Move over, IKEA: New 'smart foam' furniture can build itself. Super Powers! What comes after 3 D printing, why 4 D printing of course. Posted on May, 30 2013 @ 07:23 AM If the 3D printers used Titanium and Nickel nano-powders instead of plastics, then the movement would not be restricted to just one direction, once only...you would effectively be printing a Nitinol based product, which can move repeatedly back and forth depending on temperature applied to it.
In the example the guy in the video gives of one day building pumpless water pipes, a expanding and contracting section(s) of the pipe made from Nitinol, will achieve the ability of a mechanical pump, without parts that wear out. Simply apply heat and cold to pump the water, etc. Nitinol actually get's stronger, the more it is flexed back and forth. The same method could be applied to print monofilament Nitinol based wires, at the nano-scale. Coat those Nitinol nano-fibres in several layers of monoatomic Graphene and you have artificial muscle fibres that can quickly store and release energy at the local level.
4D Printing. You probably haven’t even had time to get used to the concept of 3D printing yet, only a few days ago, it became public knowledge that a group of scientists are working on the development of an enhancement that is being termed 4D printing.
This all came to light at the recent TED conference that took place in Los Angeles when Skylar Tibbits who is a computer scientist and architect at the self-assembly laboratory of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), made the dramatic announcement. Mr Tibbits was able to provide a demonstration of the way that the process enables the self-assembly of objects to take place. 4D printing could be used for so many things such as in the installation of objects that are not all that accessible such as in water pipes that have been laid below ground or as self-assembly furniture.
During the conference, Mr Tibbits, who is a TED fellow, was able to explain exactly what was involved with the extra dimension. 4D Printing Is The Future Of 3D Printing And It’s Already Here. 3D printing is over 20 years old, but it feels like we’re just finally starting to truly unlock the potential of the technology.
The continued march of technology is relentless, however, and some inventors are already thinking about what comes next. The next big thing may very well be 4D printing, a new technology from Skylar Tibbits, an architect, designer and computer scientist. The core concept behind this new technology is self assembly. It may sound strange and far out, but it’s actually quite simple. 4D printing is being billed as a process where synthetic objects can change and adapt themselves to the environment. 4D Printing Could be the Future of Manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM) is still at the stage where many people have no idea what the technology is about or what it can produce.
More often than not, when I tell someone I write about 3D printing, I get a blank stare in response. Even when I describe the technology for those few that are interested enough to ask questions, I get the distinct impression that they either don’t believe what I’m saying, or think I’m exaggerating. Imagine, then, the response that Skylar Tibbits must get when he talks about 4D printing, otherwise known as self-assembly. If people think I’m crazy when I talk about how AM can manufacture a new ear for someone or build a working prototype of a complex part in hours, I can only speculate on what they think when Tibbits starts explaining about parts that are capable of putting themselves together.
This structure formed itself from a chain of self-assembling material. Below you’ll find a couple of videos about 4D printing. Source: TED. What Is 4D Printing? Editor’s Note: Our graphic design team has been inviting guest writes to share information about the quickly accelerating 3D printing industry on our blog for some time.
But have ever heard of 4D printing? If you didn’t, you should read this article. And if you did, this article will expand your knowledge about the new 4D technology. The world of technology moves at warp speed. Just when we're trying to wrap our heads around the latest concept that is promising to change our lives, a new and improved version comes along. ICFF becomes first major design fair placing 3D printing to the fore. News: next month's International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York will be the first major design fair to place 3D printing and digital fabrication at the core of its programme, with a four-day series of workshops introducing the hardware and software that could change the face of design, manufacturing and distribution (+ interview).
DesignX, which takes place from 18 to 21 May alongside ICFF, will comprise 15 one and two-hour workshops on topics including 3D printing, online product customisation, parametric design and even 4D printing – the nascent technology of programming materials capable of self-assembly. "At [...] these trade shows, you typically have a very large audience who attend over multiple days," explains Ronnie Parsons, a 3D printing expert from New York studio Mode Collective, who will lead the event's 3D printing workshops with design partner Gil Akos.
Attendees can sign up for any number of workshops individually, but must already be registered to attend ICFF. 4D printing: The extra D is for self-assembleD. 3D printing is pretty easy to explain — normal printers work in 2D (length and width) while a 3D printer also handles height.
To add height in any real sense you can’t just lay down more ink, you need an additive process that can actually build something, like meat or a gun. So when MIT’s Skylar Tibbits discussed 4D printing at TED this week (the video of the talk is not available yet), the obvious question was what’s the fourth dimension? Usually the fourth dimension, when one is talking about such things, is time (at least when you are thinking in a non-Euclidean sense). 4D printing materials capable of self-assembly.