3D printing weekly update - 8.17.15

This Week in 3D Printing
Week of 8/172015

This Week’s Contents
! In the News
! Research Insight of the Week
! 3D Prints of the Week

In the News
Summary and Analysis of Headlines around 3D Printing

3D Printing Batteries to Power our Digital Lives
In the ever present quest to develop new batteries capable of powering our digital lives, Professor Craig
Banks, Associate Dean for Research and Professor in Electrochemical Nanotechnology at Manchester
Metropolitan University has worked tirelessly over the past three and a half years to develop a desktop
printer capable of creating batteries, supercapacitors and energy storage devices to power using
graphene ink. Graphene was discovered at the University of Manchester in 2004, and is 200 times
stronger than steel and a highly efficient conductor of heat and energy. Banks and his team naturally
incorporated the material seeking to create an optimized 3D structure designed to increase the amount
of power storage a battery is capable of holding. While promising, Banks says there is still some details to
iron out before there is a seamless ‘Plug n’ Go’ experience with 3D printing batteries.
Source(s): 3Ders.org
Medical Team Develops 30 Cent 3D Printed Stethoscope for Developing World
A emergency physician currently working in the Gaza strip has created a stethoscope using a 3D
printer that cost only 30 cents, and is just as effective in practice as a professional device. Tarek
Loubani sought to change the lives of his patients, and was inspired by his nephew’s stethoscope
toy. Loubani brought together a number of experts in the medical profession and worked to
develop the design used today at a total cost of $10,000. The effort has led to an open source
medical hardware initiative called the Gila Project, who’s goal is to produce and release high
quality free/open medical hardware to increase availability to those who need it.

New 3D Printing filament May Transform the World of Lighting and Filters
VIVASA Design, a company headquartered in the Czech Republic and founded by Ondrej Vinter, has
developed a new 3D printing material called Eco3D filament that may transform the world of lighting
and filters. Vinter and his team sought initially to improve light distribution via 3D printed materials. They
developed the new material for FDM printers based on PLA is known as a light diffusion filament
composed of biodegradable additives. When used in signs, Eco3D is beneficial as it evenly and
smoothly distributes light in a proper LED setup, and when used in electronics requiring filters, the 3D
material can be used as filters for diffusion. Essentially the team has developed a filament that displays
an outstanding rate between the light transmittance, diffusivity, and mechanical endurance in relation
to transmittance.
Source(s): 3DPrint.com
Student Creates Heart Monitor Using 3D Printing
17 year old Fank Nguyen has developed a 3D printed heart rate alert monitoring device, called
HelpWear HeartWatch, to help people around the world monitor their lives. Nguyen was inspired
to create the device when his mother, Lan Nguyen, health began to decline. The device contains
two microcontrollers, eight gigabytes of memory, and a messaging system which utilizes both
cellular networks and GPS driven by two rechargeable lithium ion batteries. The unit uses a small
green which flashes against the wearers skin, which is then reflected back to a censor that uses a
algorithm to determine a patient's heart rate using changes in voltage that the censor receives.
Nguyen has developed a way for the device to alert 911 when a user’s heart rate falls outside a
preset range.

Parents 3D Print Five Prosthetic Hands for 8 Year Old
When their son Luke was born with developing symbrachydactyly, a congenital abnormality of
the hand, Gregg and Sam Dennison decided to personally find a solution to make Luke’s life
easier. Due to the condition, prosthetics are generally not available. The Dennison’s worked
with e-NABLE, an organization that works to join groups of volunteers to 3D print and assemble
historic amounts of 3D printed items and prosthetics ,to obtain design files so they could
customize to print five prosthetics using their own 3D printer. By using 3D printing, the Cincinnati,
Ohio couple can design any customized size, design and color Luke can imagine, expanding
and increasing his quality of life.
NASA Developing 3D Drone Capable of Space Flight
NASA is moving to expand the ability and usefulness of 3D printing aboard the
International Space Station through 3D printed robot drones capable of further
exploring space. Researchers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida have
announced a ‘Asteroid Prospector Flyer’ Drone which comes in just under 5-foot
wide, and has the potential for autonomous flight based upon a particular
deployment plan. This reduces the need for dedicated pilots and expands the area
scientist will safely be able to research.

Researchers Announced Ability to 3D Print with Silicone
Germany’s Wacker Chemie, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and suppliers of silicone
for a wide variety of applications, has turned to additive manufacturing to develop a process
to 3D print with silicone. The company has announced that they have developed a new
process that does not require the traditional use of molds to create custom silicone products.
Instead they focused on those creating prototypes, enabling rapid and flexible modification on
a small series to meet demands, where tiny droplets from a nozzle are placed by a robot arm
side-by-side to build up a silicone object layer-by-layer, solidified by a UV light flashed upon the
material.
3D Printed Breadboards Expand Electronic Prototypes
Les Hall turned to 3D printing to create a electronic breadboard. Breadboard is the
name given to the construction base used when prototyping electronics, and
device gets it’s name from the history use of actual kitchen bread boards as the
base for a variety of projects. The board itself is typically laden with tubes, wires and
a variety of censors. By 3D printing a breadboard, Hall is able to customize the size
and scope of his electronic prototypes, even printing using graphene filament to
expand into a new territory of electronic creations. The best part is that anyone is
capable of printing Hall’s design and begin their own electronic tinkering.

8-Year-Old Uses 3D Printing To Create Child Development Kit
8 –year-old Omkar Govil-Nair recently showcased his 3D printed O Watch, dubbed as
‘the first programmable watch for kids developed by a kid.’ The O Watch is an Arduino-
powered watch, with a 3D printed housing that features a number of apps and uses for
kids ranging from time-telling to a compass or thermometer, as well as a variety of
games. Omkar wanted to create something that would help other kids his age start using
3D printing and electronic programing. Just another amazing example of the potential
3D printing and ingenuity have to expanding the minds of our future generations.
3D Print Custom Rubber Bands
The limit to builders imagination seems almost limitless. A instructables user,
“icecats,” has found a novel but powerful use for NinjaFlex flexible filament, the
rubber band. Using Autodesk Inventor, IceCats was able to create a 3D model of a
perfect rubber band. Once printed, the rubber band is flexible enough to hold
together a variety of items, and strong enough not to break while doing so. This
novel use of an existing filament and traditional modeling software showcases the
potential breadth of projects 3D printing can help tackle.

Research Insight of the Week
Quantifying the 3D Printing Landscape

In a recent survey of more than 100 industrial
manufactures,  
two-thirds 
were already using 3D printing in some aspect
of their product line.
Source: PwC, 2015

3D Prints of the Week
Showcasing some of the most interesting applications of 3D
Printing, from the amusing to the artistic to the innovative

Endangered Formosan Black Bear
! Taiwanese artist Amao Chen has
developed two 3D printable designs of
adorable Formosan Black Bear and
Rhino that carries an important
message about endangered species.
! The Formosan Black Bear only lives in
Taiwan, and due to the growth of the
island has been placed on the
endangered species list.
! Someone can find the design for the
animals online, and print the cube-like
design for construction.

3D Printed NASA Mars Curiosity Rover
! NASA has released free 3D printable files of the
Curiosity Mars Rover.
! The file includes intricate designs of every
aspect of the Curiosity Rover, from the wheels to
the body itself.
! Those interested can download the necessary
files directly from NASA’s website, but it is
advised to set a considerable amount of time
aside for trial and error in printing.

3D printing weekly update - 8.17.15

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