/ News
Local Motors to 3D Print Furniture For Their Tech Shop and Labs
You all have probably heard about the Phoenix, AZ based company Local Motors. They plan to 3D print an entire car at this year’s International Manufacturing Technology Show in Chicago. They are doing so by utilizing a large scale FDM based 3D printer from Cincinnati Inc, which is capable of printing very large objects at extremely fast speeds. It prints at such high speeds that the company expects to be able to print the entire car within the 6-day time frame of the show.
Being that the company has access to such an amazing piece of technology, they have decided to look outside their traditional area of work, which is automobiles, to think up a design for a 3D printed kiosk/desk. The company wanted to print something that they can easily travel with, as well as use within their facilities. What they came up with are little kiosks, which can be connected with one another, or used in a variety of ways via specialized brackets which can be attached to each kiosk, allowing for any number of mounts to also be attached.
“What the 3D printed kiosk is, is a one size fits all multipurpose piece of furniture which basically can have multiple functions including a laptop stand, a tablet stand for travel kiosks, when we go to the various events that we go to,” explained Scott Neal, designer & community manger at Local Motors. “It is also going to house desks for the tech shop, as well as workstations for first build and Local Motors labs.”
The furniture pieces are printed with an ABS carbon fiber blend. One can easily joins two kiosks together to form a larger desk, or use one individual kiosk as an iPad stand, TV stand, or monitor stand. The kiosks are hollow inside, making it possible for the team at Local Motors to dress them up with LED’s or other electronic components, if need be. In addition, the fact that the kiosks are modular, means that they are very easy to travel with. Because of the way that they are designed, they can stack opposite of each other to take up less cubic feet of space.
Local Motors has not printed any of these furniture pieces yet, only designed them. However, within the next month the printing process will initiate, and photos as well as videos of the process will be posted on their blog.
The printer used will have a large nozzle diameter, meaning that each layer will be much thicker than that of your typical at-home FDM printer. Because of this, print lines can be clearly delineated, making for somewhat of an interesting striped pattern within any finished object. The kiosks will certainly garner the attention that Local Motors likely seeks, during any promotional events or shows that the company takes part in.
Would you use one of these kiosks, or a couple kiosks in the form of a desk, in your home or office? Let’s hear your thoughts in the Local Motors furniture forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video below where Scott Neal, and Phil Hassnoot, discuss the upcoming production of these kiosks.
Source: http://3dprint.com/10551/3d-printed-furniture/
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Founded by Russian entrepreneur Dmitry Itskov in February 2011 with the participation of leading Russian specialists in the field of neural interfaces, robotics, artificial organs and systems.
The main goals of the 2045 Initiative: the creation and realization of a new strategy for the development of humanity which meets global civilization challenges; the creation of optimale conditions promoting the spiritual enlightenment of humanity; and the realization of a new futuristic reality based on 5 principles: high spirituality, high culture, high ethics, high science and high technologies.
The main science mega-project of the 2045 Initiative aims to create technologies enabling the transfer of a individual’s personality to a more advanced non-biological carrier, and extending life, including to the point of immortality. We devote particular attention to enabling the fullest possible dialogue between the world’s major spiritual traditions, science and society.
A large-scale transformation of humanity, comparable to some of the major spiritual and sci-tech revolutions in history, will require a new strategy. We believe this to be necessary to overcome existing crises, which threaten our planetary habitat and the continued existence of humanity as a species. With the 2045 Initiative, we hope to realize a new strategy for humanity's development, and in so doing, create a more productive, fulfilling, and satisfying future.
The "2045" team is working towards creating an international research center where leading scientists will be engaged in research and development in the fields of anthropomorphic robotics, living systems modeling and brain and consciousness modeling with the goal of transferring one’s individual consciousness to an artificial carrier and achieving cybernetic immortality.
An annual congress "The Global Future 2045" is organized by the Initiative to give platform for discussing mankind's evolutionary strategy based on technologies of cybernetic immortality as well as the possible impact of such technologies on global society, politics and economies of the future.
Future prospects of "2045" Initiative for society
2015-2020
The emergence and widespread use of affordable android "avatars" controlled by a "brain-computer" interface. Coupled with related technologies “avatars’ will give people a number of new features: ability to work in dangerous environments, perform rescue operations, travel in extreme situations etc.
Avatar components will be used in medicine for the rehabilitation of fully or partially disabled patients giving them prosthetic limbs or recover lost senses.
2020-2025
Creation of an autonomous life-support system for the human brain linked to a robot, ‘avatar’, will save people whose body is completely worn out or irreversibly damaged. Any patient with an intact brain will be able to return to a fully functioning bodily life. Such technologies will greatly enlarge the possibility of hybrid bio-electronic devices, thus creating a new IT revolution and will make all kinds of superimpositions of electronic and biological systems possible.
2030-2035
Creation of a computer model of the brain and human consciousness with the subsequent development of means to transfer individual consciousness onto an artificial carrier. This development will profoundly change the world, it will not only give everyone the possibility of cybernetic immortality but will also create a friendly artificial intelligence, expand human capabilities and provide opportunities for ordinary people to restore or modify their own brain multiple times. The final result at this stage can be a real revolution in the understanding of human nature that will completely change the human and technical prospects for humanity.
2045
This is the time when substance-independent minds will receive new bodies with capacities far exceeding those of ordinary humans. A new era for humanity will arrive! Changes will occur in all spheres of human activity – energy generation, transportation, politics, medicine, psychology, sciences, and so on.
Today it is hard to imagine a future when bodies consisting of nanorobots will become affordable and capable of taking any form. It is also hard to imagine body holograms featuring controlled matter. One thing is clear however: humanity, for the first time in its history, will make a fully managed evolutionary transition and eventually become a new species. Moreover, prerequisites for a large-scale expansion into outer space will be created as well.
Key elements of the project in the future
• International social movement
• social network immortal.me
• charitable foundation "Global Future 2045" (Foundation 2045)
• scientific research centre "Immortality"
• business incubator
• University of "Immortality"
• annual award for contribution to the realization of the project of "Immortality”.
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