'Steadfastness in a cause is the key to success.'
African Proverbs
The more the program progresses, the more apparent it becomes that Fab Academy, despite been a good certification to pursue, is not for those who taps out easily.
This week lecture covers the rudimentary knowledge about 3D printing and scanning. So in a short while, I will try give a little explanation about the 3D printing technologies. Lastly, I will end this by showing the technologies we have at the OpenLab Hamburg.
Back to reality! From my little knowledge about 3D printing, I know it is an additive manufacturing technology. By additive, we mean it functions by adding layers on top layers, to derive the designed objects. If you remember in week 02 that we did Computer Aided Design, this week's module will enable us to get a tangible experience of the design made. Hence, slowly moving us from the conceptual sphere to a tangible realm in a limited time (t). Which is the reality any Maker on the journey to 'Make Almost Anything' would appreciate. According to Wikipedia, the term "3D printing" covers a variety of processes in which material is joined or solidified under computer control to create a three-dimensional object, with material being added together, typically layer by layer. There are different 3D printing processes, some of which includes stereolithography (SLA), selective laser sintering (SLS), and fused deposition modeling (FDM). However, despite being invented after the SLA and SLS 3D printing processes, Wikipedia, highlighted that the most affordable and the most-commonly used 3D-printing process is a material extrusion technique called FDM (whose value stands at 46% as of 2018).
A better understanding of 3D printing would be impossible without highlighting the historical process that led to the emancipation of such technology.
History of 3D printing (Derived from IEEExplore )
The Origin
Up intil the 1980s additive fabrication strategies had no practical application in industrial context except in electronic industry for the fabrication of microchips. In the late 1970s various methods for computer-assisted additive fabrication using different technologies started to be proposed. They were the subject of early patents. More comprehensive patents were developed in the 1980s. Here the main achievements are reported chronologically and with reference to the fabrication technology. Charles Hull invented stereolitography (STL), a process making liquid polymers harden under ultra-violet light. He described a method and an apparatus for making solid objects by depositing layer-by-layer of this material in a patent issued on August 1984. The first object he was able to build was a cup 5cm tall and the fabrication process lasted months!. Two years later he founded 3D System, a company producing and selling the fabrication machinery.
The Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) technology was developed towards the end of the 1980s. By this method cross-sections of an object are cut from paper using a laser, then a plastic coating is melted on the bottomside of the paper layer. Applications were not particularly successful over the years. Producers were Helisys (USA), Solido3D (Israel) and Kira (Japan) among others. Another technology for additive manufacturing was invented at the University of Texas. It was called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and consists of melting particles of powder by a laser beam. The relevant US Patent by C.R. Deckard was issued in 1989. After producing academic machines, DTM Co., a start-up of the University, started to build commercial machines cooperating with 3D Systems by which it was acquired in 2001.
In the early 1990s at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology technologies for 3D printing with the trademark 3D printing were developed. The fabrication technology adopted was inspired by ink-jet technology first developed by Canon Co. in 1979. The US patent by E.M. Sachs et al was commercialized by Z Co. The term 3D printing popularly started to be used in a broad sense. Already in the late 1980s C.S. Crump developed the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) technology based on the deposition of thermoplastic material layer-by-layer using a 3-axis robot. He patented this method and apparatus in 1992 and founded Stratasys Inc. In 2012 Stratasys merged with Objet Ltd a leading manufacturer of 3D printers based in Israel. The Fused Deposition Modeling then became the fabrication process on which most of desktop printers rely.
The Growth
Up to the early 2000s 3D printers were expensive machines normally employed in industries for prototyping. About in the year 2005 initiatives started with the goal of offering individuals low-cost and non-proprietary printers. In that year a project was carried out at the University of Bath by A. Bowyer in order to develop a 3D printer which was able to produce most of its own parts. The name of the project was RepRap (Replicating Rapid prototyping). The RepRap printer consisted of a 3-axis robot mounting one or more extruders using Fused Filament Fabrication derived from Fused Deposition Modeling. Software and hardware were open-source, including the electronics based on Arduino platform. The addressed market was that of individuals (Do It Yourself (DIY) or Makers) who were invited to modify and produce parts of their own printers.
A similar initiative took place in 2006 at Cornell University, USA. Fab@Home was the printer developed by open-source hardware and software. It consisted of a 3-axis system moving multiple extruders depositing a broad range of materials. The purpose was that of evolving from industry to home fabrication, replicating the revolution occurred in the field of computation from industrial mainframes to desktop computers. Based on the RepRap project, in 2006 MakerBot Industries were established in New York providing do-it-yourself kits for anyone with just basic technical skill. Over the years MakerBot moved from open to closed source hardware. In 2013 it was acquired by Stratasys Inc. The open-source revolution produced a sort of large diffusion and democratization of additive manufacturing so that practically people could afford to create objects by their own. The true revolution was the impressive expansion of consumer 3D printing. Herald of this process towards personal fabrication was N. Gershenfield who since early in the 2000s at the Media Lab in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been teaching a class on "How to make (almost) anything". A movement promoting diffused FabLabs (Fabrication Laboratories), creating communities of makers (do-it-yourself enthusiasts, hobbists, artists and crafts people) originated. A number of Makers Faires followed the first one held in 2006.
3D Scanning
In a nutshell, the difference between 3D printing and 3D Scanning is that the former turn bits to atoms, while the latter turns atoms to bits. Apologies for those who are too novice to grab my 3D intelligence. What I was trying to highlight is that unlike 3D printing that makes a tangible object from a conceptual design (CAD Design), 3D scanning does the opposite. 3D scanning converts a tangible object into a conceptual design that can be modified electronically. Got it?
To do 3D scanning, there is need for a 3D scanner, which is used to facilitate a journey from tangibility to virtuality.
3D Printing Process
After having finished the design on your chosen CAD software, we will proceed with printing the design. Therefore, I assume you have saved the file as STL file. Now you need a Slicer to convert the design from the STL format to GCODE format which the printer understands. This will be detailed in the section containing the assignments HERE.
There are several slicing softwares, some for specific machine producers such as Makerbot Slicer (Makerbot Print), or Slic3r PE for Prusa 3D printers, and amongs others CURA by Ultimaker (this can also be setup for use by other printers including self-fabricated ones). In the assignment section, I will show how to use CURA slicer.
3D Printing Capabilities of OpenLab Hamburg
You are welcome to take a 360o tour of the lab on this Link.In addition to what you saw on the 360o tour of the OpenLab Hamburg, we also have the following:
So please feel free to visit us in case you need a reliable space to print or work effectively.