Additive manufacturing (AKA 3D printing)

[ArdWrknTrk]

I suggested to Gary a thread about this earlier.

We are seeing more use of additive manufacturing almost daily.
From the ads GE presents about their turbines to pictures Gary has shared of Tim's manifold to plenum adapters.

This popped up in my feed yesterday amid the discussion of the failings of laser sintering WRT the foglamp bezel.

Bugatti Chiron brake caliper
FEA allowed to run to its extreme (except for the branding obviously) appears so organic.
Almost like algae or cobwebs.

3D printed casts have been a thing since 2013.

Of note, beyond the amazing 42 hours of running four 400W lasers, and the heat treatment, there is 11 hours of removing the support structure, cleaning threads and bores, peening and polishing required to achieve a product without stress risers that could cause failure.
Finished thicknesses from 1 mm (.039) to  maximum of 4mm (5/32")

There are a lot of cool things that can only be done with additive manufacturing.
Geometries that are all but impossible with reductive machining or casting.

Some of us made tricky things like a ball in a cube cage in shop class.
Imagine making a ball, cube or even Shrodigers cat inside a sealed box!
Or a whole set of Matryoshka dolls.

Koenigsegg has been sintering variable geometry turbos with captive parts for four years or more.

How about showing us some more examples of additive manufacturing applied to production environment?

[Gary Lewis]

That brake caliper is way cool!  I had no idea that that printing with titanium was possible.  But, 53 hours is a looooong time for one part, so I can't imagine the cost.  Yipes!

And the cast is really neat.  Luckily I've not had to wear a cast, but I've been around them and this thing is a huge transformation.  But, where do the people write?  

We are into a completely new era of manufacturing.  Additive manufacturing can make things that were impossible before, and make things less expensively than through previous processes.  I don't have any links to share at this point, but I'll certainly keep my eyes open for them.

Thanks!

[ArdWrknTrk]

Gary,

I was looking yesterday at ColorFabb's metallic filament.
And thinking about why the silver border and letters of the bezel couldn't be incorporated into the print itself.

This of course led me down a rabbit hole that found this which is from MIT's CSAIL.  

<iframe width="640" height="384" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/novgMFIBcqg" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You know, the ones who brought us Boston Dynamics, the somewhat horrifying dystopian robot manufacturer that was started with funding from DARPA, spun off from MIT, sold to Alphabet (GoogleX) and then bought by SoftBank,  the Japanese Telcom who has a controlling interest in Sprint.....

Anyway, I think the new color changing 3D printed tech from CSAIL's lab is really pretty cool.
They also have printed objects that fold like origami.... closing the loop back to Japan.

Imagine if you could control shape or color of your printed object like an octopus can change its color and texture!

/geek

[Gary Lewis]

Jim - That's quite interesting!  The bead could be printed in Shining Silver and the letters in White, and the job would be done.  Cool!  But, I note all of the prices are in Pounds Sterling, so it is going to be a bit more expensive to start with and then more to ship.  I wonder if there are similar facilities in the States?

As for the color-changing material, that is different, for sure.  But, it is a very slow process, as shown by the clock.  In the last case it took over 6 minutes to complete the change.

In any event, additive manufacturing is really expanding, and it is going to bring about many new and exciting things.  I enjoy this thread, so please keep things coming.

[ArdWrknTrk]

ColorFabb is in the Netherlands.
I know metallic filaments are available here.
*And* that none of these bezels are filament printed.

Just the idea of changing colors in the middle of a print..... or changing the color *of* a print (selectively) is what gets me.

Anyone remember having one of those ballpoint pens in the '70's with like a dozen colors you could choose????

Every tech has to start somewhere....

It was not long ago that BD's first stumbling, noisy, and tethered robots were presented.
Their Cheetah and Atlas are just what we know about, now.

AI, fuel cells, smaller computers, lidar, and all the other tech is advancing at an exponential pace.

Who knows what kind of dyes will be developed, or what kind of resolution will be available in the near future?

Will some shapeshifting colorchanging mashup of Terminator and Predator be far behind?

/S
but maybe not really

[Gary Lewis]

Jim - Sorry to be so late to respond.  But, I do remember those pens and was fascinated!  So changing the color of a print mid-print is such a cool thing.  And, for this exercise would be so helpful.

As for a shape-shifter, I've read some of those books and it freaks me out.  

[ArdWrknTrk]

I'm intrigued by the whole 'robot printing a robot printer' bootstrapping thing started by MakerBot.

[ArdWrknTrk]

Not to get too far off on this tangent.

Shape-shifting is already happening.
<iframe width="628" height="421" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZVYz7g-qLjs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
It's pretty easy to imagine something the size and thickness of a matchbook slipping under a door or crawling through a knot hole like you see in the video.

Just take a look at a humanoid robot doing a backflip or a semi wheeled robot racing up and across a table.
https://www.bostondynamics.com/robots
All this is very early days...

The sensor suite on AV's and their processing power can detect 'threats' like a car braking a few cars in front of it.
There's a video of this in an IRL situation avoiding a rear end accident.

It would be trivial to have *every* AV logging *every* license plate, with GPS location data, and the travel direction and velocity of each plate.
Combine this with the situational awareness of 5G meshed autonomous vehicles and a small dose of AI...

Skynet becomes a reality with the suggested nationalized 5G system, just like the "Total Information Awareness" 'predictive policing' of the Bush administration *has* become a reality.
Almost every one of us carrying a location transponder with facial recognition, banking history through Apple/Google Pay or PayPal in our pocket.
How many people have 'trained' their Alexa, Bixby, or Google Assistant to recognize their voice?
Does anyone doubt that Amazon does dynamic pricing based on an algorithm of their purchasing habits?
How about adchoices or purchase suggestions revealing a teen daughters pregnancy?
Or???

It's a feature, not a bug!

Those cameras when you walk in to Target, Walgreens, or the supermarket are all tied to their facial recognition database of known shoplifters.  (Don't ask why I *absolutely* know this. Just know she isn't my problem, any more)

The latest disclosure of fitness trackers revealing the layout of secret military bases and other places where phones are not allowed due to security concerns is more than a bit discomforting....

I'll end my paranoid rant with the suggestion that data is only data in isolation.
When meshed with every other bit of data and teased out by powerful algorithms at a server farm
In Bluffdale, Utah it is a picture of 1984.
It is also a more intimate picture of you than even you are aware of.

[Gary Lewis]

Jim - I can't get the shape-shifting video to work.  It just says "An error has occurred."  But I'll take your word for it.

However, those "robots" are amazing.  Wow!

As for what we are carrying in our pockets, the implications are scary.  Janey has gone to Walmart and looked at various things, and when she came home one of the ads on Facebook was of that.  And it has happened more than once.  So it doesn't surprise me that the cameras are watching for faces of known shop-lifters.

Yes, it isn't "data" anymore.  It is a fairly precise picture of what we like, where we go, what we shop for, etc.  And, since it wouldn't be too hard to hack our phones and turn the mike on 24x7, what we say when we think no one is listening isn't secure either.

[ArdWrknTrk]

I guess i cant figure out how to work the YouTube *inbed from my phone.

Search 'CSAIL Origami' and it will take you to an MIT page with the video

*Edited  to change auto correct more relevant to a fortune cookie than our 21st century on the web.

[Gary Lewis]

I found it here: https://www.engadget.com/2017/09/27/mit-csail-transforming-robot-origami-exoskeleton/

Very interesting!  (And obviously not dumb.  )

[ArdWrknTrk]

Nope.
Not an engaget page.

This is from the MIT website.

http://news.mit.edu/2015/centimeter-long-origami-robot-0612