Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
14
The next episode
of 3D printing
Humans distinguished themselves from their evolutionary ancestors by
making tools. Additive manufacturing technology may be the ultimate
tool that will perhaps change human culture forever. With the unpredictable
yet irresistible force of tsunamis, each new wave of improved tools of design
and production have tipped off tidal waves of social change. This topic barely
scratches the surface of the emerging world of printed physical objects.
When I was a postdoc at Brandeis University in Boston, Massachusetts, my
faculty advisor Jordan Pollack and I printed a complete working robot. It was
a simple robot, but one whose entire body was designed and printed automati-
cally. It was late 1999 when the irst robot stepped out of the printer, and it took
another 10 months until on a summer day in late August 2000 the story made
it to the front page of
The New York Times
.
It was a bittersweet moment. First, the newspapers' editors made it clear to
us that the only reason the story appeared on the front page was because the
editors were desperate for news. That day—a sultry summer day in 2000—
was one of the slowest news days on record. There was nothing—absolutely
nothing—else to put on the front page. So “Robots Making Robots” it was.
But a more lingering emotion had nothing to do with sharing news of the
breakthrough. The more lingering emotion was dissatisfaction, dissatisfaction
that the robot wasn't entirely 3D printed. Its body and joints were printed,
and that was an exciting step forward. But most of the other parts that make
a robot a robot—its wires, batteries, sensors, actuators, and its “brain”—were
manually assembled. There was still a long way to go before we could truly
print a complete robot, fully assembled, batteries included. It would be a while
before we can print a complete active system—no assembly required.
When this new generation of products emerge from the 3D printer, their
debut may still not trump news of a brewing political scandal, but may hint
at an even larger tsunami of change ahead.
