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Scientists unveil world’s first 3D printer that can print 10 materials at once
As scientists figure out how to use awesome new materials in 3D printers, one big problem remains: the vast majority of 3D printers only work with one kind of source material (for example, plastic) which severely limits the complexity of the objects you can make.
But now, for the first time, scientists in the US have developed a 3D printer that can print with a record-breaking 10 materials at a time, which will allow a whole new range of objects to be printed quickly and easily without requiring any manual post-print assembly of individually printed components.
While some existing industrial 3D printers can also print with multiple materials, they aren’t exactly cheap (costing upwards of US$250,000. And even then, they’ve been limited to a maximum of three materials at once.
The MultiFab printer on the other hand, developed by researchers at the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab (CSAIL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), only cost its makers US$7,000 to build from scratch and features innovations that make 3D printing of complex objects easier than ever.
In addition to its ability to print with up to 10 source materials at once, the MultiFab uses machine vision 3D-scanning techniques that allow the printer to self-calibrate and guide itself as it prints.
“The platform opens up new possibilities for manufacturing, giving researchers and hobbyists alike the power to create objects that have previously been difficult or even impossible to print,” said Javier Ramos, one of the CSAIL research engineers who worked on the project, in a press release.
Unlike material extrusion methods of 3D printing, which the researchers liken to using a syringe to apply cake frosting, the MultiFab printer mixes microscopic droplets of photopolymers together and prints with much finer printheads.
Together with the machine vision, this enables the printer to 3D-scan an object and then print directly around it with extreme precision. The researchers say you could place an iPhone inside the printer and tell it to print a case directly onto the phone. Or you could start off with circuits and sensors and print around them, effectively embedding a functional electronic device at the heart of a new 3D-printed object.
“Right now a big portion of 3D printing, the hardware that’s available, is focused on printing form and objects for prototype,” says Ramos in the video below. “The holy grail is to print things that are fully functional right out of the printer, combining multiple materials with many different properties, but also existing objects that have some inherent functionality.”
The team’s paper, presented this month at the 42nd International Conference and Exhibition on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques in the US, could have major implications for the way people make objects, with potential applications for researchers, personalised consumer items, or even mass-manufactured products.
“Picture someone who sells electric wine-openers, but doesn’t have $7,000 to buy a printer like this. In the future they could walk into a FedEx with a design and print out batches of their finished product at a reasonable price,” said Ramos. “For me, a practical use like that would be the ultimate dream.”
Source: http://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-unveil-world-s-first-3d-printer-that-can-print-10-materials-at-once
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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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