U.S army - Screw 3D printing; it's 4D printing time - Polidicks

[img]http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Photos/3D-03182014.jpg[/img] [I]Four-D printing “takes 3-D printing and adds a transformation dimension,” [/I] [quote=nationaldefense] The military has begun employing 3-D printing to make spare parts and components, but the Army is already exploring the next generation, 4-D printing. Four-D printing “takes 3-D printing and adds a transformation dimension,” Grace Bochenek, the Army’s chief technology officer, told National Defense. The idea is that a 3-D printed component’s properties could be altered when exposed to environmental factors such as water or extreme temperatures. Bochenek envisions body armor as one possible future application of 4-D printing. The Army has struggled over the past decade with the need to field armor that is both protective and light enough to not burden the soldier or restrict movement. Using 4-D printing, scientists could one day develop lightweight, compact body armor that is easy to store and carry, but can expand and offer full coverage. "Armor can be so heavy and bulky, and you have to transport it,” Bochenek said. “If you had a material, and you had a capability to do [4-D printing], maybe [the armor would be] packaged differently, but when it gets into certain environmental conditions, it alters." That kind of technology, however, is still years down the road. The Army is currently focusing on developing materials for 4-D printing, she said. Afterwards, it will have to study how best to manufacture components. While the service has only dipped its toes into 4-D printing, it is diving into 3-D printing applications and development. Although additive manufacturing — another term used for 3-D printing — has been around since the 1980s, recent improvements in software and lasers have allowed the technology to become more widespread, Bochenek said. Gen. Dennis Via, commander of Army Materiel Command, called 3-D printing one of the service’s most promising technologies. In the future, the [B]Army may even have printers embedded with troops so that they can make components for tools, vehicles and weapons on demand[/B], he said last month at the Association of the U.S. Army Winter Symposium and Exposition. Doing so would reduce risk to soldiers deployed in foreign countries who would otherwise have to stockpile parts at a base or have them shipped from the United States, Bochenek said. “You don't have all that supply chain overhead, the transportation, all of those kinds of things that go with the movement of our troops in theater." The Army has already deployed two printers in Afghanistan to produce small parts."It's really revolutionary because it changes the way in which we can potentially do business,” she said. “Everybody recognizes the big potential of it,” including industry, she added. “Just the fact that you don’t have to have a certain number … of production runs to achieve cost-effective parts.” Additive manufacturing is currently used throughout many of the service’s research facilities. For example, scientists from the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., [B]are printing parts for protective masks and holders for improvised explosive device detectors, Bochenek said. The Army’s medical community is experimenting with printing prosthetics.[/B] Its armament research, development and engineering center headquartered at Picatinny Arsenal, N.J., is looking into using it to make explosives, she said. That facility also has employed 3-D printing to make batteries, antennas, fuze elements and wings for unmanned aircraft, according to the Army. At the same time, the service is refining 3-D printing processes and techniques, Bochenek said. “We have to be able to increase the part sizes, and we have to be able to increase the speed of the ability to do this and the kinds of materials we use." Army scientists and engineers informally share information on additive manufacturing, but Bochenek is looking at ways to standardize that process. One option is to create virtual labs where researchers could manage their own technical and modeling data, simulations and business information and connect to other Army scientists.[/quote] [url]http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Posts/Post.aspx?List=7c996cd7-cbb4-4018-baf8-8825eada7aa2&ID=1448[/url] It's about fucking time for my Crysis nanosuit. Soon enough, soldier may even be able to print a car on the battlefield

[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;44288375][img]http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/blog/Lists/Photos/3D-03182014.jpg[/img] [/QUOTE] Accurate representation of 3D printing.

that's not an actual 4th dimension...

[QUOTE=Asgard;44288461]Accurate representation of 3D printing.[/QUOTE] Last time I turned on my 3D printer I had to go to the hospital after an airplane and several pieces of a satellite flew out and hit me in the head. Don't joke man.

I bet there are 4th dimensional beings that are laughing at us

[QUOTE=ROFLBURGER;44288492]I bet there are 4th dimensional beings that are laughing at us[/QUOTE] You can think of time as a 4th dimension. If you do so, an example of a 4th dimensional being would be you with a different age.

So I guess their reasoning behind calling it a '4th' dimension is probably the 'on-demand' printing capabilities in the field, i.e the printer cant print, AT ANY TIME sort of thing. Kind of cool i guess

[QUOTE=ah!panic;44288509]Time is the 4th dimension. An example of a 4th dimensional being would be you with a different age.[/QUOTE] time is not the fourth dimension there is a mathematical spacial fourth dimension, and if string theory is correct there mathematically has to be something like 7 or 8 dimensions

So it doesn't print hypercubes?

[QUOTE=Asgard;44288461]Accurate representation of 3D printing.[/QUOTE] picture from source; and I agree on what you are critiquing

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;44288554]time is not the fourth dimension[/QUOTE] Have fun contemplating a space that is perpendicular to a cube... But seriously, you might be right. Anyway, this printer doesn't create something using four dimensions of space, neither can it print something yesterday or 3 days after it is finished... so it's not 4th dimensional printer. It's more of a 3Ds printer.

[QUOTE=ah!panic;44288509]Time is the 4th dimension. An example of a 4th dimensional being would be you with a different age.[/QUOTE] We typically say there are 3 spatial dimensions and 1 time dimension, but it makes [I]no[/I] sense to call either of them the first, second, third or even fourth.

[QUOTE=Mingebox;44288625]So it doesn't print hypercubes?[/QUOTE] it prints Godus curiosity cubes

[QUOTE=bull3tmagn3t;44288551]So I guess their reasoning behind calling it a '4th' dimension is probably the 'on-demand' printing capabilities in the field, i.e the printer cant print, AT ANY TIME sort of thing. Kind of cool i guess[/QUOTE] read the article, it clearly explains what they mean

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;44288554]time is not the fourth dimension there is a mathematical spacial fourth dimension, and if string theory is correct there mathematically has to be something like 7 or 8 dimensions[/QUOTE] I think its 11 demensions

[QUOTE=EvacX;44288724]We typically say there are 3 spatial dimensions and 1 time dimension, but it makes [I]no[/I] sense to call either of them the first, second, third or even fourth.[/QUOTE] Nice job just quoting minutephysics verbatim.

[QUOTE=ah!panic;44288469]that's not an actual 4th dimension...[/QUOTE] had me excited that the army had invented hypercubes...

This reminds me of when Sony boasted that the Playstation 3 had "4D rendering", since the game could change the scene over time. And yes, we exist in 3 spatial and 1 temporal dimensions, that's why we call it "[URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spacetime"]spacetime[/URL]". Obviously a being existing in 4 spatial dimensions wouldn't refer to time as the 4th dimension, but since we can't interact with them there's really no reason to worry about "offending" them at this point.

still this is a step towards complete printing of devices (though they could use a less confusing naming strategy)

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;44288554]time is not the fourth dimension there is a mathematical spacial fourth dimension, and if string theory is correct there mathematically has to be something like 7 or 8 dimensions[/QUOTE] Yes it is, 5th is all other possibilities and it's 10 to 11 dimensions.

[QUOTE=bull3tmagn3t;44288551]So I guess their reasoning behind calling it a '4th' dimension is probably the 'on-demand' printing capabilities in the field, i.e the printer cant print, AT ANY TIME sort of thing. Kind of cool i guess[/QUOTE] No, it's printing the base parts and then changing it with acid|temperature|water submersion etc

[QUOTE=Instant Mix;44288554]time is not the fourth dimension there is a mathematical spacial fourth dimension, and if string theory is correct there mathematically has to be something like 7 or 8 dimensions[/QUOTE] nono havent you ever seen a 4D movie the 4th dimension is when the seats spritz water on you when its raining in the movie, everyone knows this

The army always gets nice equipment and all the marine corps gets shitty equipment. I mean they got fucking captain america thats not fair

i can just imagine a soldier on the field take out a really small printer and print out like 50 bullets

[QUOTE=Kite_shugo;44288375] Soon enough, soldier may even be able to print a car on the battlefield[/QUOTE] Catch a Riiide!

[QUOTE=Fapplejack;44296267]Catch a Riiide![/QUOTE] I'd fucking love for someone like him to oversee vehicular printing stations with his voice. Make it happen America

Dimension is something you declare in advance depending on the context you want to talk about. I can set up a space where dimension 1 is a distance between my boot and your scrotum, dimension 2 is velocity of my boot and dimension 3 is the volume of your screaming. It would be a relatively pointless albeit very amusing space. In regards of Eucleidian space time it's common to use three orthogonal dimensions and fourth one for time but that doesn't make it the only possible implementation.

[QUOTE=ah!panic;44288702]Have fun contemplating a space that is perpendicular to a cube... But seriously, you might be right. Anyway, this printer doesn't create something using four dimensions of space, neither can it print something yesterday or 3 days after it is finished... so it's not 4th dimensional printer. It's more of a 3Ds printer.[/QUOTE] [img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Tesseract.gif[/img] That's a 4D cube.

[QUOTE=viperfan7;44294060]I think its 11 demensions[/QUOTE] 11-13 actually

[QUOTE=bravehat;44298228][img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/55/Tesseract.gif[/img] That's a 4D cube.[/QUOTE] Worth pointing out its a 4D cube displayed into three dimensional model which is displayed in a two dimensional picture.