If you do a Google search for a \u20183-D printer\u2019, you can buy one for a couple thousand bucks. But do you know what it is?\u00a0 Believe me, these machines are able to do a lot more than print out your kids\u2019 homework.<\/p>\n
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3-D printing is going to revolutionize manufacturing\u2014in fact, it already is. The technology has been around since 1984, when Charles Hull built the first commercial machine based on a technique called stereolithography<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What you should<\/em> know about 3-D printing is that it is an additive technology<\/a> in which objects are built up in layers in a machine in a process that takes several hours\u2014or at least for now it does. It is a process that requires fewer raw material and is more cost efficient than \u2018subtractive\u2019 manufacturing (cutting\/drilling bashing metal).\u00a0 With 3-D printing, making one item different from the next only requires a simple coding configuration.\u00a0 Not only that, but the printers are able to produce ready-made items requiring next to no assembly as well as items that traditional methods would struggle with, like the chain mail glove.\u00a0 It\u2019s a future where a device connected to a computer can print out a solid object.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What kind of printable objects<\/a> are we talking here?\u00a0 As of right now, most 3-D printers are not creating the store products. \u00a0They are used to make prototypes or molds that are perfected before final mass production occurs.\u00a0 Some products that have used 3-D printing in their design process include automobiles, jewelry, toys, and a variety of containers and bottles.\u00a0 With 3-D printing, engineers are able to fit parts together and make sure a model is perfect before committing to large-scale production costs.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Similarly, architects utilized the technology to show detailed and low-cost models to their clients before construction. One Dutch architect, Janjaap Ruijssenaars, is at work designing the first 3-D printed house he’s named “The Landscape House”. \u00a0For this house, a massive printer called the D-Shape printer<\/a> will literally \u2018print out\u2019 20×30 pieces of sand that will eventually turn into a marble-like material to make up the curved walls of the house.\u00a0 Ruijssenaars says the printing technique is \u201ca more direct way of constructing,\u201d as it eliminates others from adding their own interpretation to his plan.<\/p>\n Though we haven\u2019t quite achieved human teleportation, the fact that we might be able to print out custom cars in our lifetime is pretty exciting.\u00a0 As 3-D printing becomes more accessible to the public, it will force everyday people to become\u00a0developers\u00a0and to take more creative risks. I predict when this technology really starts to take off, we will see mandatory coding classes starting in elementary school throughout public school system.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n MakerBot 3-D Printer Demo – CES 2011<\/strong><\/p>\n