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Speedy 3D Printer Uses Light Projected Into Resin To Create Solid Objects All In One Go, Rather Than In Layers (technologyreview.com)

A research team from the University of California, Berkeley, and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has created a printer -- nicknamed the "replicator" -- that shines light onto specific spots in a rotating resin that solidifies when exposed to a certain light level. What this does is forms the entire item all in one go, rather that forming items by laying down one layer of material at a time, like most 3D printers. MIT Technology Review reports: "We've carried out a range of prints taking from 30 seconds to a few minutes," says senior author Hayden Taylor. He reckons that printing the same objects in the traditional way could take more than an hour. While the machine competes on speed, it still cannot match the details and size that other printers can achieve. The biggest item it can print right now is just four inches (10 centimeters) in diameter. Other printers can make things measured in meters. The sophistication of the machine lies in the software that creates intricate light patterns to accurate solidify the material.

The printer itself is fairly straightforward. It uses an off-the-shelf video projector plugged into a laptop that projects images of what you want to create, while a motor turns the cylinder of resin. Taylor thinks that because it's so relatively uncomplicated, both commercial and at-home versions of the printer are feasible. "The barrier to creating a very simple version of this tool is not that high," he says.

47 comments

  1. Fluid motion = by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Shitty 'prints'

    1. Re:Fluid motion = by gabebear · · Score: 4, Informative
      I was wondering why they didn’t rotate the projector instead of the medium, but the article goes over this.

      We used highly viscous (up to ~90,000 cP) or solid (thermally gelled) precursor materials to minimize relative motion between the printed object and the precursor. High-viscosity precursors also limited molecular diffusion-induced blurring.

    2. Re: Fluid motion = by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If you rotate the projector around the object (instead of the article's rotating the object) maybe the the quality can be improved?

    3. Re:Fluid motion = by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was wondering why they didn’t rotate the projector instead of the medium, but the article goes over this.

      How many Polacks does it take to change a lightbulb? Four. One to hold the bulb, and three to turn the ladder.

  2. Sure by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    If you like transparent stuff.

    1. Re: Sure by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wah wah waaaaahhhhhh

    2. Re:Sure by gabebear · · Score: 1
      It can be opaque(to human eyes at least).

      CAL requires penetration of the curing wavelength through the printing volume, but dye can be added to block other wavelengths and tune component opacity

    3. Re:Sure by Misagon · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Many UV-cured resins for 3D-printing are too fragile to be used as-is anyway
      This could be useful for prototyping, though, or for creating masters for casting more durable materials.

      --
      "We mustn't be caught by surprise by our own advancing technology" -- Aldous Huxley
    4. Re:Sure by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      I am a researcher who uses stereolithography (SLA) additive manufacturing techniques for producing experimental equipment, and must challenge your statement - these photocurable resins are mostly based on acrylic monomers and produce objects that have a high yield strength - more than enough for a myriad of applications. Of course, it does not equal the strength of most metal alloys, but it is comparable to most plastic materials in everyday use.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  3. Top 10 things humans still can't solve! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Hey, let me introduce you to this cool thing we've been using for thousands of years, hundreds of thousand of years.
    It's called Paint.

  4. Magic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Amazing invention! It's like right out of a movie where something forms before your eyes, no mechanical parts whizzing by. I want one. :)

    1. Re:Magic by war4peace · · Score: 2

      They don't use magic to rotate the cylinder of resin, but a motor. That qualifies as "mechanical part".

      --
      ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
    2. Re: Magic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would like to see how long that could go on. Seems like it would overheat very quickly

    3. Re: Magic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The motor isn't "whizzing by", it's just rotating, not even obstructing the field of view. Contrast with traditional 3d printer armatures.

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

      It would break down quickly is what I would think even at a very slow speed

    5. Re:Magic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Amazing invention! It's like right out of a movie where something forms before your eyes, no mechanical parts whizzing by. I want one. :)

      This isn't new. You can buy one. These guys are expensive though. https://www.carbon3d.com/

    6. Re: Magic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Stress testing is key. What the hell do they think is going to happen exactly. It is simple mechanical engineering

    7. Re:Magic by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I feel bad for you, 4 replies and all equally retarded as each other.
      It reminds me of Physorg comments / forums.

      I love how these idiots think the resin is being rotated at very high speeds. Yeah that would work out great, for sure. You turn a simple statue in to a Cthulhu looking monstrosity in 2 minutes from the drag! AWE!
      Equally funny was the one mentioning it overheating. WHAT? What kind of magic motor do you people think this is? Motors in HDDs go at silly-fast speeds and don't cause all kinds of issues or overheat despite the tiny size of them. What makes you think these big bulky things are going to overheat at the stupidly slow speeds they move at?
      You could run in circles faster than this thing moves.
      You can even see it in the video.

  5. 3D printing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Is it 2009 or 2019? Enough already.

    1. Re:3D printing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How's that horse and buggy working out for you there? 3D printing is the future!

    2. Re: 3D printing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great. Thanks for asking
      - super Barbie

    3. Re: 3D printing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I 3d-printed a buggy, a whip and a horse, and then I 3d-printed the horse shit because for some reasons the 3d-printed horse does not shit and a horse is not a horse if it does not shit.

    4. Re: 3D printing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just threw another shrimp on you.

    5. Re: 3D printing? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Am I a guest, or a host? I'm so confused...

    6. Re:3D printing? by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

      When microcomputers came out in the late 1970's, they were hyped a lot more than 3D printers were in 2009. And look where we are almost five decades later.

  6. For criminey's sake ... ! by thomst · · Score: 1

    The deathless prose quoted in TFS was burped up by one Erin Winick, who, believe it or not, bills herself as an Associate Editor for MIT's Technology Review newsletter. This despite her seeming inability to comprehend basic English grammar or unwillingness to proofread the writing that appears over her byline. Or both.

    We truly live in an age of wonder - as in "I wonder who hired this illiterate dimwit ... ?

    --
    Check out my novel.
  7. Old Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I designed this idea over a decade ago. I just have been just focusing on survival, and can't develop anything.

    1. Re: Old Idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yup. As soon as had read the outline, I searched for projector.

  8. Credit where credit is due by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The inventors thought of this after getting a resin tooth filling at the local dentist

  9. Replicator? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    It's not a replicator. It only uses one crappy material, and it can't print me a tea, earl grey, hot. Whoever decided on that name is a schmuck.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    1. Re:Replicator? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you worry friend, we got you!
      With our new patent-pending resin-infused tea system, we can print you a nice hot earl grey in no time! And we throw in an bonus starship with full crew compliment.
      Our introductory offer is at the low low price of 11 yottadollars.
      Headbutt a table 17 times to find out more.

  10. Isn't this old? by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    Is this a repeat from like 20 years ago or something? I'm sure I've seen a machine that does precisely what's described in TFA, but a long, long time ago.

    1. Re: Isn't this old? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're right, I saw one of these on a field trip 14 years ago.

    2. Re:Isn't this old? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are toys that worked on this principle. I think it was withdrawn because it was toxic and/or kids were eating the stuff.

  11. There is no gun control any more by blindseer · · Score: 1

    So, we have a technology that an 3D print most any shape that people can build at home? There goes any plan of controlling the production of weapons. You can call for bans, registrations, confiscations, but they will do no good if people can print any kind of durable item that is smaller than a breadbox.

    Maybe, possibly, at some point, these gun grabbers will realize that there can no longer be any effective gun control. At least we can't have it without dumping the rest of the Bill of Rights down the toilet.

    I'm just giggling to myself over recent attempts by Democrat petty tyrants trying to ban "assault weapons". They think they can just ban these things and therefore they go away? That's not how the world works. For people to respect the law requires that the law be deserving of respect. People won't respect a law that requires them to be disarmed while the criminals engage in black market trade of the weapons these petty tyrants fear.

    Here's what the petty tyrants need to fear, a public that no longer respects the rule of law. If you want to control crime then control the criminals. That means having police, prisons, courts, and (most importantly IMHO) a public that sees the government as being effective in punishing crimes.

    What has happened is the government cracks down on otherwise innocent people for violating some obscure weapons law and they find themselves in the difficult situation of locking up parents and homeowners for defending themselves against rapists and thieves. Well, punish the raping and thieving instead of possessing the tools of self defense.

    I realize I may have stepped over the line into NPC territory with my comment but this is where 3D printing will bring us, the means to produce most anything we desire in the privacy of our homes. That includes those "assault weapons" the petty tyrants of the world wish to bar from private ownership. Well, if we aren't already at a time where all gun control laws are impossible to enforce then we will be there very soon.

    I would not be so upset of the "assault weapon" bans if the term did not simply translate into "what we want to ban today". Define "assault weapon" first, stop moving the goal posts on what it means, and then we might be able to have a meaningful discussion. Until then I will keep laughing on how technology is yet again speeding along while legislation moves at glacial rates.

    --
    I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    1. Re:There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And we wonder why so many of our kids wind up dead in schools. You know more firearm related deaths happen in the US than any other country in the world, right? More kids die due to school shootings each year than US servicepeople have died in every single US war to day, including the Civil War.

      People bash Venezuela, but they did one thing right: As per previous posts on Slashdot, after they did a wholesale ban on civilian ownership of guns, violent crime went down by a factor of 1000. You don't hear about gun crime in Japan, Australia, or Taiwan either.

      Eventually assault weapons will be banned in the US, sooner or later, and the US can join Europe and the rest of the world in being a civilized country.

    2. Re:There is no gun control any more by blindseer · · Score: 1

      Eventually assault weapons will be banned in the US, sooner or later, and the US can join Europe and the rest of the world in being a civilized country.

      Like I said, we can pass laws that ban them but that will not make them disappear.

      Let's assume what you say is true, that the cause of these deaths is the lax gun control laws. How does banning them prevent criminals from fashioning them at home in a time when a 3D printer can create them at home? When they are sold at Staples, Best Buy, or wherever, over the counter and for cash and carry? Cost no more than some people pay for a TV set? And the plans for making weapons are available for download all over the internet?

      These bans will not stop the murders.

      What will stop the murders? Armed men.

      We will not think twice about putting armed guards around our money. We put money in armored trucks and have armed men guarding them. What we won't tolerate is armed men to guard our children. You want to scream at me? "Won't someone think of the children?!?!?" I am thinking of the children. We should guard our children more than we guard our money. Money is just pieces of cloth with ink on them to state their value. The next generation is priceless.

      You can claim the USA is "uncivilized" for having so many weapons. That's fine. The day will come where gun control will become meaningless and the thugs will be far better armed than you in your "civilized" country. I want a fighting chance when that comes. You can toss bricks and insults if you like but that will not be nearly as effective as shooting back.

      --
      I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
    3. Re: There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe we could just have a nice society where people can live decent lives. Happy people tend to shoot up schools, churches, and night clubs less than disgruntled people. Why does our society suck so much ass? Working shit jobs for shit pay due to corporate greed has has ruined America, and the corporatists are always happy to jump in and tell you to be angry at other working class people who are different than you.

      I'm not pro gun or anti gun, but the Second Amendment is a joke: We were meant to be able to defend ourselves from tyranny, but we've invited it. The threat of oppression transformed from the military occupation the framers feared to the more insidious war of minds that Huxley and Orwell forewarned of. Take them, keep them. America sucks.

    4. Re:There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, that 3D printed gun model may be useless. Heroes like DAGOMA are systematically replacing 3D printed gun diagrams on the web with guns that don't work. Already, DAGOMA has removed all the gun plans from the Internet that were produced from the mainiac from Austin.

      You talk about 3D printed guns, but realistically, that isn't an issue. How do you know that pistol will actually function?

    5. Re:There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You're wasting your time. The "I think guns give me freedom" crowd loves pretending 3D printers create some radical possibility that didn't exist before that means governments will suddenly be unable to ban guns. But in reality they make no difference: you can improvise single shot pistols with common household items and your major problem is going to be the explosive, not the container. The guns 3D printers print are considerably worse than the guns that the US banned (yeah, banned) in the 1960s that were home made.

      At the end of the day, the vast majority of free democracies have gun bans of one form or another, and every single one except the US has real background checks rather than a blacklist for citizens trying to buy a gun of unusual killing power. Meanwhile racism means the 2nd amendment only applies to whites in the US, black people with guns get shot. and the 2nd amendment is an oppressive instrument no matter how noble its origins might have been. Between that and the regular school shootings, the "Guns = freedom" crowd needs to stop lying to itself. America is less free thanks to the 2nd Amendment.

    6. Re:There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Meanwhile racism means the 2nd amendment only applies to whites in the US, black people with guns get shot.

      I'm pretty sure that the people shooting the black people in the USA are other black people. Are black people "racist" against other black people?

      Go piss up a rope.

    7. Re:There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That "maniac from Austin" has been distributing his plans to machine firearms on USB drives for a very long time. You are a fool if you believe that anyone can keep this under wraps forever. People will figure out which plans work and which ones do not. Those that don't work will be found and trashed. Those that do will be flagged as good and kept safely offline.

      You talk about 3D printed guns, but realistically, that isn't an issue. How do you know that pistol will actually function?

      By testing it.

    8. Re:There is no gun control any more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You know more firearm related deaths happen in the US than any other country in the world, right?

      Not even close. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate

      That was deaths by firearm, which included suicides. If you think taking guns from people reduces suicide then you need to look at some more statistics. What would also help to enlighten you is a list of nations by intentional homicide rate. Just so happens that Wikipedia has a page on that too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate

      People bash Venezuela, but they did one thing right: As per previous posts on Slashdot, after they did a wholesale ban on civilian ownership of guns, violent crime went down by a factor of 1000.

      So the firearm death rate in Venezuela was 5000 times that of the USA and is now only 5 times that of the USA? How are they gong to become safer than the USA now? Ban guns again?

      Looking at the numbers from Wikipedia I noticed that the firearm death rate and the intentional homicide rate for Venezuela is nearly identical. This would imply that many murders are from firearms. In the USA the intentional homicide rate is half that of the firearm death rate, which implies half of the firearm deaths are suicides.

      America doesn't have a murder problem, it has a suicide problem. If you think that disarming people will reduce suicide rates then I'll just suggest you look for the very creative ways that people found to kill themselves in nations where private firearm ownership has been banned.

      Eventually assault weapons will be banned in the US, sooner or later, and the US can join Europe and the rest of the world in being a civilized country.

      What is an "assault weapon"? First define your terms, only then can we have a constructive discussion.

        "Assault weapon" is a meaningless term and has been used only to describe what politicians want to ban that particular day.

    9. Re:There is no gun control any more by Agent0013 · · Score: 1

      You also don't hear about eggplant crime in those countries. That does not mean they don't have any crime though. Don't get tricked by fake statistics, and gun stats are one that are vastly faked left and right.

      --

      -- ssoorrrryy,, dduupplleexx sswwiittcchh oonn.. -Quote found on actual fortune cookie.
  12. It's still layers! by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

    Yes it's all printed "in one go" but it's still printed in layers, just like a movie is a series of still images.

    What a bunch of dumbasses.

  13. Not a dupe! by Red_Forman · · Score: 1

    Wow, I thought we were about to talk about the other 3D printer from about a week ago, the one that separates the layers with a different light frequency instead of an oxygen barrier.

    I'm impressed with this new one.

  14. Using a resin 3D printer by bristol888 · · Score: 1

    We use a 3D resin printer to make prototypes that we mold off of. We have found that the resin 3D printers are a little smoother, and we don't have to spen as much time to give the item a smooth finish. Here is an example of some items we molded from 3D prints https://lightedpinballmods.com...

    --
    Dan https://lightedpinballmods.com/