California-based Mighty Buildings has developed a proprietary 3D-printing technology and material that will let it create the curved shell of a 350-square-foot home in roughly 24 hours. The material is a proprietary synthetic substance called Light Stone Material that hardens when it’s exposed to UV light.

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The first 3D-printed residential building in Germany is undergoing construction in Beckum, North Rhine-Westphalia. The two-story printed detached house with approx. 80 sq.m. of living space per floor is using a recently-approved construction technique put into practice in Germany for the first time.

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Adidas’s Futurecraft line has included several 3D-printed midsoles over the past several years. The latest pair of sneakers includes soft uppers made using an autonomous weaving robot.

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The project, ‘Rapid Analysis and Manufacturing Propulsion Technology’ is seeking to engineer an additive manufacturing technique for producing 3D-printed rocket engine parts using metal powder and lasers. The novel method, called blown powder directed energy deposition, comes with many advantages including reduced costs and lead times.

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In Belgium, Europe’s largest 3D printer (32’ x32’) was recently used to print the shell of an entire two-storey house. The roof and windows were then added.

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Biorobotics Laboratory researchers at the Ecole Polytechnique Federal de Lausanne in Switzerland have created a group of modular shape-changing robots called Roombots that are 3D reconfigurable to change shapes and become adaptive furniture.

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A Cranfield Forensic Institute study using mock jurors has found that using 3D-printed models when presenting evidence in court cases improved the jury’s understanding of technical language by 12%. 3D forensic documentation captures an entire crime scene before the site is compromised.

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EPFL researchers from Lausanne, Switzerland, are bombarding a vat of resin, or other photosensitive materials such as biological gels, with multiple lasers coming from several directions at the same time. By carefully controlling the direction of the beams and their intensity, a 3D model materializes in about 30 seconds.

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In October, the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures & Composites Center revealed a 25-foot, 5,000-pound boat that set new records for the world’s largest solid 3D-printed object. It was printed in 3 days by the largest prototype polymer 3D printer belt.

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Researchers from ETH Zurich have used a new technique, based on stereolithography, to produce complex glass objects with 3D-printing.

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3D-printing is about to transform manufacturing, decimating waste, shrinking time to market, and harnessing never-before-used materials. Making jet engines, apartment complexes, circuit boards and prosthetic limbs – and in use in the International Space Station.

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The problem with 3D-printing is that, although it provides a string of advantages to the legitimate manufacturers, it also provides the same kind of benefit to the counterfeiters, making it extremely difficult to separate counterfeit designs from legitimate ones.

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Houses are built in 2 days with the Crane WASP 3D-printer, which constructs the eco-abodes on-site using 25% soil from the ground, and 40% straw and chopped rice, 25% rice husk, and 10% hydraulic lime. An example is a house made with raw earth measuring 21.6’ in diameter, and standing 9.8’ tall.

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The food 3D-printing industry is expected to grow at 50% annually. Today’s breakthroughs will soon allow us to boost food production by nearly 70%, using a fraction of the real estate and resources. 3D-printed meals will be customized to individual medical records. Vertical farming that relies on hydroponics and aeroponics, will allow crops to be grown with 90% less water than traditional agriculture.

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Designing an effective surgical instrument requires multiple prototypes in stainless steel, each costing $5-10,000, and taking weeks to produce. With 3D printing, prototypes cost about $100 each, and are completed within days.

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The world’s largest furniture manufacturer, Ashley Furniture, is using robotics and 3D-printing to expand production in a shrinking labor market, achieving 10% more business with almost 15% less labor.

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1. 3D-printing speeds will increase by 50-100 times.
2. 3D-printed homes will offer cheaper, environmentally-friendly alternatives to traditional housing.
3. 3D-printed meat, using plant-based proteins, will provide a sustainable solution to feeding the world’s growing population.
4. Metal 3D printers will overtake plastics.
5. Smart 3D printers with natural language processing, AI-powered generative design, and customization abilities will allow for seamless design engineering.

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Scientists at Tel Aviv University have 3D-printed a small heart using human tissue that includes vessels, collagen, and biological molecules — a breakthrough that they hope could one day render organ donation obsolete.

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The “Vulcan II,” a massive, 33×11 ft machine can 3D-print the concrete frame of a small house in less than a day. Adding a conventional roof, windows, and utilities can be completed a day later. It will be printing a neighborhood of >50 homes in 2019.

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Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using Big Area Additive Manufacturing (‘BAAM’) technology to manufacture molds suitable for precast concrete manufacturing. The molds use carbon fiber reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), a common thermoplastic compounded with chopped carbon fibers. Each mold takes up to 19 hours to make. A Brooklyn tower is the first building to use the molds.

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Researchers at Purdue U. and USC have developed automated machine learning technology to help improve additive manufacturing by ensuring that parts fit more precisely, and assembly needs less testing and time.

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University of Michigan researchers created a new approach to 3D-printing that lifts complex shapes from a vat of liquid at <100 times faster than current processes, using 2 lights to control where the resin hardens—and where it stays fluid. This enables the resin to be solidified in more sophisticated patterns.

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Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and UC, Berkeley have developed a new high-speed 3D-printing method (Computed Axial Lithography) which uses projected photons to illuminate the syrup-like resin, creating a continuously shifting video of projections as the vial rotates. Most builds take several minutes to complete, many times faster than existing polymer 3D-printing techniques.

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The world’s first 3D-concrete-printed homes, fully outfitted with multiple rooms, will be built in 2019 in Eindhoven, Holland. The homes will first come in single-story units, with multi-level homes to be built shortly thereafter. A special concrete composition, which does not need steel reinforcements, was developed for the printers.

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The 6 3D-printing projects are: A steel pedestrian bridge (for Amsterdam); Concrete homes; BMW’s millionth component since 2010 (a window guide rail for the BMW i8 Roadster); The Refabricator (turning old plastic items into filament for printers); Self-tracking plastic objects (transmitting usage information); and Weddings (including a bouquet).

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The European Space Agency is leading a project to come up with ways to make a Moon Base more feasible. Potentially, everything from building materials to solar panels, equipment and tools to clothes, and even nutrients and food ingredients, could be 3D-printed on the Moon.

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Clothes and shoe designers are sketching on high-resolution tablets, and emailing 3-D renderings straight to factories. The goal is to reduce the time it takes to get to store shelves from a year to six months or less.

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University of Utah biomedical engineers have developed a method to 3-D-print cells to produce human tissue such as ligaments and tendons, a process that will greatly improve a patient’s recovery.

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City University of Boulder engineers have developed a 3D-printing technique that allows for localized control of an object’s firmness, opening up new biomedical avenues that could one day include artificial arteries and organ tissue. The layer-by-layer printing method features fine-grain, programmable control over rigidity, allowing researchers to mimic the complex geometry of blood vessels that are highly structured and yet must remain pliable.

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A patent filed by Apple amd approved in October 2018 shows a new method to print 3D models using triangular tessellation. The method breaks smooth surfaces into little triangles that approximate the shape of the original model.

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MX3D is 3D-printing a fully-functional stainless steel bridge to cross a canal in Amsterdam.

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Swedish start-up Digital Metal is launching a fully-automated production system, using 3D-printing with robots performing pre and post production functions.

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Hybrid additive manufacturing machines integrate layer-by-layer building with traditional CNC (Computerized Numerical Control) processing and laser cladding for metal products.

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Orthopaedic surgeons are using scans of actual patient anatomy to 3D-print model bones on which to plan and practice procedures.

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Hewlett Packard launched its HP Metal Jet 3D printing technology, designed to deliver mechanically functional parts faster than current systems with the aim of revamping factory production for auto, industrial and healthcare companies. Initial metal focus will be stainless steel.

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The US Marine Corps Systems Command constructed a 500 sq ft prototype concrete barracks in 40 hours with one of the world’s largest 3D printer. (If soldiers receive a safe barracks in a shorter time, it could potentially save lives.) It normally takes 10 Marines five days to construct a similar hut out of wood.

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A Volkswagen car has 6,000-8,000 manufactured parts. Volkswagen became the first automotive manufacturer to use the HP Metal Jet 3D-printing technology suitable for mass production.

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Researchers from the University of Minnesota have used 3D-printing technologies to create light receptors on a hemispherical surface, a “significant step” towards the creation of synthetic eyes which could either restore sight for the blind or improve levels of sight for the visually impaired.

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Offered because of a shortage of skilled bricklayers, the Dutch city Eindhoven is building concrete, habitable homes made by a 3D printer. Designs can be customized to whatever shape a purchaser wants. Foundations are conventional. Five houses will be rented in 2019. A 3D-printed cycle bridge was built in 2017.

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3D-printing is now part of the entire product life cycle. Frito-Lay uses the lowest-cost printers to print prototype potato chip geometries; Bugatti and Chanel 3-D-print their final products. MIT’s lab has made substantial progress in improving printing speed.

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Advances in 3D printers, materials and other technology have enabled manufacturers to design and deliver custom-made, high-resolution 3D-printed implants on patient demand.

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MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab has perfected the use of super-stretchy, 100% silicone rubber, 4D-printing it into air chambers that can be programmed to inflate and deflate at certain times,

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The Silicon Valley start-up, Arevo, is 3D-printing samples of its first generation of bikes. A custom robot prints the company’s carbon fiber-embedded material using a multi-dimensional, environmentally-friendly process that makes them strong. The bikes will be in mass production in 2019.

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Offered because of a shortage of skilled bricklayers, the Dutch city Eindhoven is building concrete, habitable homes made by a 3D printer. Designs can be customized to whatever shape a purchaser wants. Foundations are conventional. Five houses will be rented in 2019. A 3D-printed cycle bridge was built in 2017.

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3D-printing is now part of the entire product life cycle. Frito-Lay uses the lowest-cost printers to print prototype potato chip geometries; Bugatti and Chanel 3-D-print their final products. MIT’s lab has made substantial progress in improving printing speed.

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MIT researchers have designed a fleet of autonomous boats that offer high maneuverability and precise control. The boats can also be rapidly 3-D printed using a low-cost printer. The boats — rectangular 4-by-2-meter hulls equipped with sensors, microcontrollers, GPS modules, and other hardware — could be programmed to self-assemble into floating bridges or concert stages in a matter of hours.

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Over $13 billion was spent on 3D-printing from 2014-17, with $280 billion estimated in the next 10 years. The three industries kickstarting the revolution: Aviation/aerospace, Healthcare, and Energy.

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University of Minnesota researchers used a customized, low-cost 3D printer to print electronics on a real hand for the first time – Useful e.g. to print temporary sensors to detect chemical or biological agents or solar cells to charge essential electronics. They also printed biological cells on the skin wound of a mouse, leading to new medical treatments for wound healing and skin grafting.

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Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created a process that allows plastic printed with a cheap 3D-printer to fold itself into predetermined shapes with the application of heat. The material may one day be used to produce flat-pack products that can be assembled quickly with a heat gun.

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In 2017, scientists at Georgia Institute of Technology and the Singapore University of Technology and Design used a composite made from an acrylic and an epoxy along with a commercial printer and a heat source to create 4-D objects, such as a flower that can close its petals. They have now developed a powerful printer that could streamline the creation of self-assembling structures that can change shape after being exposed to heat and other stimuli, accelerating the use of 4-D printing in aerospace, medicine, and other industries. The printer can use different materials to create hard and soft components at the same time, incorporating conductive wiring directly into shape-changing structures.

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New Story, a Silicon Valley-based nonprofit, which builds housing in the developing world, has invented a truck-mounted, massive 3D-printer that will extrude a 4-room, 6-800 sq.ft., single-story house in less than a day, using local materials, for less than US$4,000.

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The US Olympic luge team is going for gold with the help of 3D printing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Athletes are using customized 3D-printed racing sleds from Stratasys, tailored to their individual bodies.

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Researchers at the University of Nottingham have developed a method for rapidly 3D-printing fully functional electronic circuits such as antennas, medical devices, and solar-energy-collecting structures.
These circuits can contain both electrically conductive metallic inks and insulating polymeric inks. A UV light is used to rapidly solidify the inks.

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An 84-year-old Chinese patient recently received a knee-revision surgery with the implantation of the first 3D-printed tantalum knee joint in the world. Personalized 3D printed tantalum joints create better compactness, helping assure the initial stability of the implantation, simplify the surgery procedure, reduce the surgery time and risk of complication.

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3D-printed food offers intricate designs, automated cooking, mass manufacturing, and personalised meals. A 3D food printer, able to print and cook your favourite meal with a single touch of a screen, will be available in the next few years. Natural Machines launched Foodini as a B2B product in 2014, the first 3D food printer to make both savoury and sweet foods with fresh ingredients. Netherlands-based ByFlow has specialised in 3D-printing since 2009. Its portable “Focus” 3D food printer is also a B2B product, optimised for desserts. BeeHex’s Chef 3D can print a 12-inch pizza in less than five minutes, which it plans to market to high volume pizza chains.

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A partnership between Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and medical device company Anatomics resulted in the first successful implantation of a 3D printed titanium and polymer sternal and rib cage in a New York patient. Anatomics’ ‘PoreStar’ technology, a unique porous polyethylene material provided “bone-like” architecture to facilitate tissue integration.

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Surgeons at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital have performed world-first surgery, transplanting a 3D printed shinbone into the leg of a man who faced amputation. The surgery ensures there is sufficient blood flow to allow the new bone to grow around the outside of the 3D bone scaffold. The scaffold was modeled at Queensland University of Technology, where it was “spun” from a polymer, and then ‘printed’ in Singapore. As the new bone grows around the scaffold, the scaffold will slowly dissolve.

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Using an advanced laser printing method, NASA agency has produced a bi-metallic rocket igniter that works. A unique hybrid 3D printer build the part out of copper alloy and Inconel (a nickel-chromium alloy) using automated blown powder laser deposition.

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Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science at the University of Wollongong have 3D-printed human-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), using a custom bio-ink. This flexible 3D tissue engineering technology enables iPSCs generated from an individual’s own body to divide after printing, and differentiate allowing the formation and replacement of any tissue type of the body. Once acceptable reliability is achieved, healthy tissue could be manufactured to replace or repair organs that were damaged due to injury or disease.

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Archinaut, a NASA Technology Demonstration Mission project developing cutting-edge technology to build and assemble complex hardware and supersized structures on demand in space, achieved an unprecedented milestone this summer. They successfully printed large beam segments — similar to those used to construct a variety of space structures — and subjected both printing equipment and printed hardware deep space pressures, temperatures, and other rigors.

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GE is planning to build the largest 3D printer. using powdered titanium, aluminum, and other metals. It will be capable of 3D printing objects up to 1 m3.

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To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the publication of Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity, the Einstein Legacy Project is collecting the visions of the 100 greatest innovators, artists, scientists and visionaries of our time in the world’s first 3D-printed book.

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PassivDom, a Ukrainian start-up, uses a 3D printing robot that can print the walls, roof, and floor of a 380-square-foot model home in about eight hours. When complete, the homes are autonomous and mobile, meaning they don’t need to connect to external electrical and plumbing systems.

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Engineering researchers at the University of Minnesota have developed a revolutionary process for 3D-printing stretchable electronic sensory devices that could give robots the ability to feel their environment by printing touch sensors directly on a hand. Michael McAlpine, a University of Minnesota mechanical engineering associate professor and lead researcher on the study. and his team made the unique sensing fabric with a one-of-a-kind 3D printer they built in the lab. The multifunctional printer has four nozzles to print the various specialized “inks” that make up the layers of the device—a base layer of silicone, top and bottom electrodes made of a conducting ink, a coil-shaped pressure sensor, and a sacrificial layer that holds the top layer in place while it sets. The supporting sacrificial layer is later washed away in the final manufacturing process. All layers of “inks” can set at room temperature. So far, the team has only printed on a model hand.

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Lawrence Livermore researchers use high-powered arrays of laser diodes, a Q-switched laser and a specialized laser modulator to flash print an entire layer of metal powder at a time, instead of raster scanning with a laser across each layer. Large metal objects could be printed in a fraction of the time needed for metal 3D printers on the market today, expanding possibilities for industries requiring larger metal parts, such as aerospace and automotive.

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University of Florida researchers have developed a method for 3D printing soft-silicone medical implants that are stronger, quicker, less expensive, more flexible, and more comfortable than the implants currently available. Create a customized part for an individual patient using the current molding technology is very expensive and take days or weeks. The 3D printing method cuts that time to hours, potentially saving lives.

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Researchers at MIT have developed a robotic system (‘Digital Construction Platform’), capable of ‘printing’ the basic structure of an entire building. The system is comprised of a tracked vehicle that carries a large, industrial robotic arm, which has a smaller, precision-motion robotic arm at its end. As proof of concept, the research team built a 50′-diameter, 12′-high dome, which took less than 14 hours of “printing” time.

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The furniture company, Steelcase, partnered with MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab at its International Design Center to create a printer that uses liquefied rubber, plastic or foam, which is injected into a scalable vat of gel (algae) that holds 3D-printed objects in place until they harden & can be removed & cleaned. Test designs were produced in minutes.

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Desktop Metal plans on developing affordable 3-D printers that can make metal parts—and thus transforming much of manufacturing. It has raised nearly $100 million, and its founders include 4 prominent MIT professors, including the head of the school’s department of materials science and Emanuel Sachs, who filed one of the original patents on 3-D printing in 1989. Their vision is to establish a process of creating a digital design, printing out prototypes that could be tested and refined, and then use the digital file of the optimized version to create a commercial product or part out of the same material using a 3-D printer. The article reviews the history of 3-D printing and the current main players in the industry.

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The basis for the paper, the material that is the most used for printing on, is cellulose. Cellulose may soon also become a material that is used to do 3-D printing. New research done at MIT shows that this abundant material may potentially provide a renewable, biodegradable alternative to the polymers currently used for 3-D printing.

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Natural Dental Implants AG (NDI) announced a 3D- printed tooth replacement, which features an anatomically-shaped, 100% customized, titanium-zirconia tooth, and a customized cover shield designed to protect the tooth during the healing process. This offers patients an immediate, minimally invasive alternative to traditional dental implants and three-unit bridges, which can be modified to overcome anatomical limitations or to meet specific clinical requirements.

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BeeHex is a Silicon Valley startup that has invented Chef 3D, a bot that can 3D-print a pizza in 1 minute, usng custom shapes derived from a .jpg. It all starts with a smartphone app. After selecting the pizza’s size, dough, sauce, and cheese the bot goes to work.

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When a facial reconstruction of a deceased is necessary for an open casket. a Chinese funeral home’s 3D printer can build a complete facial mold in half a day. It would take up to a week for undertakers and mortuary cosmetologists to complete facial reconstructions with plaster and plastic cement.

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San Francisco-based Apis Cor 3D-printed a 400 sq.ft. house in 24 hours using a concrete mixture which it says lasts around 175 years. The house was built on-site with a crane-shaped printer at their Moscow test facility at a cost of US$10,134

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If astronauts aboard the International Space Station need a medical tool, such as a surgical instrument or a finger splint, they used to wait for a resupply mission. Now, they will use a 3D printer aboard the ISS. This ground-breaking concept was devised by Toronto doctor Julielynn Wong. In 2011, Wong founded the company 3D4MD, which uses 3D printing and low-cost technologies to supply remote locations, including space, with healthcare supplies.

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