Engineer Uses 3D Printing, Xbox Parts to Change Manual Transmission. The daunting forces of driving nature (for some, at least) that are manual transmissions might be getting a little easier, as a junior engineer from Ford has recently created a futuristic knob that tells you when it's time to shift gears.
Zach Nelson, the engineer behind the project, paired video game technology with 3D printing to put the contraption together. The device connects to an Android tablet and Ford's open-source software system, so the smart shifter can provide drivers with real-time data. Made of an Xbox 360 controller's feedback motor, an Arduino controller and other custom parts, the goal of the device is to make the handling easier on the driver by having technology do more of the thinking.
Take an in-depth look at how it works, below: The shifter essentially vibrates when it's time for drivers to change gears — which, as Nelson points out, could not only be a great learning tool, but also a safer way of jumping from one gear to the next (eyes always on the road). NASA certifies first 3D printer for use in space. News: a 3D printer approved by NASA will be flown to the International Space Station next year so astronauts can print components, tools and equipment on-demand in space.
Manufactured by Made in Space in collaboration with NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, the machine is the first 3D printer certified safe to withstand conditions of space travel and operate in microgravity conditions. Experiments were undertaken during four microgravity flights lasting two hours each. Researchers develop 3D-printed flying drones capable of self-assembly. News: a research team in Zürich has created a flock of helicopter robots that can detect each others' positions and join together to create a larger flying machine.
The Distributed Flight Array (DFA) has been developed by a team of researchers at the Institute for Dynamic Systems and Control (IDSC) at ETH Zürich university in Switzerland. 3D-printed Robohand helps children born without fingers. How 3D printing will change architecture and construction. Forward-thinking designers are using 3D printing to blow architecture wide open, as Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs reports in this extract from Print Shift, our one-off publication dedicated to the developing technology.
The race to build the first 3D-printed house has begun. Teams of architects in London and Amsterdam are competing to produce the first habitable printed structure, using technology that could transform the way buildings are made. Though they all have the same objective, the teams are investigating very different materials and fabrication methods. The starting pistol was fired by Dutch studio Universe Architecture, who, in January of this year, unveiled designs for a looping two-storey house that resembles a Möbius strip and will be printed on site, in concrete. Shortly after, UK architects Softkill Design announced plans for Protohouse 2.0, a single-storey dwelling with a fibrous structure resembling bone growth.
"It's a very historical piece," says Dini. Amsterdam architects plan 3D-printed canal house. News: Dutch studio DUS Architects has joined the race to build the first 3D-printed house with plans to print a full-size canal house in Amsterdam.
DUS Architects will print components for the house on-site using a purpose-built printer called the KamerMaker (above and below) and plan to start work in the next six months. "This year we want to print the entire facade and the first room bit by bit," architect Hedwig Heinsman told Dezeen. "Then in the following months and years we will print other rooms. " The KamerMaker, which is Dutch for "room maker", is 3.5 metres high and sits inside a shipping container. Michael Hansmeyer: Building unimaginable shapes. Prototype unveiled for world’s first 3D-printed room. News: architects Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger have revealed a prototype for the world’s first 3D-printed room.
Named Digital Grotesque and due to be unveiled on 22 July, the full-scale ornate room by Michael Hansmeyer and Benjamin Dillenburger will have 80 million surfaces rendered in smooth sandstone, with certain parts glazed and gilded. A 1:3 scale prototype of the room was shown at the Swiss Arts Awards 2013 in Basel and at the Materializing Exhibition in Tokyo this month. Generated using 3D-modelling software, the room will be constructed from grains of sand bonded together to create a new type of sandstone that's capable of achieving the intricate form. Despite the ornate style of the room, Hansmeyer says they are exploring "new potentials of digital design by using a reduced, minimalist approach that nonetheless transcends rationality.
" 3D printing with "undo" function developed by SCI-Arc student. News: a masters student at the Southern California Institute of Architecture in Los Angeles has developed a method of using a robotic arm to 3D print objects in a tank of gel, allowing freeform printing without the need for support structures and potentially adding an "undo" function to remove errors (+ movie).
The gel supports the liquid resin deposited by the robot while it hardens, overcoming a shortcoming of other 3D printing technologies, where structures to prevent the objects from collapsing need to be printed along with the objects themselves. The process also allows for vector-based printing, meaning the print head can move in three dimensions rather than having to build up objects from extremely thin two-dimensional layers. Brian Harms developed the Suspended Depositions process as part of the ESTm (Emerging Systems and Technologies) course at SCI-Arc. Harms' project follows other recent breakthroughs in "freeform" - or unsupported - 3D printing. Here's some text from Harms: German police will print and test a 3D printed gun. News: police in Germany plan to 3D print a gun to test whether the weapon can pass through security checks undetected.
According to a report on GigaOM, police officers have bought a 3D printer and will also explore whether printed weapons could be used by the police themselves. Twisting Dump Truck Inspired by Gothic Architecture. Twisted Dump Truck is an aptly titled sculpture by Belgian artist Wim Delvoye that depicts exactly what you'd think with a Gothic aesthetic.
The nickeled, laser-cut stainless steel structure is an intricately detailed piece that is as much a representation of a truck as it is a cathedral. The architectural influence is undeniable, making for an intriguing amalgamation. The scaled model (1:5) presents an almost cartoonish display of a sophisticated design gone awry. Like a derailed train, mid-derailment, the animated composition features an exaggeration of twisting and turning.
Digital modeling and fabrication. Digital modeling and fabrication is a process that joins design with the Construction / Production through the use of 3D modeling software and additive and subtractive manufacturing processes.
These tools allow designers to produce digital materiality, which is something greater than an image on screen, and actually tests the accuracy of the software and computer lines. Computer milling and fabrication integrate the computer assisted designs with that of the construction industry. In this process, the sequence of operations becomes the critical characteristic in procedure. Architects can propose complex surfaces, where the properties of materials should push the design.
Modeling[edit] Digitally fabricated objects are created with a variety of CAD software packages, using both 2D vector drawing, and 3D modeling. Machines for fabrication[edit] CNC router[edit] CNC stands for computer numerical control. Laser Cutter[edit] 3D Printers[edit]