Posted on 07/06/2014 10:32:09 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The number one issue that people have with 3D printers today, is the speed at which they print at. People now-a-days want things quickly, at the touch of a button. Over the years, many of our everyday jobs, chores, and desires have reached a point of almost becoming instant. For example, when you want to print a document from your computer or tablet, its done in approximately 5-10 seconds. When you want to bring up a website on your smartphone, it’s up in a matter of 1-2 seconds. Just about every aspect of our lives, when compared to that of the technology we used a few decades ago, has moved into a new realm where everything seems to be running in “fast forward”. 3D printing, however, when it comes to speed, is still chipping at the ice in the Ice Age.
This can be expected. 3D printing is a relatively new technology, especially when you focus solely on consumer level, at-home 3D printers. It can take a full day to print objects the size of a basketball. It can take several hours to print something as small as a Rubik’s Cube. Speeds have improved slightly in the few years since consumer level 3D printers have been made available to the general public. However, we’ve hardly seen any noticeable improvements. One little boy and his company CarrotCorp, plans on changing this.
Thomas Suarez, a 15-year-old little boy, made headlines several years ago when he created a Justin Bieber whack-a-mole game called Bustin Jieber. Since then he has given a TED talk on technology, was featured on BBC, and had the chance to meet a lot of important and famous people.
Now Suarez has a relatively new interest, and that interest is 3D printing. He had the chance to meet Bre Pettis back in 2012, and tour the MakerBot ‘Botfarm’.
“I told my dad [about 3D printing], and he said, ‘oh that’s not real!’,” explained Suarez back in 2012. “He didn’t believe it.”
Soon after, Suarez decided to prove to his dad that 3D printing was very real, by setting up a tour of the MakerBot botfarm. Nevertheless, his father became a believer, and Thomas himself became even more enamored by the technology; so much so that he decided to set out to push the technology even further.
“Recently I applied for a patent on 3D printing,” Suarez told BBC in an interview. “I’m trying to make 3D printing faster and more reliable. The key there is speed, and we’re trying to [get] ten times faster than current generation 3D printers.”
Thomas is completely self taught when it comes to his technology insight, and his revolutionary new ideas. It should be interesting to see more details on what this patented super 3D printer includes. If Thomas can legitimately create a 3D printer capable of speeds that are ten times faster than today’s current technology, you may just be reading about a future billionaire. Just yesterday, CarrotCorp announced that they are working on creating a 3D printer that is “the most advanced, the most reliable, and the fastest 3D printer ever created”.
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
We have recently covered a story on 3D Systems, a company which has created a super speedy industrial level 3D printing system for the creation of smartphone modules, as part of Google’s Project Ara. However, we have yet to see these 3D printers in action, and they will surely cost in excess of $1,000,000 each. Thomas’ patent is for a consumer level 3D printer technology, which could make the process of 3D printing ever so close to being the speeds we all truly desire.
Discuss Thomas Suarez’s potential technology in the CarrotCorp 3D Printer forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video interview that Thomas had with BBC below:
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
Do we live in a great country or what?
One of my hobbies from back in the early 1970s is computing. Around 1978 I was in a computer club, and members would share tips and information. So one time a 13-year-old kid demonstrated a knife-throwing game on our Apple II machines (they had just recently came out). Said he wrote it the day before. Everyone's jaw dropped, as we watched the gory color graphics of blood spilled as you hit human targets. This from a kid. Don't know what became of him, but many members went on to great things and got rich. Good ole USA.
I saw a story about a 3D printer that would use plastic bottles to make things from. That would be pretty awesome.
But that's still a 2D build, layer by layer to create a 3D object. My idea is to form the object almost simultaneously in a 3-dimensional enclosure. Now imagine several circular rings operating like a gyroscope with nozzles and lasers, that would be in constant controlled motion spraying a medium with the lasers intersect and harden the material. They could quickly create a support structure to hold the newly created object. Some nozzles would spray material, while other nozzles would air blast material out of the way. I've seen videos of robots in the food industry where some of this technology is in use in directing and packaging items. So much of what I propose is feasible. I just don't have the means to pursue it, but look forward to seeing it created by someone else.
Would like to know how the plastic bottles were used for making objects.
I know there are people who posted information on building a machine that melts plastic scraps such as plastic bottles and forms filament for reuse in 3D printers. I’m saving scrap plastic in case I build a filament-maker. I also read of a small company that makes green planters from plastic bottles. They make all the connectors, you piece them together with plastic bottles and a pump, and you end up with a multiple-hanging-bottle array of plants where the water is recycled and delivered back into the top, self-sustaining system.
I think it was here:
http://gizmodo.com/a-3d-printer-that-turns-coke-bottles-into-whatever-you-1598457873
Their filament cartridges use the bottles, not the user. (FOR NOW *evil laugh*)
“The Ekocycle printer will be available from Cubify for $1,200 later this year, and will use filament cartridges that contain at least three recycled 20 oz. PET plastic bottles, but the material still retains the flexibility and durability of standard 3D printer filament.”
Cubify is nuts! So how much are their filament cartridges, probably expensive as gold. Yesterday I spent some time cleaning ABS plastic from a jammed extruder. Sometimes you get contaminants in there and the plastic cooks and hardens jamming the works. I can imagine how many jams will result from recycled plastic bottles. Had to drill out the extruder, a PTFE tube and clean out the feed mechanism. No fun there.
Homely? Perhaps. I think she looks lovely in a very down-to-earth and approachable way.
In matters of taste there is no right or wrong.
I use a heat gun to make knife sheaths for the kitchen out of used milk jugs and cat litter buckets (for thicker plastics). Does that count?
True, it is subjective. The nullness has been voided.
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