[release]The 3D printer uses a liquid resin, which is hardened at precisely the correct spots by a focused laser beam. The focal point of the laser beam is guided through the resin by movable mirrors and leaves behind a polymerized line of solid polymer, just a few hundred nanometers wide. This high resolution enables the creation of intricately structured sculptures as tiny as a grain of sand. “Until now, this technique used to be quite slow”, says Professor Jürgen Stampfl from the Institute of Materials Science and Technology at the TU Vienna. “The printing speed used to be measured in millimeters per second – our device can do five meters in one second.” In two-photon lithography, this is a world record.
This amazing progress was made possible by combining several new ideas. “It was crucial to improve the control mechanism of the mirrors”, says Jan Torgersen (TU Vienna). The mirrors are continuously in motion during the printing process. The acceleration and deceleration-periods have to be tuned very precisely to achieve high-resolution results at a record-breaking speed.
[img]http://ic.tweakimg.net/ext/i/imagenormal/1331556020.jpeg[/img]
[i]A 285 µm racecar, printed at the Vienna University of Technology[/i]
3D-printing is not all about mechanics – chemists had a crucial role to play in this project too. “The resin contains molecules, which are activated by the laser light. They induce a chain reaction in other components of the resin, so-called monomers, and turn them into a solid”, says Jan Torgersen. These initiator molecules are only activated if they absorb two photons of the laser beam at once – and this only happens in the very center of the laser beam, where the intensity is highest. In contrast to conventional 3D-printing techniques, solid material can be created anywhere within the liquid resin rather than on top of the previously created layer only. Therefore, the working surface does not have to be specially prepared before the next layer can be produced (see Video), which saves a lot of time. A team of chemists led by Professor Robert Liska (TU Vienna) developed the suitable initiators for this special resin.
Researchers all over the world are working on 3D printers today – at universities as well as in industry. “Our competitive edge here at the Vienna University of Technology comes from the fact that we have experts from very different fields, working on different parts of the problem, at one single university”, Jürgen Stampfl emphasizes. In materials science, process engineering or the optimization of light sources, there are experts working together and coming up with mutually stimulating ideas.
Because of the dramatically increased speed, much larger objects can now be created in a given period of time. This makes two-photon-lithography an interesting technique for industry. At the TU Vienna, scientists are now developing bio-compatible resins for medical applications. They can be used to create scaffolds to which living cells can attach themselves facilitating the systematic creation of biological tissues. The 3d printer could also be used to create tailor made construction parts for biomedical technology or nanotechnology.[/release]
Source: [url]http://www.sciguru.com/newsitem/13178/3D-Printer-Nano-Precision[/url]
Video: [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y0j191H0kY[/url]
Science week?
So they can now create little medicinal racing cars to deliver drugs to certain parts of our body?
Blood Vessel Scalextric, you heard it here first.
That's... ridiculous.
In a good way.
Soon the universal constructor
Now make a printer on atomic level
So can it print itself? That's what really matters here. When we get a properly functioning self-replicating 3D printer we'll be unstoppable.
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35106901]Now make a printer on atomic level[/QUOTE]
Now you say that....
[url]http://www.molecularassembler.com/Nanofactory/DMS.htm[/url]
These are cool, here's a DIY version.
@01:00
[video=youtube;snOErpOP5Xk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snOErpOP5Xk[/video]
[QUOTE=farmatyr;35107012]These are cool, here's a DIY version.
@01:00
[video=youtube;snOErpOP5Xk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snOErpOP5Xk[/video][/QUOTE]
what is this sorcery
forgive me, but how small is 285 um?
[sp]no, no dick jokes[/sp]
is that on the same level as cells in your body or something?
just never heard that kind of measurement.
[QUOTE=Overv;35107033]what is this sorcery[/QUOTE]
I don't know, but I want one.
[QUOTE=_Maverick_;35107082]forgive me, but how small is 285 um?
[sp]no, no dick jokes[/sp]
is that on the same level as cells in your body or something?
just never heard that kind of measurement.[/QUOTE]
It's 285 micrometers, which is about 3 times the thickness of the paper a newspaper is composed of, or about 0.3 mm.
[QUOTE=Leg of Doom;35106737]Soon the universal constructor[/QUOTE]
old men ruling the world
I can't help but think of UEF or Cybran build animations from supreme commander when I hear of this stuff. Now to make it bigger and we can make buildings in a few hours.
[QUOTE=JohnFisher89;35107214]old men ruling the world[/QUOTE]
A new age!
But on a serious note, 3D printing is REALLY cool.
Also, having a macro-scale 3D printer that could actually print entire rooms, that would make house-building so much easier and cheaper, though it'd need something far stronger than resin, like some sort of durable insulating ceramic.
If I'm reading this right, they turn liquid into solid?
[B]SOON.[/B]
[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9Wlr4U7lQbbpR7pJxqBTPVSiPMy1-1RPhgfUbKEOqwil1kpMu[/img]
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIVD-_uVjs6FUZJV4JNF3AlTEI7GfQ0cpqWiqSPREo7I2vB8hS[/img]
You'd need a damn big 3D printer to construct that shit in a shipyard, and likely serveral asteroids. Personally it'd seem more efficient to just hollow out asteroids, build the spaceship or space station into the rocky interior of the asteroid, and there we'd have it. Demon's Run did it, so why don't we try that when the Belt Rush begins?
[QUOTE=LtKyle2;35109037]If I'm reading this right, they turn liquid into solid?
[B]SOON.[/B]
[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9Wlr4U7lQbbpR7pJxqBTPVSiPMy1-1RPhgfUbKEOqwil1kpMu[/img]
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIVD-_uVjs6FUZJV4JNF3AlTEI7GfQ0cpqWiqSPREo7I2vB8hS[/img][/QUOTE]
Turning liquids into solid objects isn't that fascinating, people were doing that for ages.
Tell me when I can print out RAM, so I can download more.
[editline]12th March 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=LtKyle2;35109037]If I'm reading this right, they turn liquid into solid?
[B]SOON.[/B]
[img]http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ9Wlr4U7lQbbpR7pJxqBTPVSiPMy1-1RPhgfUbKEOqwil1kpMu[/img]
[img]http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSIVD-_uVjs6FUZJV4JNF3AlTEI7GfQ0cpqWiqSPREo7I2vB8hS[/img][/QUOTE]
Throw water in a the freezer, OMG SOLID!
[QUOTE=farmatyr;35107012]These are cool, here's a DIY version.
@01:00
[video=youtube;snOErpOP5Xk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snOErpOP5Xk[/video][/QUOTE]Damn that's amazing! And it's only going to get better from here on out. Imagine what we'll be able to do with 3D printers 5-10 years from now.
I want to see what it looks like with the bare eye.
[QUOTE=Killer900;35109531]Damn that's amazing! And it's only going to get better from here on out. Imagine what we'll be able to do with 3D printers 5-10 years from now.[/QUOTE]
Hopefully my previous post, though we would have to use something that goes to the molecule level instead of liquid or metal.
Now lets streamline the technology so EVERYONE can afford a ready-made one.
E.Coli can now race, about time
[QUOTE=LtKyle2;35109037]If I'm reading this right, they turn liquid into solid?
[/QUOTE]
You might want to look up this thing called ICE
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