3D printing with ancient fossils

Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals and plants, as well as other organisms from the remote past. They are often buried  in sediment under ancient seas, lakes and rivers. Once excavated, fossils can be carefully studied, allowing scientists to bolster their understanding of life on ancient Earth.

Although detailed images of fossils are readily available online, hands-on interaction with such specimens is understandably limited due to the two-dimensional format of standard pictures.

A 3D database maintained by the British Geological Service hopes to change the way we interact with fossils by allowing site visitors to download and create fossil models on 3D printers such as the Atmel-powered Makerbot or RepRap.

According to 3Ders, the database is billed as the world’s first 3D virtual fossil collection which can be searched by taxonomic group, species, genus, geological age, locality and country.

“Users can browse, zoom in, rotate and download the interactive 3D models and metadata, as well as high-resolution images and stereo (anaglyph) photographs,” the publication explained. “The 3D models may [also] be viewed and/or downloaded in PLY and OBJ formats.”

Bits & Pieces readers may also want to check out the website of Martin Galese, a 31-year-old lawyer in New York who routinely searches the USPTO (US Patent Office) archives for the design DNA of antique inventions – subsequently “reinterpreting” them as design files for 3D printers. Indeed, Galese has already printed a chopstick holder from the 1960s, a portable chess set from the 1940s, a pot scraper from 1875 and a 1989 bookmark / pen holder.

As previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the Maker Movement has used Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for some time now, but it is quite clear that 3D printing recently entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces, including the medical sphere, architectural arena and scientific field.

Transform your world with MakerBot’s 3D Digitizer

MakerBot is currently accepting pre-orders for its new Digitizer 3D scanner, with shipping slated to kick off in October. The Digitizer is currently priced at $1,400, plus an optional $150 for MakerCare, a comprehensive service and support program.

Essentially, MakerBot’s Digitizer allows users to quickly “transform” (scan) objects and items into 3D models that can be easily modified, shared and printed on 3D printers like the company’s Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2.

“With just two clicks, the MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner’s simple yet sophisticated software creates clean, watertight 3D models that are ready to 3D print,” the MakerBot crew explained on the company website.

“We’ve optimized the whole process to work seamlessly with MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D Printers, but you get standard design files to use on the 3D printer of your choice. You don’t need any design or 3D modeling skills to get started, and it all happens in just minutes.”

Indeed, the MakerBot Digitizer outputs standard 3D file formats, so Makers can improve, shape, mold, twist, animate and transform objects in a third-party 3D modeling program. There is no patching, stitching, or repairing required, so Makers are able to skip straight to the creative process. Adding one 3D model to another is easy, like putting a hat on top of a gnome. Plus, Makers can either scan a second object, or search for it on Thingiverse.com, scaling down and multiplying targeted objects to create charms or game pieces.

Additional information about MakerBot’s 3D printer lineup and Digitizer is available here.

Smart hardware is here to stay (in NYC)

Tomorrow Lab, an intelligent hardware design firm located on 32nd Street in Manhattan, is part of a wave of smart hardware designers in the New York City area.

“Whenever we get a product to design, we basically tear out everything that’s been done to it so far,” Ted Ullrich, founder and partner of Tomorrow Lab told Jonathan Blum of Crain’s New York Business. “We strip back the ideas to help uncover the ‘strong why’ behind the product.”

New cheap prototyping tools, like the Atmel-powered 3D desktop printer from Brooklyn’s MakerBot and open-source electronics development tools such as Arduino are helping to facilitate the current wave of smart hardware design. In fact, the new methods of design have even prompted some observers to suggest that New York’s deep design talent pool now gives it a major leg up in terms of innovation.

“What a new generation of low-cost hardware development technologies has done is force the product industry to reconsider its clichés,” said Pepin Gelardi, a Tomorrow Lab partner. “Smart thermostats, intelligent dishes, jackets that think, it’s all back on the table.”

Similarly, many local investors are bullish about the prospects of smart hardware firms taking off in New York.

“For applying technology to the things of everyday life, this is the place to be,” added David S. Rose, managing partner at Rose Tech Ventures, a New York City angel investor.

The full text of “Why designers are the engineers of tomorrow” can be read on Crain’s New York Business here.

3D printing a full-scale, inhabitable house

Two Dutch architectural firms – DUS Architects and Universe Architecture – are preparing to design and print the world’s first full-scale, inhabitable house.

“It’s kind of Lego for adults,” Hans Vermeulen, one of three architects at DUS, told DW.de. Vermeulen says he wants to print, piece by piece, a classic Dutch canal house which will then be designated as an information center and resource for those interested in honing their 3D printing skills.

To achieve this architectural feat, DUS built a 3D printer dubbed the”KamerMaker,” or “Room Builder.” Measuring six meters tall, the shiny device is reportedly one of the largest 3D printers in the world – nearly large enough to print an entire room.

“We thought, OK, we are architects, we have to build a big one if we want to print a house. It’s printing and it’s working, but it’s not yet working perfectly, it’s not fast enough,” Vermeulen explained. “[Really], we want to see what this technique actually can mean for housing seven billion people on this planet – because at the moment, with the current construction techniques and how we play with resources in this world, it’s not sufficient enough.”

Janjaap Ruijssenaars, the lone architect at Universe Architecture, expressed similar sentiments about his 3D printed Landscape House.

“We’ve been approached by a bank from South Africa to print houses for the poor,” he said. “You could actually have the printer print a whole street in one go. This might become one of the larger applications of the technique.”

The full text of “Dutch architects say 3D print technology could solve the world’s housing problems” is available here on DW.de.

As previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the Maker Movement has used Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for some time now, but it is quite clear that 3D printing recently entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces, including the medical sphere and architectural arena.

3D printed bone transplants a success in Japan

3D printing technology is fast becoming mainstream in the medical world. Indeed, earlier this summer, researchers managed to design and print a 3D splint that saved the life of an infant born with severe tracheobronchomalacia – a serious birth defect that causes the airway to collapse. Melbourne scientists also took a big step towards the development of “grow your own” cartilage to treat cancers, osteoarthritis and traumatic injuries using 3D tech, while 3D printed orthopedic implants were successfully fitted in Peking’s University Third Hospital in Beijing.

And now doctors at the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan have successfully transplanted 3D printed bones into four patients with cervical spine (cervical) disc herniation. Following the transplants, symptoms such as gait disturbance and hand numbness improved.

The cost of making such artificial bones is only several thousand yen (1000 yen = 10 US dollars).

“Based on images of MRI and CT scan of patient’s neck, researchers sent the design file to a 3D printer,” a 3DERs.org writer explained. “Composed by thin layers of titanium powder the 3D printed bone fit perfectly to the cervical spine. After an extra chemical and heat treatment the 3D printed bone was transplanted into the patient’s neck.”

The cost of making such artificial bones, including part of a skull, femur and spine? Only several thousand yen per bone (1,000 yen = 10 US dollars).

As previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the Maker Movement has used Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for quite some time now, but it is quite clear that 3D printing recently entered a new and important stage in the medical space.

Will.i.am hearts Makers

Wikipedia describes the Maker Movement as a “contemporary culture or subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture.”

Typical interests pursued by Maker culture include engineering-oriented projects such as electronics, Arduino-based robotics, 3D printing with Atmel-powered printers like the MakerBot or RepRap and the use of CNC tools.

Larry Magid, a technology journalist who writes for the San Jose Mercury News, recently noted that the Maker Movement is growing exponentially by taking advantage of 3D printers, inexpensive microcontrollers, robotics, CAD and the ability to control machines with computers, tablets and smartphones.

The truth is, says Magid, we are all Makers to a certain extent, even if some of us don’t know it yet.

“All of us – even Leonardo da Vinci – were late comers as far as the Maker movement is concerned,” he explained. “Our prehistoric ancestors millions of years ago, figured out how to turn stones into tools so that they could make things. Only they didn’t have fairs, books and websites to document the process.”

And now Will.i.am, the technophile founder of The Black Eyed Peas, has offered a ringing endorsement of the Maker Movement and related culture on Facebook.

“Every young person is going to be inspired to be a maker from now on,” said Will.i.am. “It’s like how everyone used to want to be a musician, an actor, an athlete — but a maker is what people are going to want to be.”

Indeed, as Arduino’s Massimo Banzi once famously noted, “You don’t need anyone’s permission to make something great.”

See the Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2 in action

Just a few months ago, Microsoft announced it was adding native 3D printer support to WIndows 8.1. This week, Redmond and MakerBot confirmed the Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2 will be showcased and sold at even more Microsoft retail stores.

“The MakerBot Experience, our in-store 3D printing demonstration at the Microsoft retail store, is expanding from its roots in Seattle, San Francisco, and Palo Alto and sweeping the nation. [So] get yourself to a Microsoft Retail Store near you and grab your MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer,” MakerBot rep Ben Millstein wrote in an official blog post.

“Microsoft retail stores across the country will offer a ‘MakerBot Experience’ and the chance for customers to see 3D printing in action as well as purchase a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer and MakerBot PLA Filament right in the store. [Remember], the Microsoft retail stores are the only full line stores outside of MakerBot’s own NYC store where you can purchase a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer in person and take it home the same day.”

A full list of participating Microsoft stores is available below:

• Scottsdale, AZ – Fashion Square
• Costa Mesa, CA – South Coast Plaza
• Mission Viejo, CA – The Shops at Mission Viejo
• Palo Alto, CA – Stanford Shopping Center
• San Diego, CA – Fashion Valley
• San Francisco, CA – Westfield San Francisco Centre
• Lone Tree, CO – Park Meadows Mall
• Danbury, CT – Danbury Fair Mall
• Atlanta, GA – Lenox Square
• Oak Brook, IL – Oakbrook Center
• Schaumburg, IL – Woodfield Mall
• Bloomington, MN – Mall of America
• Salem, NH – The Mall at Rockingham Park
• Bridgewater, NJ – Bridgewater Commons
• White Plains, NY – The Westchester
• Houston, TX – Houston Galleria
• McLean, VA – Tysons Corner Center
• Bellevue, WA – Bellevue Square

3D printing the 19th Century in 2013

Martin Galese, a 31-year-old lawyer in New York, routinely searches the USPTO (US Patent Office) archives for the design DNA of antique inventions. He then “reinterprets” them as design files for 3D printers like the Atmel-powered Makerbot and RepRap.

“If you look at the figures in older patents, the 19th century patents are really beautiful. They’re really works of art,” Galese recently told the New York Times.

“You’re holding the 19th century by way of something that was produced in the 21st century. There is so much more design in our world, so many more objects.”

Galese says he has already experimented with and printed a chopstick holder from the 1960s, a portable chess set from the 1940s, a pot scraper from 1875 and a 1989 bookmark / pen holder.

Additional 3D projects based on expired patents can be found on Martin’s blog or Thingverse.

Growing cartilage cells with 3D printing tech

Last month, we discussed how medical researchers successfully designed and printed a 3D splint to save the life of an infant born with severe tracheobronchomalacia – a serious birth defect that causes the airway to collapse.

And today we’re taking a closer look at how Melbourne scientists recently took a big step towards the development of “growing your own” cartilage to treat cancers, osteoarthritis and traumatic injuries.

According to the Australian Herald Sun, the pea-sized spheres of cartilage were grown over 28 days using stem cells taken from tissue under the kneecap.

Leveraging 3D printing technologies, the researchers managed to create a 3D scaffold on which to grow cartilage cells, or chondrocytes. Lead researcher Associate Professor Damian Myers said the above-mentioned procedure marked the first time true cartilage had been grown, as opposed to “fibrocartilage,” something which does not work in the long-term.

“It’s very exciting work, and we’ve done the hard yards to show that what we have cultured is what we want for use in surgery for cartilage repair,” he told the Herald Sun. “[Remember], a normal cartilage repair might only last a couple of years.”

Myers also noted that his long-term goal is advanced surgery for limb salvage and repair, including using a patient’s own stem cells to grow muscles, fat, bone and tendons.

And why not?

As previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the Maker Movement has used Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for quite some time now, although it is abundantly clear that 3D printing has entered a new and important stage in recent months, especially in the medical sphere.

T-Glass for the 3D MakerBots

taulman3D has debuted a new high strength material targeting 3D printers like the Atmel-powered MakerBot lineup. Dubbed “T-Glass,” or tough glass, the new material boasts an optimum temperature of about 212c to 224C, although it prints down to 207C and up to (approximately) 235C.

Unsurprisingly, T-Glass is specifically made of FDA approved polymers for direct food contact/containers, including cups and utensils. And, unlike some lines, there are no odors or fumes when 3D printing with T-Glass.

“T-Glass is very strong, yet different from our nylons as it’s stiff, like PLA and ABS,” a taulman3D rep explained in an official blog post. “Based on our first industrial trials, [it] meets all the requirements for three industrial customers that had an applicable need. To these customers, the clarity was a significant advantage for their quality control departments.”

Indeed, John Porter, President of the Canada-based 3F Product Design, said his company has been using the Makerbot 2X with a variety of materials.

“[However], T-Glass is some of the best printing material we have ever used,” he noted. “It’s lower print temperatures, layer bonding, and strength are great, and almost no shrinkage means prints stay flat, allowing them to stay much closer to design tolerances than ABS, or PLA.”

Sergio M. Ammirata, Ph.D., Managing Partner SipRadius, expressed similar sentiments.

“We love the new T-Glass material. It was extremely easy to use with our Makerbot 2x. We just used the standard heated platform temperature of 110C and a Nozzle temperature of 212C and the print was hassle free,” he said. “It took about 2.5 hours to print this piece. Thanks to this new FDA approved material, we can now manufacture items for an entire new market. It opens up a world of possibilities for us.”

Additional information about T-Glass can be found here.