Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

MIT Students Reveal PopFab, a 3D Printer That Fits Inside a Briefcase

Posted by Soulskill on from the it-slices-it-dices-it-makes-julienne-fries dept.

cylonlover writes "There are plenty of different 3D printers to choose from these days, from the popular Makerbot Thing-O-Matic to the budget-priced Solidoodle. These all have one drawback, however, in that they aren't exactly portable. Most need to be disassembled to be moved, and even the fully-assembled Cubify printer isn't really built for travel. But now, two MIT students have developed the PopFab, a machine that does 3D printing and more, all while fitting inside a small suitcase. With different heads, the machine could also be used for milling, vinyl cutting, drawing, and much more, to create a wide variety of objects. The creators have also tested its portability by traveling with it as a carry-on suitcase to Saudi Arabia, Germany, and within the U.S."

16 of 49 comments (clear)

  1. I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by dgatwood · · Score: 4, Insightful

    After all, they could use it to make a box cutter and then hijack the plane.

    Yes, this is sarcasm, in case your detector is broken.

    --

    Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    1. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by Tr3vin · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, this is sarcasm, in case your detector is broken.

      You could always print a new one.

    2. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by jamesh · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wonder...can they detect glass blades? Especially if the blade is inserted in a matching counterpart so that the overall shape on an X-ray resembles an innocuous solid cuboid or something like that?

      If not exactly that, there are many other ways you could get a weapon on board that makes X-ray detectors only useful for catching people who accidentally left something dangerous in their carry-on luggage, like a bottle of water.

    3. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by Jaqenn · · Score: 2

      I don't think it matters any more. Pre-9/11 thinking was that if the plane gets hijacked, let them fly us to Egypt where we'll be hostage for a few days until the US caves to their demands or Rainbow Six (or whoever) shoots them.

      Post-9/11 thinking is that if the plane gets hijacked, the pilot is still not going to open his vault doors, and enough of the passengers are willing to risk a real or imagined knife to beat the stuffing out of you.

      Even though I don't think it matters any more, doesn't mean that the TSA has figured it out though.

      --
      You are awash in a sea of fiercely stated opinions. Obvious exits are: 'File->Quit', 'Reply', and 'Page Down'.
    4. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by jxander · · Score: 3

      The saddest part is, the American populace figured that out just over an hour. Seriously (timeline : 0846 local was the first hit. At 0957 local, passengers of Flight 93 began the revolt.)

      And here we are, over a decade later, and TSA still doesn't have a clue. At what point does ignorance become willful?

      --
      This signature is false.
    5. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by RabidReindeer · · Score: 2

      After all, they could use it to make a box cutter and then hijack the plane.

      Maybe not a box cutter -- it has a spring in it -- but you could make a knife; Plastic is incredibly hard, and skin is incredibly soft. It only takes a few pounds of pressure to cut skin. Hell, I can snap a credit card in two and that makes a crude, but effective, slashing weapon. The idea that only metal is dangerous is pretty stupid. But then, this is the TSA we're talking about.

      Actually, just purchase any random item packaged in a plastic anti-theft "laceration package" and use it. Those things shed more blood than a planeload of terrorists.

    6. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 4, Funny

      "At what point does ignorance become willful?"

      At precisely that point at which it becomes a bureaucracy.

    7. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by girlintraining · · Score: 2

      No. You'd be able to see the shear plane, at least, you would if you're a competent x-ray operator and look at it from more than one angle. (-_-) Okay, you're right, the TSA would probably miss it.

      --
      #fuckbeta #iamslashdot #dicemustdie
    8. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by user+flynn · · Score: 2

      Yes, this is sarcasm, in case your detector is broken.

      You could always print a new one.

      A sarcasm detector? Now that's a _really_ useful invention.
       

          No it isn't.

      --
      In the distance you hear an ominous moo.
    9. Re:I'm surprised the TSA didn't arrest them. by Electricity+Likes+Me · · Score: 2

      You'd only be able to tell if it was a knife if you have it a point. But glass is sharp - you could make a knife with a squared blade and no tip that would still easily cut someone's throat with the edge. You could scribe it so you could snap it into the right shape.

      There's any number of things an intelligent person can do, but to some degree the sad part about airport security is we only need to be able to catch the people who'd actually try something, and fortunately they're not very bright normally.

  2. I think Ben Heck beat them to it by jcoy42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Pretty sure Ben had it first:

    http://www.pcworld.com/article/259791/ben_heck_creates_portable_autonomous_3d_printer_makes_diy_community_jealous.html

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfdrkHn1wqA

    --
    Never trust an atom. They make up everything.
    1. Re:I think Ben Heck beat them to it by Bill_the_Engineer · · Score: 2

      This is standard MIT behavior. Whenever their student body does something, it must be the first time that was ever done. This is not only true for 3D printing, but also weather balloon flights, and other assorted student engineering tasks.

      I don't think it's the student's fault. I blame MIT public relations for always giving this impression to the press.

      --
      These comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer or colleagues...
  3. 3D Printers by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Look. I get it. 3D printing is cool as heck. But, let's be honest.

    All of the 3D printed products that I have seen so far are bumpy, flimsy plastic bits with little real world day-to-day usability. Even the very best ones would require machining to just make them look good, let alone strong enough for real use.

    I'd love for some Slashdotter to prove me wrong and to point me to an amazingly strong and useful 3D printed product. But, really; 3D printing is failing to live up to the hype, even if it does fit in a suit case.

    1. Re:3D Printers by tebee · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Excuse the blatant advertising, but I for one am actually making a living from making and selling 3-d printed things.

      What you may ask? Would you belive model train parts?

        http://www.shapeways.com/shops/tebee?sort=newest

      and selling them on the dreaded Ebay too http://stores.ebay.com/tbmod

      --
      N.B. this user is far too lazy to write a witty and intelligent sig.
    2. Re:3D Printers by LuxuryYacht · · Score: 4, Informative

      Maybe you haven't seen the SLA printer projects that use lasers or DLP such as LemonCurry for curing photopolymers? Feature sizes are often down to 1 micron per layer and only a few microns for X and Y.

      Photopolymers are available in a wide range of properties that are tough enough for use as end products and not just product concept look-a-likes. Photopolymers for inkjet have also come a long way and are also used to create rigid and durable end products with features down to 25-50 microns. What you might be used to seeing are the FDM or FFF (fused filament fabrication) RepRap type printers that print with molten plastics with much lower resolution in the order of 0.3mm.

      --
      Quidquid latine dictum sit altum viditur
  4. Visible Light Curable Resin by aaronb1138 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sorry, but we're about 6 months from near-UV / visible light curable resin destroying the FMD models. If you use an iPad Retina display as the light source, you only have mechanical jitter in the Z-axis (the boom / base you are raising) and a resolution of .078 mm (the best enthusiast FDM stuff is around .5 mm). You only need one stepper motor and mechanical assembly. You also reduce the amount of custom electronics to drive the head assembly and x & y axis stepper motors.

    Currently, Junior Veloso is using DLP projectors to get the light intensity needed (and .05 mm resolution), but an LCD panel with closer to UV LEDs under it would be an even cheaper route. With filters removed on an LCD you have (arbitrarily assigned axes) X-axis at the dot pitch, Y-axis at 1/3 dot pitch, and Z-axis at your stepper motor / mechanical limit.

    Lithographic techniques with light curable resins are vastly more scalable as well. Within the work area, there is no increase in time except for the Z-axis height. This means making dozens of duplicates in one pass for small objects or one large piece in the same time span. Further, the software process to turn the 3D model into 2D slices is exceptionally trivial compared with CAM type instructions to move 3 axes and run a pump head. Technically you could farm the object render with a LCD panel, laptop LCD, or tablet out to an auto-refresh webpage with black and white image slices with the stepper motor running on a timer synced with the page refresh...