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Michigan Tech Researchers Create Two Portable Solar Powered 3D Printer Systems
Additive manufacturing promises to change the lives of millions, the means of production of thousands of companies, and transform supply chain management in the developed world. It’s really remarkable just how far we have come in such a short span of time.
Living in the United States, I’ve come to realize the many things I take for granted, which are the norm for us, but luxuries for those living in third world countries. Electricity is one of these things, and although there has been tremendous strides in recent years to expand electrical grids into even some of the most remote villages in developing nations, there is still a huge population living with no means of power.
Although 3D printers could provide many needed benefits to developing nations, without a reliable power supply, no such technology can exist. This is why one researcher and engineer, named Joshua Pearce, is combining his two specialties, 3D printing and solar power, to present a couple of interesting solutions for those living in developing nations, as well as those travelling through and providing aid to these countries. Imagine trekking through a desolate area and and having the ability to print out a needed part for a broken backpack, or a bowl to catch rain water in? This could all be possible with a solar powered 3D printer.
Pearce and his team at Michigan Tech, which includes Debbie L. King, Abegboyeg Babasola, and Joseph Rozario, have published a paper called ‘Mobile Open-Source Solar-Powered 3-D Printers for Distributed Manufacturing in Off-Grid Communities‘, where they discuss two particular solar powered 3D printer setups.
Setup #1 – Large Mobile 3D Printer Systems
The first setup is a quasi-portable solar printer which the team envisions being set up outside of a small business or in a school yard. The printer sits on top of a wheeled cart, while four 120 Ah batteries sit on the lower shelf of the cart, and two 220 W PV panels rest against it all. Because of the large panels and batteries, this 3D printer can run for 35 hours straight on a single charge.
“It can make high-value items for pennies, but it’s not very portable,” stated Pearce.
Setup #2 – Portable Solar 3D Printer in a Suitcase
The second setup is much more portable. In fact, it could feasibly be worn on someones back. The entire setup easily fits within a suitcase and features a Foldarap RepRap 3D printer, an Efika MX Smartbook notebook computer to control the printer, and five 20 W solar modules. The 5 modules weigh just 10 pounds combined, making transportation much more feasible. As for batteries, the system actually uses four 14.8 V 6600 mAh laptop batteries. Such a portable system like this one would be perfect for doctors or medical personnel traveling in foreign regions, baron of any power supply.
“Say you are in the Peace Corps going to an off-grid community,” Pearce said. “You could put your clothes in a backpack and take this printer in your suitcase. It’s a mobile manufacturing facility that can make whatever you and the community need or value. It has nearly unlimited flexibility.”
According to the research paper, the team found that not only will such systems allow for additive manufacturing to occur in remote areas of the world, but also may reduce the impact that current supply chain networks have on the environment. As solar cells continue to become more efficient, and battery capacity increases as prices decrease, such technology should rapidly improve over the next 5-10 years. A decade from now, such mobile 3D printer systems may be commonly used for both military and civilian applications.
Let’s hear your thoughts on both of these mobile solar 3D printers. Discuss in the Solar Powered 3D printer forum thread on 3DPB.com.
Source: http://3dprint.com/18836/solar-3d-printers/
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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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