8” mirror. Once completed, both of their design files and control software will be released under an open license. The telescope, which can be made for roughly $300, is driven by simple robotics, and captures celestial images using a smartphone’s high-megapixel camera. On top of that, the OSA has also developed an Arduino shield for controlling the telescope.

How the telescope works is pretty straightforward: A laptop finds a known location in space (such as the ISS) and forwards its whearabouts to Ultrascope’s Arduino shield to move its motors. After the telescope positions itself, the smartphone starts snapping images and sends them to the cloud for post-processing. The team hopes users will one day build up a library of shared pictures online.

“This dream would have been almost impossible just 24 months ago. The levels of precision required for a maker-made scientific quality scope would have resulted in compounding errors conspiring to make observations frustrating for aspiring citizen scientists. However, the emergence of low-cost 3D printers and laser-cutting, paired with microcontroller platforms such as Arduino and Lumia 1020 — with its 41 Megapixel CCD — mean that a project such as this is now eminently possible,” the OSA explains.

NFire 1 is a completely modular 3D printer for Makers

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This modular 3D printer adapts to your needs, whether that’s doubling its height or upgrading to a dual extruder.

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We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: modularity continues to rise in popularity amongst the Maker crowd. Cognizant of this, UK-based NFire Labs set out to develop a 3D printer that would be truly scalable and adaptable to its user depending on the job at hand.

“If you purchase a small 3D printer and then want to print larger objects, currently you would have to buy a new 3D printer. Not anymore,” its 19-year-old creator Alex Youden explains.

Have you ever wished that you could quickly upgrade your printer’s Z-axis and double its build volume on demand? Or, have you found yourself in need of printing two colors at once? All that is now possible, thanks to the NFire 1 — “the world’s first truly modular 3D printer.” The latest delta-style printer to hit the rather competitive market is equipped with a sturdy aluminum frame, a Z-axis that can be extended from a height of 150mm to 300mm, as well as a dual extruder.

“Consumers are becoming frustrated with printers which are breaking due to poor quality parts. They end up spending more time fixing them than printing with them. This is why we are using the highest quality components to build the NFire 1 3D printer,” Youden shares. “Our mission is simple: Create something that can have every aspect upgraded and uses the highest quality materials and parts.”

Among the other notable features of the machine is its E3D-v6 Lite metal hotend that can reach 245°C and can be swapped out for the E3D Cyclops, allowing you to print in two. Beyond that, the NFire 1’s acrylic paneling comes in 21 different colors, divided into four different categories: the default black and white frosted, standard frosted (sapphire blue, jade green, chili red, saffron yellow and crystal clear, premium frosted (slate grey, Earth brown, aurora violet, azure blue, mandarin orange, citrus yellow, polar white and blush pink), and fluorescent (neptune blue, celestial blue, acid green, helios yellow, lava orange and Mars red).

In terms of hardware, NFire 1 is unsurprisingly built around the mighty Arduino Mega (ATmega2560) and RAMPS 1.4 board. While it may not come with an LCD screen, Makers are welcomed to add a display at their own leisure. Looking ahead, Youden and the NFire Labs team hopes to include even more options, such as a heated build plate, improved firmware/software, a built-in 3D scanner and an add-on display.

As if the modularity of the machine doesn’t catch the attention of Makers, perhaps its affordable price will. Interested? Head over to the printer’s Kickstarter campaign, where NFire Labs is currently seeking $46,788.