Some Cool 3D Printed Gadgets that are Changing the World
Nowadays, sketching a map of a skyscraper takes little time, thanks to 3D. Animation caracters on the TV look real, again thanks to 3D. I no longer feel excited seeing the popularity of 3D skyrocketing because I’m convinced 3D deserves it.
I guess you’d also agree that 3D holds all the aces up its sleeves. It has application in the construction industry, in the aerospace industry, in the toy manufacturing industry and in many other industries. And newer industries are welcoming 3D for obvious reasons.
Gadgets are the future
My mouth starts watering when I come across cool gadgets. I can hardly resist myself from buying them. My love for those fancy tech appliances led me to discover a crossroad between 3D and gadgets. I haven’t yet fully discovered it, and rather in the process of discovering.
In this article, I’ll share with you what I’ve managed to discover so far.
Advanced 3D printers
Behind every achievement of 3D is a printer. As more and more research is going on in this landscape, the printers are getting excellent makeovers. Yesterday’s 3D printers are outdated now, the new printers are getting more equipped and more advanced.
Remember T-1000 from the movie Terminator 2 (1991)? Its body was made of some kind of liquid, allowing it to take whatever shape it wants to take. The idea inspired a company called Carbon 3D to work on a new type of 3D printer.
The technology behind the new printer is called continuous liquid interface production. There’s a projector in the printer, manufactured by Carbon 3D. The projector renders the configuration of an object, and the build platform makes it come in shape by moving up from the UV curable resin.
This is just one example; there are plenty other cool 3D printers and they can change the future for virtual rendering.
3D printed stethoscope
Doctors can now grab themselves a 3D printed stethoscope, which looks and works similar to a non-3D printed, conventional stethoscope. Tarek Loubani, an emergency physician, living in the Gaza Strip is its developer; the stethoscope is outrageously inexpensive as it costs only 30¢.
Loubani described the stethoscope by saying “This stethoscope is as good as any tethoscope out there in the world and we have the data to prove it.” The development of the stethoscope is a part of a larger initiative called The Gila Project, next in line are an electrocardiogram and a pulse oximeter, both 3D printed.
3D printed car
3D printing can hugely benefit the automobile sector. Sergio Marchionne of Fiat-Chrysler proposed a solution to bring the down the operating cost; his solution was to consolidate and eliminate expendability. Of late, the industry observers have realized 3D printing can help to achieve this goal.
The first ever 3D printed car has a flashy name; it’s called Strati. The car looks handsome enough to turn the heads of auto enthusiasts. It has an electric engine, which means it’s environment friendly. Local Motors is the developer. When other manufacturers will embrace the idea, riding a 3D printed car will be all too common.
Google joins hands with Intel
And works towards releasing an Android software development kit (SDK) through a 3D mapping project by Google called Project Tango, and an intelligent technology called RealSense. A RealSense phone will be able to quickly 3D scan a room and understand the interpretations of the design.
The future
The present looks promising. The future will undoubtedly look even more promising. The tech giants have already started to show interest in 3D gadgets, and we can expect state of the art 3D printers to manufacture intricate gadgets in future.
About the Author:
Kabir Raja is a hardware engineer by profession. But that does not prevent him from showing interest in a variety of fields. He is also a web enthusiast and loves to blog on topics ranging from fashion to wedding and from security to environmental issues.