In these recent years 3d printing has gone as far as printing functioning cars but if that was not enough then let's take it to whole other level and talk about 3d printed planes. More specifically, 3d printed UAVs or Unmanned Arial Vehicles. The most promising model as of today and probably the only functioning one is the completely 3d printed drone by Aurora Flight Sciences and there tech group and also with the help of Stratasys and their industrial grade 3d printers. The team's main goal revolving around this project was to show other aircraft building companies that it is doable an to also show them how much more time and energy efficient the building process was as oppose to the traditional way of designing and building an aircraft. Down bellow is a picture of the finished model:
This specific model of UAV is obviously equipped with multiple electronic components so it is fair to say that this aircraft is composed of 80% plastic. It also features a miniature jet engine capable of reaching speeds up to 150 mph which is remarkably quick considering that the plane itself mainly consist of plastic part. Down bellow is short video talking a little more about the plane itself and with a demonstration of this aircraft in flight:
Now with one of these fully functional prototypes, I believe it is fair to say that this will highly encourage further research on 3d printed aicrafts and maybe even one day the research of small passenger planes. This is by far one of the most stunning discoveries in the world of 3d printing and I truly hope that more effort and research is put into this because it is energy saving, time saving and it also uses a lot less resources considering that there are probably about two dozens of different components in this plane. A more environmentally friendly way of building planes and other objects is exactly what this world could use.
Well this idea or so called concept was bound to eventually come to life and so here you have it: 3d printed cars. Now obviously, one of the most recognisable aspects of anything 3d printed is that they are completely made of plastic so yes, this car is made up of about 80% plastic which is beyond amazing. It also does feature an electric motor so right off the bat we can tell that this thing is very eco-friendly. Its concept developer at Local Motors, Jay Rogers, calls it the Strati. Here are some pictures down bellow of what it looks like at the moment:
The company's main goal of this project is to be able to build a car that is somewhat visualy attractive (which I believe they did a very nice job in doing so), that is affordable (at an expected price of 5000$, that is very reasonnable), that is eco-friendly and that does not require tons of energy and parts to build. Although the car may look complete at the moment and is functionning, it remains under development for reasons such as that the company is looking into a more flexible type of plastic that would be able to whistand hard impacts. But to give you an idea of what the prototype looks like in action, here is a video demonstrating its capabalitys on the road:
One of the features that Local Motors has to offer once the car begins to sell on the open market is an upgrade option after the cars contract is up. How this would work is simple; once the owner of the car has paid off the contract or would simply like an upgrade, the engine and all other non-plastic materials will be removed from the car and the remaining plastic will be melted down in order to produce another vehicle. That way all the possibly recyclable material is recycled. But even though these cars are not expected to be seen out in dealerships anytime soon, we can see how progress towards a greener future is being made which is only for the better of this planet.
If there is anything better than good food its being its being able to shape that food into whatever you want. Now with 3d printers you can do just that. Sadly this kind of printing has not reached a point where we can 3d print any kind of edible substances such as a full size hamburger with cheese, lettuce, meat, and with the buns all in one print. Although we have already reached the stage where we can 3d print food out of chocolate, such as little chocolate figurines and what not. Down bellow is a video demonstrating how a 3d printer prints chocolate snowflakes :
Not only do they have printers capable of producing chocolate objects but now they also have printers who are capable of taking your 2d or 3d designs or pictures on your computer and afterwards making a pancake resembling your drawing. Here is a short promotional video showing off the "PancakeBot" which is currently still on Kickstarter for development:
But enough with the silly and small - scale developments, a group of engineers and design students at the Indian Institute of Technology called the ninjas decided to take this 3d printed food concept to a whole new level. There main idea consist of implementing 3d food printers on planes so that people can design their meals the way they want it and they could then have it 3d printed for them. This way the food and meals would always remain fresh for the customers and if they are on some form of a diet or have allergies to a certain food they can customize their meals to their desire. Now with all of the chocolate and pancake 3d printers out, I believe that they could serve as good ways of experimenting and prototyping but not as a successful marketing item. But the idea of having 3d food printers for planes is surely a promising idea .
Could you ever imagine being able to build your own firearm conveniently at your own home without any form of license for owning said firearm? Well your days of imagining are over because with the advancements of technologies in the world of 3d printing, any average Joe with a 3d printer can build himself one. A perfect example of this plan put into motion is a company called Defense Distributed. Their main ideology is to prove to the US government that they cannot and will never be able to completely control and regulate guns. Although they are still a work in progress, they have already developed, designed and printed a fully functional 3d printed gun which is indeed made of plastic. They call it the Liberator. Here is a short video demonstrating that the weapon is indeed functional:
As said previously, this gun requires no more than a simple cheap 3d printer to build and afterwards fire. Defense Dist. has made it so that the plans are easily available and downloadable online by anyone with a computer at their disposal. Defense Dist. is also trying to make some of their other designs such as the lower receiver (the main mechanism) of an AR-15, possibly one of the most available and popular firearms in the United States available online for download as well. Down bellow are some pictures and videos of the AR-15 lower receiver and it being used to fire live ammunition:
The lower reciever of an AR-15
The lower reciever on the gun after assembly
But now with these new ways of being abale to create lethal firearms at home for a price that is only getting lower and lower, one can only think to wonder "how safe is this?". With 3d printers being completely available in all sizes and prices to anyone of the public, anyone could build themselves a firearm. Is this new evolution giving criminals and/or serial killers a chance to make gun perchasing or owning easier? Now do not get me wrong, I too like guns and find a passion in them but i do not think that this is the smartest advancment in 3d printing that could have been done. This change could be a very big danger to all of us if the wrong people can get a hold of a 3d printer and some of these DIY gun plans.
3d printing has come a long way from where it had originally started. But possibly one of the most amazing advancements that have been made are shown in the medical field. This method of 3d printing is known as Bio-printing and focuses on printing objects using regenerative cells and tissue instead of the more conventional style of printing which is PLA or ABS; two of the more popular plastics used in 3d printing. Right up to this day the students and researchers at the University of Florida in Gainesville are currently developing a way to print objects with the use of a gel type texture that could resemble and replace organ tissue. Now with that in mind, think of all the other possibilities that could rise up from this; deformed children could be given a second chance, organ donors and transplants would no longer be needed and the average life span of a human being could possibly be increased by several years. Although we remain many many years of research away from these accomplishments, we can see how much progress has been made so far by simply looking at the video bellow explaining how this type of 3d printer is intended to work:
Although we have not yet reached the point were this kind of technology can be used to build organs we have already succeeded in 3d printing other body parts one of which being an ear. The first person to ever receive a 3d printed ear is Kai Sherwood; a boy who was born with a missing ear. But now thanks to these medical advanced, Kai can now wear his glasses like everyone else and he even looks like he was missing an ear in the first place. Bellow are some before and after pictures with Kai's new ear:
I truly believe that with the way that 3d printing is advancing in our world it will only bring positive changes to our lifestyles and especially many more changes in the medical fields.
