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. Each robot has a 3D-printed hexagonal plastic chassis with magnets fixed to the sides of the frame and a single propeller fitted in the middle. Independently, the honeycomb-shaped robots fly in an erratic and uncontrolled way. Each independent module exchanges information with the others and uses sensors to determine how much thrust it needs for the array to take off and maintain flight. "The Distributed Flight Array is a flying platform consisting of multiple autonomous single propeller vehicles that are able to drive, dock with their peers and fly in a coordinated fashion," explains the IDSC. Watch a video of the DFA system in action here:
World's First 3D-Printed Architecture by Smith | Allen Bryan Allen and Stephanie Smith of Smith Allen Studio may have created the world’s first 3D-printed architecture with their Echoviren structure. Made of assembled 3D-printed bricks, Echoviren was a site responsive, 3D printed architectural installation as part of the Project 387 Residency. The building was assembled deep in the heart of a redwood forest. Spanning 10x10x8 feet, Echoviren is a translucent white structure that pops out in the natural forest environment, but when inside, its frame makes your eye go up, up high to the canopy of the forest. Echoviren was fabricated, printed, and assembled on site by the designers and the structure was assembled utilizing a paneled snap fit connection to create a smooth surface.
The Achilles’ Heel of 3D Printing We think we know what makes things expensive to make We’ve all got a surprisingly clear idea of exactly what it is that makes something really difficult and hideously expensive to produce: serious complexity. The cost of just about everything we make goes up exponentially as the physical functionality of its innards gets more sophisticated (big things containing motors and gears, for example, are rarely ‘as cheap as chips’: even silicon chips are only cheap because, despite their enormous complexity, we can and do make them in enormous quantities). But there’s an exception In 3D printing, our whole intuitive concept of ‘cost related to complexity’ is turned on its head. The cost of creating things using a 3D printer ‘goes down with complexity’: the more complex the item being printed, the less it costs to print it. Complexity actually reduces 3D printing costs, are you serious? The notorious 3D printing ‘complexity paradox’ greater complexity = more + bigger voids = less ink = lower cost
Engineering 3D-printed stem cells Inside the stem cell printer. While much has been said on the topic of 3D printing within the context of the maker movement, it is in the medical world where arguably the most important advances are being made. Scientists at the Heriot-Watt University in Scotland have recently proven they can print human embryonic stem cells, a breakthrough which has the potential to revolutionise organ replacement in the coming years. The printer is able to print clusters of the embryonic stem cells delicately enough that they don’t get harmed in the process – this is done by using a series of microvalves. Valve based printing Dr. The cells maintained their important biological function of pluripotency Maintaining the pluripotency of each cell is key because this will allow for stem cells to make any type of organ or tissue and while 3D printing cells has been achieved previously, Dr. Dr. Ending drug testing on animals For a lot of human diseases it is best to use human tissue to test drugs Dr.
'Solar Sinter' by Markus Kayser is a solar powered 3D printer that uses sand as source material #3dprinting #environment #energy #rca Amongst the wonderful collection of work currently on show at the Royal College of Art, in the corner on the first floor sits an installation/object by Markus Kayser called Solar Sinter. An MA Design Products student project, Solar Sinter is probably one of the most inspiring projects this year, aiming to raise questions about the future of manufacturing and triggers dreams of the full utilisation of the production potential of the world’s most efficient energy resource - the sun. In a world increasingly concerned with questions of energy production and raw material shortages, this project explores the potential of desert manufacturing, where energy and material occur in abundance. In August 2010 Markus Kayser took his first solar machine – the Sun-Cutter (see video below) – to the Egyptian desert in a suitcase. The Solar-Sinter was completed in mid-May and later that month Markus took this experimental machine to the Sahara desert near Siwa, Egypt, for a two week testing period.
A 3D printer that manufactures new cancer drugs with drag-and-drop DNA Although, my profs have lamented (many times) that the efficiency of combinatorial chemistry to screen for new drugs is ridiculously low for its cost. De novo synthesis has been responsible for only 1 FDA approved drug (Sorafenib: a tyrosine kinase inhibitor used to treat kidney and liver cancer), although quite a few more are working their way through trials. Most drug discoveries still depends on regular scientists stumbling onto something by serendipity or by following leads produced by those studying plant/animal/mineral sources. Right now, this kind of high-throughput robotic screening is mostly done to polish an already discovered molecule to adjust it's pharmacologic profiles (which is how we now have so many different types of taxanes). oops, I think I confused rational drug design (what you are talking about) which pure combinatorial chemistry (which the machine in the article facilitates and is a more scattershot "toss everything on the wall and see what sticks" approach).
3D Printing Droplet Networks Peter Rothman Oxford University scientists have demonstrated a custom-built programmable 3D printer which can create materials with several of the properties of living tissues. The new type of material consists of thousands of connected water droplets, encapsulated within lipid films, which can perform some of the functions of the cells inside our bodies. These printed 'droplet networks' could be the building blocks of a new kind of technology for delivering drugs and potentially one day replacing or interfacing with damaged human tissues. The team report their findings in this week's Science: 'We aren't trying to make materials that faithfully resemble tissues but rather structures that can carry out the functions of tissues,' said Professor Hagan Bayley of Oxford University's Department of Chemistry, who led the research. Each droplet is an aqueous compartment about 50 microns in diameter.
Scientists Create New Ear Using 3D Printing And Living Cell Injections WASHINGTON -- Printing out body parts? Cornell University researchers showed it's possible by creating a replacement ear using a 3-D printer and injections of living cells. The work reported Wednesday is a first step toward one day growing customized new ears for children born with malformed ones, or people who lose one to accident or disease. It's part of the hot field of tissue regeneration, trying to regrow all kinds of body parts. If it pans out, "this enables us to rapidly customize implants for whoever needs them," said Cornell biomedical engineer Lawrence Bonassar, who co-authored the research published online in the journal PLoS One. This first-step work crafted a human-shaped ear that grew with cartilage from a cow, easier to obtain than human cartilage, especially the uniquely flexible kind that makes up ears. Wednesday's report is "a nice advancement," said Dr. Three-dimensional printers, which gradually layer materials to form shapes, are widely used in manufacturing.
Apres l'imprimante 3D, l'imprimante biologique.. Une machine à téléporter la vie ? Il a déchiffré le génome humain, crée le premier être de synthèse – une bactérie – il se prépare désormais à « téléporter la vie ». S’il y a bien un homme qui joue à se prendre pour Dieu, c’est Craig Venter. Ce chercheur controversé planche aujourd’hui sur un « convertisseur biologique digital » qui devrait permettre de télécharger des séquences d’ADN numérisées pour synthétiser artificiellement virus, protéines, et même cellules vivantes. Plutôt que d’aller en pharmacie chercher ses antibiotiques, pourrons-nous un jour « imprimer » directement nosantibiotiques depuis chez nous ? L’homme l’affirme avec assurance : « il ne s’agit pas d’extrapolation fantaisistes sur l’avenir. [Vidéo] Conférence TED : Craig Venter explique comment la synthèse artificielle de la vie va révolutionner la recherche en biologie Imprimer des extraterrestres ? « La vie est le logiciel de l’ADN », explique Craig Venter, qui s’attache actuellement à créer la première « cellule récipient universelle ».