3D Printer Lays Down Functioning Circuitry Alongside Thermoplastic

Lucas123 writes: "The Rabbit Proto is a new 3D printer attachment that can be added to a RepRap printer to create circuitry right alongside an existing thermoplastic extruder. While still in prototype, the printer head is expected to ship this summer. The creators of the Rabbit Proto, a group of Standford graduate students, have already printed working prototypes, such as a game controller. So far, the syringe-like printer head has used silver-filled silicon to create circuitry, but the engineers are now working with conductive inks made with graphite. The Rabbit Proto head unit can be pre-ordered for $350, or you can purchase a fully-assembled RepRap 3D printer with the Rabbit Proto head for $2,499."

Comments

Silicone. Silicone. Silicone.

[mpoulton]

"the syringe-like printer head has used silver-filled silicon to create circuitry"

No, it didn't. That's SILICONE not silicon. I mean, come on. This is a technical article on a technical website. Can't we at least get basic chemistry right? Do you fill your car's gas tank with carbon? If there's one damn place on the internet where people can be expected to know enough about science to see the difference between a hard, shiny metallic element and a class of clear rubbery compounds that happen to contain that element, it should be here.

Needs to come down in price by about one oom

[mark-t]

Needs to be about one tenth of the price before it will make much sense for anyone but people with money to burn to get one

Circuity?

[Charliemopps]

It calls this functional circuitry. They laid down 1/4" wide conductive paths. Basically is just 5 wire pathways. How do you connect components like resistors? You can't solder them. This is basically worthless.

Re:Circuity?

[rubycodez]

I'm thinking of a much much cheaper alternative to this printing machine for connecting components. It would have flexible copper center covered with rubber or plastic insulator, I'm thinking a lot of the stuff could be wound around a cylindrical holder. Maybe we could call these things electron-pipes or electro-threads and sell it by the unit length.

Actual examples

[jklovanc]

How about closeups of circuits made with this device? The demo vidio does not show the actual conductors. Sure, it may be able to throw down a few crude conductors but that is far from "complex circuits". To me this is yet another marketing post to get pre-orders on something that really does not work yet.

Re:Actual examples

[NoKaOi]

How about closeups of circuits made with this device? The demo vidio does not show the actual conductors. Sure, it may be able to throw down a few crude conductors but that is far from "complex circuits". To me this is yet another marketing post to get pre-orders on something that really does not work yet.

There's also nothing there to show that they did anything innovative. Dual extrusion is nothing new, and conductive filament is already available (though I don't know how high resistance it is). So what if one of the extruders happens to be extruding a conductive material? Is there something really innovative about the material? About how it's extruded? If there is, I can't find anything to suggest what it is.

Also, how am I supposed to solder components onto it? Considering a soldering iron runs around 400C and ABS is extruded around 230C, won't it destroy my part if I try to solder on it? Or is the only use case for this thing for printing a game controller? Even in their video, the components are on a separate breadboard, not on the controller.

If they did do something innovative, even if it's just a small incremental step, good for them! But unless/until they can show what that is or a useful use case for it, I don't imagine them selling very many units. And most of all, don't lie and say it's printing circuitry or electronics if it's really just extruding conductive wires.

Re:Notes on extrusions!

[dmbasso]

Normally, feces are made up of 75 percent water and 25 percent solid matter. About 30 percent of the solid matter consists of dead bacteria; about 30 percent consists of indigestible food matter such as cellulose; 10 to 20 percent is cholesterol and other fats; 10 to 20 percent is inorganic substances such as calcium phosphate and iron phosphate; and 2 to 3 percent is protein.

Source.

So you're wrong. But thank you for your trolling, it made me learn something new today.

interesting, but not impressive

[wierd_w]

Being able to print with essentially two different polymer heads is interesting, but not really all that impressive.

I would be substantially more impressed with a combination of a polymer extruder head, a copper wire feed apparatus that can slowly meter out and cut thin copper wire (non-lacquered), a non-heated extruder filled with silver solder paste, a strong IR lightsource that can flow the solder paste, and a pick and place arm.

To get clean copper traces embedded in the ABS plastic substrate, you just print channels and "wrap" bosses, anchor the wire at one end, spool it out while taught and sinch it up against the printed plastic bosses, then anchor at the other end, then cut.

One could print multiple layers of ABS substrate, embed multiple layers of wire traces, (MADE OF SOLID WIRE, not high resistance silicone) then paint, pick and place components, and IR beam between layers.

I really don't see why such a thing would be at all impossible to make. the 3d printer people need to up their game.