Can the AnkerMake M5C get a 3D Printing NOOB up to SPEED?

Ankermake M5C is in the GadgetLab!
Ankermake is sponsoring this video to SCHOOL me on 3D printing! Not only is it one of the fastest ways to get started in 3D Printing, it’s literally one of the fastest 3D printers available! Let’s see if I can get up to speed and make some fun stuff FAST! Continue reading “Can the AnkerMake M5C get a 3D Printing NOOB up to SPEED?”

Local Motors Strati is the World’s First 3D Printed Car

local motors Strati 3d printed electric car frontYou wouldn’t download a car would you?

Well if you have an industrial grade 3D printer you might be able to someday download the chassis. Based out of Arizona, Local Motors is introducing the world to Strati, a car built out of a carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic. Strati is a two seater electric coupe with a top speed of 40 mph and a range of around 120 miles.

local motors Strati 3d printed electric car rear

While the motor, wiring, and windscreens are all made using conventional means, the car is built out of a ridiculously small number of individual parts thanks to the printing process. Local Motors expects to sell Strati for $18,000 to $30,000 depending on additional features and accessories.

This could represent a manufacturing breakthrough. If Strati finds any small amount of success, 3D printing could drastically lower the bar for other manufacturers looking to produce commuter vehicles. You can find more info on Local Motors site, and you can see their Strati time-lapse teaser video below.

Honda Let’s You Download a Car, Makes 3D Printing Design Files Available.

honda 3d printing nsxYou wouldn’t download a car would you? Well, if it’s a Honda, that might not be such a serious issue.

Honda is making 3D printing design files available for five of their older concept vehicles. As part of their Super Ultra Daydreams branding project, if you’re inclined to DIY, you could print out all the pieces for your very own NSX.

It’s kind of a crazy idea, aknowledging that IP law is going to have a difficult time reigning in consumer behavior once 3D printers become more commonplace, but crazy ideas seem to be right up Honda’s alley at the moment, if this video of theirs from the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show is any indication.

Yeah… I totally downloaded the NSX by the way…

Honda 3D Printing files.

Contour Crafting Concept Aims to Use Giant 3D Printer to Make a House a Day

contour crafting 3d home printingProfessor Behrokh Khoshnevis from the University of Southern California is working on a new robotic 3D printer which can work with concrete. The goal? To “print” an entire house in a day.

This means a small team of these robots could provide housing for a small community in record time, inexpensively, and potentially reducing the total energy required to construct each house. The nice thing about 3D printing, even for low income housing, companies would be able to use this process to contour unique floorplans easily. We wouldn’t necessarily need to make every house exactly the same to save on production.

Professor Khoshnevis did a Tedx Talk roughly a year ago to describe the process and talk about the Contour Crafting project.

More info can be found at the Contour Crafting project website.

(via GNDTV)

The world’s craziest toothbrush cleans your teeth in six seconds and is 3D printed

This somehow looks even more torturous than our normal dental care instruments…

See Elon Musk’s Iron Man style 3D modeling and printing lab.

SpaceX-LogoWhen Robert Downey Jr. retires from playing Tony Stark they should just follow Elon Musk around with cameras. A normal day for him is science fiction for the rest of us plebs.

Anywho, wouldn’t it be great if Iron Man’s garage were an actual real life thing. You move designs around by waving your hands through the air. You interact with models using advanced 3D optics, then have the ability to render and construct that design right there. Yeah. That’d be cool.

Well Musk and his engineers at SpaceX went and pretty much made it. Using tech like LEAP motion controllers and Oculus Rift goggles, designers are able to interact and manipulate models via gestures. Plus they can then build those models using 3D printers in the lab. It’s incredible stuff, and Elon “Man of the Future” Musk himself spends a couple minutes walking us through their advances.

All of these separate technologies are starting to come together, and it’s starting to look really cool.

(via TechCrunch)