Industrial 3D printing and additive manufacturing company Stratasys has struck a deal with Bre Pettis’ MakerBot to merge in a stock-for-stock transaction. Once finished, MakerBot will act as a subsidiary of Stratasys.
Got a favorite desktop 3D printing or scanning appliance? We want to hear about it!
Last week I caught up with Richard Berwick, co-founder of the Dreambox, at UC Berkeley. The Dreambox is a 3D Printing vending machine.
In partnership with NASA, Made in Space, Inc. recently announced that they’ll be sending one of their custom 3D printers to the International Space Station in August of 2014. The benefits of being able to print in space are clear: envision the potential lowering of NASA’s costs by granting crew members the ability to print new tools and replacement parts.
Translating basic concepts in engineering into surprisingly simple yet powerful parts design tips.
MIT researcher Skylar Tibbits recently revealed some of his fascinating work in the field of self-assembling structures, coined “4D Printing”. The four dimensions in question here aren’t all spacial — the “4D” aspect utilizes three spacial dimensions, in the form of 3D Printing, and an additional time dimension. The parts printed in this way are then submerged in water to facilitate self-assembly.
Yesterday, 3D Printing service Shapeways announced the availability of a new material in their already-impressive lineup, a flexible plastic polymer. Printing with this “Elasto Plastic” will cost $1.75/cm3, and like many of the other materials, is laser-sintered one layer at a time.
