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3D Printing In Gel Enables Freeform Design and an Undo Function

Posted by Soulskill on from the just-go-down-and-get-a-tub-of-gel-from-walmart dept.

Zothecula writes "The additive layer process of conventional 3D printers means they are usually limited to bottom up fabrication on three axes. Now, the LA-based NSTRMNT team has created a 3D printing process called suspended disposition that gets around gravity by printing objects within a gel. Not only does this allow freeform additive fabrication on six axes, it also enables an 'undo' function."

33 comments

  1. resin+gel as support material by gl4ss · · Score: 3, Informative

    you can do support materials with some other techniques as well. easily dissoluable(sp?) support material for fdm style machines would be really useful, that printed well(the materials that print well now tend to need nasty chemicals). I'm not sure why the robot in this case has to be a six axis one, seemingly the technique would be just fine with a 3 axis printer?

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    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    1. Re:resin+gel as support material by camperdave · · Score: 3, Informative

      They are not extruding layer by layer, but they are moving an injector needle on a path through a block of gel. It allows the injector to follow a 3D path without having to wait for the model to be built up slice by slice.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    2. Re:resin+gel as support material by johanwanderer · · Score: 2

      This allows you to print "unbalanced" objects, e.g. those that would tip over when you print layer-by-layer.

    3. Re:resin+gel as support material by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      This allows you to print "unbalanced" objects, e.g. those that would tip over when you print layer-by-layer.

      any support material approach allows that. on fdm it's crucial that the part is attached to the platform by considerable force anyways, tipping isn't the problem.

      --
      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    4. Re:resin+gel as support material by gl4ss · · Score: 1

      yes, but why the 6 axis? they could build it bottom up within the gel with 3, so why 6 which makes this considerably(so much more that mentioning arduino as control electronics doesn't matter at all, since it's such insignificant expense) more expensive?

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      world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
    5. Re:resin+gel as support material by camperdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well, three to position the extruder within the gel, and three to orient it. The extruder is like a needle, and if you move it sideways, the gel will try to slosh around it to fill in the gap, so you want to be moving the extruder lengthwise as much as possible to minimize the effect.

      However, I'm guessing that the real reason is that they happened to have a 6 axis manipulator lying around and using it would have been cheaper than building a specialized unit.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    6. Re:resin+gel as support material by Plazmid · · Score: 1

      As this is a line scanning process, it will probably take just as scanning a laser to build up an object layer by layer.

      Though the laser would probably be faster, even with resin recoat time, typical laser scan for stereolithography are around 4-25 meters per second.

      I doubt there is any robot that can go that fast and maintain 0.1 mm accuracy.

    7. Re:resin+gel as support material by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Plus, you could actually inject around other objects without just crashing into them.

  2. seems familiar... by Thud457 · · Score: 2

    This goo, is it grey?
    Does it self-recycle?
    Is it vulnerable to cold?

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    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    1. Re:seems familiar... by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      This goo, is it grey?

      Does it self-recycle?

      Is it vulnerable to cold?

      That's a must-see episode.

  3. This would be epic by cod3r_ · · Score: 1

    Adding support material generally jacks up my prints. Would be very cool to get around that as I have tons of ideas that I have no choice but to build in parts and glue together because the support material just doesn't do the job well.

  4. Organs by RichMan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    As one comment on the original article says. This is the way to do organs. The original gel can be agar like or other cellular support matrix then you can print in a circulatory system with external interface then add in the actual organ cells. Let it mature a bit and finish up by washing off the original gel.

    1. Re:Organs by Russ1642 · · Score: 3, Funny

      This method can also make entire clones. And remember, clones are always hot and wear thermal bandages.

    2. Re:Organs by mdielmann · · Score: 1

      This method can also make entire clones. And remember, clones are always hot and wear thermal bandages.

      Well, that's just reasonable. Why would you add additional, unwanted material to the model? It's expensive and takes longer!

      --
      Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
  5. like Michaelangelo said, by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2

    If you want to make a great sculpture, all you have to do is find a rock and carve away everything that isn't part of the sculpture.

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    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:like Michaelangelo said, by Culture20 · · Score: 4, Funny

      That doesn't sound like a ninja turtle at all.

    2. Re:like Michaelangelo said, by Scoldog · · Score: 1

      He also said "forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza!"

      --
      This space for rent
  6. Well, the arm is pretty but the results are not. by umafuckit · · Score: 2

    The video of the arm moving is very pretty, but the 3-D printed results not so much: http://www.gizmag.com/suspended-deposition-3d-printing/28508/pictures#4 Very much not ready for prime time.

    --
    soylentnews.org
  7. Gravity is not the problem by Plazmid · · Score: 0

    Gravity is not the reason why supports are used in stereolithography type 3d printing, shrinkage is.

    When a photopolymer solidifies it shrinks, and I'd imagine that this process would have many of the same shrinkage issues.

    1. Re:Gravity is not the problem by Culture20 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Gravity is not the reason why supports are used in stereolithography type 3d printing, shrinkage is.

      Gravity is sometimes the reason why supports are used in both STL and FDM. Shrinkage is the reason why George repeatedly shouted "I was in the pool!"

    2. Re:Gravity is not the problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      shrinkage issues

      I was in the pool... I was in the pool!!!

  8. Improvement by Stoutlimb · · Score: 1

    I think they could do better if they had a 2d mesh of individually controlled apetures that had switchable nozzles that could easily switch between extruding gel and resin. The printing speed would be ridiculously fast.

    1. Re:Improvement by Plazmid · · Score: 1

      Someone has actually done this, sans switchable nozzles or gel. They were able to make centimeter high objects of decent resolution in minutes.

    2. Re:Improvement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's cool, but that's still a layer-based approach, and the printing of any part relies on the hardening of previous layers.

    3. Re:Improvement by Ferrofluid · · Score: 1

      That's quite different. While it's a parallel process, nothing's being extruded. It's stereolithography, which means that a resin is being cured one layer at a time. Commercial systems like this exist (which use a projector to expose an entire layer at a time, rather than raster scanning a laser across it). A major limitation is that you can only make things out of photo-curable resin. If someone were to develop a parallel extrusion system as Stoutlimb suggested, you would be able to use a much larger variety of materials.

    4. Re:Improvement by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's cool. It's still a layer-based approach, though, and would still require support material (although it would happen from top to bottom as opposed to bottom to top). Another group of SCI-Arc students did basically the same thing in that USC article, but at a huge scale. http://vimeo.com/49888105

  9. embarrassing quality by csumpi · · Score: 1

    The print quality is absolutely embarrassing. Here's a link to some prints
    A high school project out of legos would outdo this pathetic effort.

    1. Re:embarrassing quality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Pretty sure that image caption says "tests." Plus, those guys are architecture students, not engineers.

    2. Re:embarrassing quality by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      It's not embarrassing at all. It's a proof-of-concept.

      Bah. Only 59 seconds aloft? Those Wright Brothers should be embarrassed.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  10. undo ... by YoungManKlaus · · Score: 1

    also known in the normal world as "knife"

    1. Re:undo ... by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

      That's a spoon.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:undo ... by YoungManKlaus · · Score: 1

      "Ah, I see you've played Knifey-Spoony before!"