3D print is remoulding our lives

The world's first commercial housing project based on 3D-concrete printing is underway in Netherlands. Companies around the world have already proven that not only can a large-scale projects be 3D-printed, it can be done cheaply, efficiently and easily. The technology is moving beyond plastic prototypes to everyday industrial use. Here are a few ways the 3D printing is transforming the way we live

Curated By: Madhu Kapparath

Published: Jun 27, 2018

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Scientists at the Newcastle University have just 3D printed world’s first human cornea using stem cells.. It wasn't easy: firstly, there was the problem of distinctive curved shape of the human cornea. To get the right texture, researchers created a bioink using stem cells from donor corneas, adding it to alginate (a jelly-like goo) and collagen (ropy proteins). Instead of replacing one damaged cornea with a healthy one, scientists would be able to grow enough cells from one donated cornea to print 50 artificial ones. This could help overcome the significant shortage of corneas and help millions restore their vision.

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The first 3D-printed electric car named LSEV on display at China 3D-Printing Cultural Museum on March 15, 2018 in Shanghai, China. The car was co-produced by Italy-based electric car company XEV and China-based 3D printing material company Polymaker. All components are 3D-printed, except tyres, leather and glass. XEV has decreased the plastic parts and number of components in a car from more than 2,000 to 57, and the finished LSEV weighs only 450 kilograms, much lower than similar sized vehicles usually weighing between 1 and 1.2 metric tons. XEV plans to start production in the second quarter of 2019.

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A team of surgeons from Medanta: The Medicity, Gurugram, last year successfully implanted a 3D-printed vertebra in a 32-year-old woman — helping her walk again after a bout of disabling spinal tuberculosis.The 10-hour-long surgery was the first-of-its-kind for reconstruction with a 3D-printed titanium implant in India, and third in the world. Although in a nascent stage, market intelligence solutions firm 6Wresearch predicts that India's 3D printer prototyping and materials market will hit $79 million by 2021.

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Sanpang is a nickname for the North Korean leader Kim Jung-Un in Chinese pop culture. They must find him cute, why else would one find a 3D-printed Sanpang strawberry milk flavoured ice-cream in his likeness in a Shanghai shop? April 2016.

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Winsun is a chinese R&D company specialising in 3D printing architecture and building materials. In 2013, the firm made global headlines building 10 houses in a day with a proprietary mix of cement, sand, and recycled materials. It has built deluxe villas, houses with classical or modern courtyards, transportable buildings at Suzhou Industrial Park in Jiangsu, China (pictured above). Made with only 40 percent of the materials that a traditional construction requires, in 30 percent of the time, it represents massive savings in labor and material costs. The company holds 129 national patents.

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Canadian province Saskatoon’s newest cafe has more than just coffee. Create Cafe has several 3D printers, including the largest one in North America. In the past two years, a growing number of farmers from the region have been coming in to 3D print custom or replacement pieces, rather than waiting weeks on end for orders to arrive.“There’s lots of electronics involved, tons of very small pieces, everything needs to work together,” Create Cafe co-owner Lance Greene explained to GlobalNews.ca,. “If the littlest thing fails, you might get sensor errors causing issues, but with 3D printer technology, you can fix a lot of those problems yourself.” One farmer has even bought a 3D printer of his own.

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Engineer Chang Hsien-Liang, 46, fits a 3D-printed prosthetic hand, which he designed and built, on Angel Peng, 8, who injured her hand in a scalding accident when she was nine months old, in Taoyuan, Taiwan, May 8, 2017. Chang himself had lost his right forearm in a factory accident four years ago. The artificial limbs he tried were either too basic or very expensive. Despite a lack of medical training, he watched online videos, bought a 3D printer and built his prosthetic arm successfully after many attempts. Chang then decided to help others.

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Reliance Industries in its latest annual report said it has developed capabilities to design and print a wide range of products using 3D printing technology—in both plastic and metal—from prototypes to functional parts. PTI reports that Reliance is investing in setting up India’s first carbon fibre manufacturing unit to cater to aerospace and defence needs as well as the specialty industrial applications like railways and metros. The newly launched Reliance Composites Solutions (RCS) will design and administer low-cost and high-volume products such as modular toilets and homes to support the Swachh Bharat Mission, disaster relief measures and Housing for All programmes initiated by the Indian Government.

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Siemens is to pump £27m into what will be Britain's biggest 3D printing factory in Worcester, England. The German industrial giant will make the investment through Materials Solutions, a company it acquired in 2016. Opening in September,Siemens aims for the new factory to become a "global centre of excellence" employing top class engineers, metallurgists and manufacturing specialists in 3D printing, serving the aviation, automotive and motor sports sectors. The factory also manufactures burner heads (for Siemens gas turbines) that have to withstand extreme conditions during commercial power plant operation.

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French engineer and professional violinist Laurent Bernadac plays the ‘3Dvarius’, a 3D printed electric violin made of of transparent resin in Paris, France, September 11, 2015. The violin is based on the model of the renowned Stradivarius, but Bernadac considers it a new kind of musical instrument and told Wired that he hopes “violinists will create new sounds and new playing techniques, and a new musical repertoire".

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At the Lansing Delta Township assembly plant of General Motors, much of assembly tooling would be machined from metal, costing hundreds, or often thousands of dollars to produce. About three years ago, GM acquired a polymer 3D printer costing in the region of $35,000. It has since reported an expected cost saving of over $300,000, according to a Automotive News. For example, an outsourced tool, used to align engine and transmission vehicle identification numbers usually cost the plant about $3,000. It cost less than $3 to make one using 3D printing.

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Four year old Elif Ada, born with a visual impairment due to a genetic disease poses for a photo with her new, 3D printed eyeglasses in Ankara, Turkey on April 18, 2018. After a series of surgical operations, the specialists (from Gulhane Training and Research Hospital, Department of Opthalmology in cooperation with Medical Design and Production Center) made eyeglasses that fit her face anatomy for now. Her treatment involving plastic surgeries will continue after she turns six.

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A sneaker with a 3D printed sole from Adidas that it plans to mass-produce next year on display before the company's annual news conference in Herzogenaurach, Germany March 14, 2018. The company’s new partnership with Silicon Valley start-up Carbon helps it overcome many of the hurdles to produce a sole that can rival one made by an injection mould, and at a speed and price that allow for mass production.The new 3D printing methods will make small production runs, limited edition shoes; and even make soles designed to fit an individual’s weight and gait economically viable.

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In Britain is testing robots with 3D printers that can fill in potholes within a minute. Leeds City Council is working with a team from University College London to pioneer the concept of ‘self-repairing cities’. A fleet of autonomous road vehicles or drones will scan roads looking for cracks and fix them before potholes develop. Upon spotting a crack in the road, a robot with an attached 3D printer will be able to spray asphalt into a crack in the road to repair it, all within a minute. Experts said that the autonomous vehicles or drones could operate at night, completing their work at night in order to avoid daily road closures that can severely disrupt traffic.

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Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai opened the ‘Office of the Future’, the world's first functional 3D printed office in Dubai May 23, 2016. Home of the Dubai Future Foundation, the whole building took only 17 days to print, and was installed on site within two days by the chinese firm Winsun.The Office is part of a larger strategy called the Dubai Future Agenda, launched by the UAE to become a major incubator of innovation and future technology in the world.

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At the recent Salone del Mobile in Milano, a world-class furniture and design showcase, the new Spanish design group Nagami presented 3D printed chairs designed in collaboration with a number of renowned designers and design studios. The project, titled “brave new world: re-thinking design and large-scale robotic 3D printing,” comprised four avant-garde chair designs: Rise(above, right) and Bow by Zaha Hadid Architects, Robotica TM by Ross Lovegrove, and Peeler(above,left) by Daniel Widrig.

(Sources: PTI, 3Ders.org, TechCrunch, Futurism, Popular Mechanics, GlobalNews)

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