Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
When the wires inside the briefcase are arranged to his satisfaction, the man
connects the briefcase to the machine. The machine's metal frame is jointed
together with spools covered in aluminum foil, reminiscent of the knee and
elbow joints of The Tin Man in
The Wizard of Oz
.
As the solar panels begin to stream in energy, the machine's gears begin
to grind. A rectangular thick pane of glass, attached to the metal frame by an
adjustable arm is a gigantic magnifying glass. Its lens concentrates the sun's
rays into a powerful beam of light.
Using the moveable arm, the man adjusts the magnifying glass and aims
its beam onto a pan full of sand. He connects the laptop to the machine and
sits back to see what happens. The machine's arm moves the lens back and
forth. The sand under the relentless glowing focal point begins to bubble and
melt. Like a time lapse video of a molten pool of lava, the sand heats up to
1,500 degrees Celsius.
The gigantic magnifying glass methodically traces out the shape of a circle
that slowly grows into a three-dimensional shape. The melted sand cools and
solidiies and new fresh sand is piled on top. The machine continues its work,
melting new layers of sand that fuse together on top of cooled and solidiied
sand. Eventually, the man pulls a large bowl-shaped object from the sand bed
and declares the job done.
A white truck drives up and men in turbans quickly load the machine
into the back of a jeep. The mysterious sand alchemist, his bowler hat irmly
atop his head and clothing still immaculately white, leaps into the back. As
the truck drives off into the distance, the sandy plain bears no trace of the
manufacturing process that just took place a few moments ago.
This desert scene was ilmed in Morocco. The man in the video is Markus
Kayser; the machine is a solar-powered 3D printer, a design project that
Markus named “Solar Sintering.” In a demonstration of green manufactur-
ing, the solar-powered printer's raw material is desert sand that's melted into
glass by the attached magnifying glass.
As Markus described it, “In this experiment, sunlight and sand are used as
raw energy and material to produce glass objects using a 3D printing process
that combines natural energy and material with high-tech production technol-
ogy.” I watched this video clip several times, mesmerized by the soft mufled
hush of the vast desert, the bubbling sand, and the merciless sunlight.
