This week we found the top 5 videos about 3D printing and the way additive manufacturing is changing production. The technology has infiltrated many sectors, from medical to automotive: check our selection of the week to keep up with the innovations! If you enjoy these, you can view even more 3D printing videos on our Youtube channel. Hope you’ll enjoy and have a great Sunday!
TOP 1: 3D Printing Day: 10 Dates that Changed 3D Printing
This week, on the 3rd of December, we celebrated international 3D printing day! Charles Hull developed the first 3D printing technology, stereolithography, only compatible with photosensitive thermoset polymers, in order to facilitate the production of prototypes. Not long after, Hull printed the first ever 3D printed object, an eye wash cup. Today, after over three decades of rapid growth, development and innovation, 3D printers are capable of far more, from printing houses, parts for cars and rockets, meat alternatives, to a miniature functioning human heart. 3D printing is changing the way products are manufactured worldwide: minimising waste; maximising sustainability; and permitting mass customisation to cater to specific consumer needs. Additive manufacturing has had, and will continue to have, an unprecedented impact on medicine, transport, commerce, and society as a whole. Watch our compilation of 10 of the most important moments that changed 3D printing.
Top 2: AM Micro-robots: the 3D Lithography Research Revolutionising Medicine
These 3D printed micro-robots are so small that they can manoeuvre through our blood vessels and deliver medications to certain points in the body. Researchers have been pursuing this goal for years. Scientists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich finally succeeded using a new manufacturing technique, underpinned by the expertise of ETH Professor Salvador Pané’s work. Using 3D lithography, a high-precision 3D printing technique that produces complex objects on the micrometre level, the scientists are able to print metal and plastic with such precision that the two materials are interlocked as closely as links in a chain. These micro-robots will one day revolutionise the field of medicine.
Top 3: Green Campus’ 3D-Printed Eco-villages
Green Campus, a crowd funded start-up, is developing large format 3D printers and revolutionary bio-materials to build ethical and sustainable eco-villages. For the last four years, they have been working with the world’s leading large format 3D printing and bio-composites chemical engineers to create the largest, most flexible, greenest, most economical and most accessible 3D printing platform. Green Camps will be printed with 100% non-toxic, 100% plant based bio-materials made from food and organic fibre waste. Watch this video for more about their project and how you can help!
Top 4: 3D Print your own Mars Rover with ExoMy!
The European Space Agency (ESA) has released blueprints and software needed to print and assemble a mini-version of the Rosalind Franklin ExoMars rover, the ExoMy. The ESA focussed on making the design as affordable and accessible as possible in hope “that school or university students will make their own ExoMy, to become familiar with robotics, and learn about the full-sized ExoMars rover, which is scheduled for launch in 2022.” You can find everything you need to build the ExoMy HERE.
Top 5: AM News with Formnext
Formnext is without a doubt the largest professional additive manufacturing convention in the world. Each year, the event brings thousands of actors in 3D printing from across the world to Frankfurt. Several new releases and innovations are presented every year, including machines, materials, software, and even previously unpublished programs. Here’s a video from Formnext’s Youtube channel to help keep you up to date with news from the world of additive manufacturing!
What did you think of this week’s top 5 videos? Which one is your favorite? Tell us in a comment below or on our Facebook and Twitter pages! And don’t forget to sign up to our free weekly Newsletter to keep updated on all the latest news in the 3D industry coming straight to your inbox!