NASA is funding research into 3D-printed food. Mechanical engineer Anjan Contractor received a $125,000 grant from the agency to build a prototype 3D printer with the aim of automating food…

> This app turned out to be a mistake.  I’m not sure if it wants a Xbox only

> Kinect or what, but I’m not alone in not being able to make it work..

> “Ouch” says my pride,

ucresearch:

Flexible 3D printed Fashion

UCLA’s Julia Koerner collaborated with fashion designer Iris Van Herpen to create a 3D printed dress. Koerner explains:

“The architectural structure aims to superimpose multiple layers of thin woven lines which animate the body in an organic way. Exploiting computational boundaries in combination with emergent technology selective laser sintering, of a new flexible material, lead to enticing and enigmatic effects within fashion design. New possibilities arise such as eliminating seams and cuts where they are usually placed in couture.”

See how the dress was created →

The NanoManipulator

The NanoManipulator is a virtual-reality interface to a scanning-probe microscope that allows a human user to see, touch, and manipulate individual macromolecules.  It has been used to manipulate individual viruses, strands of DNA, and carbon nanotubes.  The NanoManipulator uses an Atomic-Force Microscope (AFM) to gather data describing the 3D shape of the sample within the microscope, and then uses computer graphics and haptics (touch) displays to allow the user to see and feel the sample surface.  Motions of the user’s hand are used to control the tiny probe scanning the sample, so that the user can manually push microscopic objects, and feel the resultant forces.  In effect, the user’s eyes and hands are projected into the nanoworld, and the user can manipulate nanometer-scale objects in real-time.

The NanoManipulator was invented by Warren Robinett and Stan Williams in 1991, and was implemented by Russell M. Taylor II as his PhD thesis project, with Fred Brooks also involved from early on.  The NanoManipulator Project has grown to become a multi-disciplinary research project at UNC-Chapel Hill involving 16 faculty members and 28 graduate students in the departments of Computer Science, Physics, Chemistry, Gene Therapy, Information and Library Science, Psychology, and Education.  The NanoManipulator is currently being developed as a commercial product by NanoManipulator Inc.

      Story on NanoManipulator in UNC’s Endeavors magazine.

un:

(via lehuutai) #fractals #mandelbulb3d (at Saigon)

I want to see some of these mandelbulbs printed with 3D Printers

Here’s the thing:  Most Mandelbulb Fractal generators run in the graphics card via GPGPU code (E.g., CUDA, etc.).   It is usually not easy to pull complete 3D geometry for a Mandelbulb back out of the GPU again in order to render it as an STL file for 3D printing.

shapeways:

How To 3D Print at Home with an iPhone and a Magnifying Glass (VIDEO)

 

While looking for a way to recycle our excess Nylon powder we found a way for anyone to 3D print at home with an iPhone and a magnifying glass.

At Shapeways we recycle most of the Nylon powder from our industrial 3D printing process but sometimes the powder does not meet the standard required for use in our 3D printers.  We were looking at the testing process when we made a really exciting discovery, with a tightly focused beam of light you can solidify the Nylon powder into a solid.  

We did some experiments and discovered a way that anyone can 3D print at home using an iPhone and a magnifying glass with our Nylon powder.  Take a look at the simple video below and email freenylon@shapeways.com and we can send you (for the cost of shipping) some of our excess Nylon for you to try at home.

In a relatively simple step by step process that almost exactly replicates the way in which our industrial 3D printers work it is easy to 3D print a basic form with an iPhone with a ‘Torch’ app, a strong magnifying glass, a ruler and some fine Nylon powder.

1. Prepare the Nylon powder to around 3mm thick on a clean flat surface.  The smoother this first surface the better quality your 3D print will be as this is the foundation of your entire print. (This is the same way that our 3D printers prepare for your 3D prints)

1. Use the Torch App to activate the flash on your iPhone and a magnifying glass to focus the light into a tight beam. You will need to experiment to fid the perfect distance from the Nylon and the time it takes to solidify the powder so that you do not burn the Nylon.  (Our industrial machines use much the same process except with a laser to speed up the printing time and give greater accuracy)

1. Use a ruler or other straight flat item to gently cover the first layer of your 3D print with around 0.5mm of Nylon powder, you will be printing your part from the bottom up, tracing the existing layer to ensure the melt together. (Again, this is the exactly the same process our SLS 3D printers use, except the layer of Nylon is in the Microns yet still building objects from the bottom up)

1. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to print your object, ensuring you melt each layer to the layer below, as you gain confidence you can try to 3D print simple interlocking parts like a chain. (please note: The strength of the part is reliant on the uniformity of the bond between Nylon particles, we do not recommend you use this process for any parts under stress.  The industrial 3D printers Shapeways use are high precision machines that 3D print high quality parts. Home 3D printing with this process is an experimental process for fun more than function.)

Take a look at the video below to see our results, if you want to try this yourself at home contact us freenylon@shapeways.com and we can send you some Nylon (for shipping costs) so you can try this at home too.

laughingsquid:

Play-Doh 3D Printer

3d-books:

“Portrait of the Artist” — 3D Book;  Xerox on Transparency Sheets, Light Boxes;

wnycradiolab:

Nathalie Miebach makes baskets. But instead of making standard-issue baskets and filling them with fruit, she uses basket weaving as a way to interpret data.  Meteorological data, astronomical data, all kinds of stuff.

For example, that sculpture on top?

Twilight, Tides and Whales - Cape Cod ( February/March 2006)
Reed, wood, data, 30”x18”x20”, 2006

This piece looks at the relationship between moon and sun rise and set, data, tidal and twilight readings taken in Provincetown, MA, and whale sightings along the New England Coast during the time frame of February – March 2006. All of the data comes from the U.S. Naval Observatory, NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) and the Northeast Fishery Science Center.

Read more over at Discover Magazine’s Visual Science blog.