This edition of our 3D printing news digest Sliced features Sharebot, Norsk Titanium, SEGA, Hawk 3D Proto, 3D Platform, Caribbean Maritime University, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority, Google, Saarland University, Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation, Aibot, Proto Labs, Geekcon, and Dartmouth College.
3D printing going global
3D Platform, manufacturers of the WorkSeries large-format, industrial 3D printers, has announced the shipment of its 500th machine.
Norsk Titanium, manufacturers of the Rapid Plasma Deposition additive manufacturing system, will not expand their location at State University of New York (SUNY) Polytech, Plattsburgh to the extent previously announced. A decision was taken to only occupy 100,000 square feet of the site, rather than the initial 166,000 planned.
Italian 3D printer manufacturer Sharebot is to participate in an exhibition outside of Europe for the first time. The company will be exhibiting at the AM Show Americas in the Pasadena Convention Center in California.
Hawk 3D Proto, a Yorkshire based 3D printing company (and former 3D Printing Industry Award nominee), has announced that it is an official reseller of Lulzbot 3D printers, including the Lulzbot Mini and Lulzbot Taz 6. Hawk 3D Proto will also distribute the Magigoo build plate adhesive.
Re-routing innovation
Three engineers from Germany’s Saarland University have developed the Geisterfahrer (wrong lane drivers) machine to help prevent road-related fatalities. Prototyped using a 3D printer, the machine features an infrared motion detector, a microphone, and ultrasonic directional sensors.
The Caribbean Maritime University (CMU), located in Kingston, Jamaica, has opened the Dr Andrew Wheatley Centre for Digital Innovation and Advanced Manufacturing. The centre provides training in 3D printing and, according to CMU president Prof. Fritz Pinnock, will be a research hub for both “students and industry practitioners”.
Students from Dartmouth College in New Hampshire have invented a device to redirect and control WiFi signals emitted from a wireless router. Using the students’ “WiPrint” software, users can make a customised 3D printed shape that will boost signal when coated in a reflective material.
The Singapore Centre for 3D Printing (SC3DP) has launched its 6th annual Singapore International 3D Printing Competitions. The two transport-themed challenges are open to a range of entrants across the globe, and the deadline for submissions is 30 March 2018. Details of how to apply are given in the flyer below.
From Singapore to outer Space
Singapore’s Land Transport Authority (LTA) is set to use 3D printing to improve the nation’s transport. According to the LTA’s white paper, 3D printing proof-of-concept trials will begin next year for “suitable components” such as passenger handles.
Portal clocks, Pharaohs’ tombs, and Warhammer
As part of the Geekcon hackathon, designers Uri Shaked and Ariella Eliassaf created a 3D version of Google’s Chrome T-Rex Game. The 8-bit entertainment piece was made using a combination of laser cutting, machining and 3D printing. Game files are available on Thingiverse and its code is available on GitHub.
The tomb of Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Seti I has been recreated in 3D using Canon cameras, and 3D scanners from FARO and Lucida. The team at Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation, led by artist Adam Lowe, replicated the tomb section by section using an Océ 3D printer for full-colour, textured objects.
MyMiniFactory user Aibot has created a radio from the Portal game series, with a 3D printed shell weighing less than a kilogram and measuring 300 x 135 x 190mm. Files for the Portal radio are available on MyMiniFactory.
Ahead of the release of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III, game developer SEGA has recreated a promotional version of the Power Fist (armoured gauntlet). Product designers LUMA-iD designed the 3D CAD files for the power fist, before Proto Labs manufactured the aluminium of the fist using CNC milling.
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Featured image shows designers scanning the inside of the Tomb of Seti I. Photo via Factum Foundation for Digital Technology in Conservation.
