Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The Promise of
3D Printing
15
Printing the world on your desktop.
W
RITTEN
BY
S
TETT
H
OLBROOK
It's a vision from a futuristic
Star Trek
uni-
verse: effortlessly creating three-
dimensional objects on a machine in your
home (or starship). And it's here today. The
dam has now burst on the 3D printing mar-
ket and this once out-of-reach technology is
now available to just about anybody, for less
than $1,000.
The personal computer, the printer, and the
Internet made us all publishers. Now, with 3D
printers, 3D scanners, and 3D design soft-
ware, we can all be manufacturers as well.
Already companies are jockeying for posi-
tion. High-end 3D printing pioneer 3D Sys-
tems bought competitor Z Corp. Two other
big players—Objet and Stratasys—have
merged. Industry darling MakerBot was
named one of the top 20 startups in New
York City and has been acquired as the desk-
top division of Stratasys.
3D printers, or machines that “print” three-
dimensional, CAD-rendered objects by
layering precisely extruded bits of molten
plastic, resin, metal, and other materials,
have actually been around since 1985—
ironically, the same year the standard-
setting HP LaserJet printer was introduced.
The laser printer has become as common-
place as the personal computer. The same
can't be said of the 3D printer. But that could
be about to change.
Will being able to print 3D objects on your
desktop change the world?
Spend a few minutes talking to manufactur-
ers of 3D printers or early adopters and you'll
quickly hear them drop such heady adjec-
tives as “game-changer,” “disruptive,” and
“revolutionary.”
An
Economist
article from April 2012 by Paul
Markillie declared 3D printing and associ-
ated technologies nothing short of the “third
industrial revolution.”
“As manufacturing goes digital, a third great
change is now gathering pace,” he wrote.
“The wheel is almost coming full circle, turn-
ing away from mass manufacturing and
towards much more individualized produc-
tion. And that in turn could bring some of the
jobs back to rich countries that long ago lost
them to the emerging world.”
Until recently, 3D printers were prohibitively
expensive, less than user friendly, and hid-
den behind the doors of factories and R&D
labs. But thanks to the innovative efforts of
makers and the open source movement
(which encourages freely sharing designs
