Rapid
prototyping speeds development of bike engine
--
stereolithography enables an
entrepreneurial enterprise to move quickly.
(4/1/04)Applications ― How rapid prototyping is used in manufacturing, medicine, art, and architecture
Rapid
prototyping speeds development of bike engine
--
stereolithography enables an
entrepreneurial enterprise to move quickly.
(4/1/04)
Z Corporation targets architects -- A new distribution deal with Charrette is designed to push rapid prototyping beyond its traditional manufacturing boundaries. However, getting architects on board is proving to be a challenge. (3/25/04)
Building better sprinklers -- Rapid prototyping has become standard practice at sprinkler-maker Toro, enabling it to shorten product-development schedules and cut costs. (2/5/04)
Rapid prototyping fights pollution -- Researchers at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory are using stereolithography models to find new ways to fight pollution. (1/15/04)
Telesculpture
2003 -- San Francisco’s Exploratorium employs rapid prototyping to
render a virtual art exhibit.
(11/6/03)
Revolutionary
implants from rapid prototyping -- Interpore
Cross is using Solidscape’s inkjet rapid prototyping system to make its new
spinal implants. (10/9/03)
Casting with rapid prototyping -- Making patterns for sand casting is costly and takes time. When only a few parts are needed, rapid prototyping offers an economic alternative. (9/18/03)
Students
help medical manufacturer cut costs -- Tasked with reducing the cost of
a medical device, a team from the University of Florida employs
stereolithography models to test new designs and communicate its ideas to its
industrial partner. Learn why picking the right resin made a difference.
(9/11/03)
Rapid
prototyping helps keep firefighters safe -- When the Bullard Company
needed to step up its rapid prototyping, it purchased an FDM system from
Stratasys. It now uses rapid prototypes for everything from design review to
physical testing. (9/4/03)
Rapid
prototyping makes unique products -- Stereolithography and laser
sintering free the designers of a new line of lamps from the constraints of
traditional manufacturing. (7/17/03)
Rapid
prototyping builds better bones -- A new technology developed by
Advanced Ceramic Research uses freeform fabrication to build bone
implants. (6/26/03)
Rapid
prototyping system pays for itself on first job --
Military contractor E-OIR bought a Stratasys Dimension to make
production parts and saved enough on a single job to pay for the machine and
purchase a second. (5/15/03)
Rapid
prototyping for the blind -- The National Federation for the Blind wants
to use rapid prototyping to establish a lending library of three-dimensional
models. (3/27/03)
Houses
of the future -- Could rapid prototyping be used to manufacture
custom houses? A team at the University of Southern California is working
to make it happen. (3/13/03).
Stereolithography
parts simulate osteoporosis
-- Researchers in Britain
are using rapid prototyping to model the internal structures of bones in
order to validate computer simulations.
(2/27/03)
Virtual
medical modeling and rapid surgical templates
-- Doctors in the United
Kingdom are using virtual models to plan surgeries. Rapid prototyping
templates created from computer models ensure that the operations go exactly
as planned. (2/13/03)
Rapid
prototyping large objects --
Materialise of Belgium demonstrates its ability to build large
single-piece rapid prototypes by making a full-size copy of a Greek statue.
(2/6/03)
Printing body parts -- Much discussion has recently unfolded regarding the possible use of embryonic stem cells to grow human organs. To those involved with rapid prototyping, the question arises: Why not just print them? (1/30/03)
Integrated
CAD, CAE, and rapid prototyping speeds yacht design -- In the rarefied world of custom yacht design, details
matter. A combination of software and rapid prototyping is helping a New Zealand
firm make sure every aspect of a super-yacht is perfect.
(12/05/02)
Prototype ordering made simple -- A new service makes getting concept models as easy as ordering from Amazon.com (8/29/2002)
Rapid
prototyping helps separate conjoined twins --
Doctors at
UCLA’s Mattel Hospital used biomodels built with an Objet Tempo
to plan the complicated procedure. (8/15/2002)
Rapid
prototyping helps whale return to the wild
-- Keiko, the star of the 1993 film Free Willy, is gradually being
reintroduced to his Icelandic home waters. Moeller Design used rapid prototyping
to build a custom radio-tracking tag for the whale. (8/8/02)
Rapid
prototyping for three-dimensional mapmaking -- For centuries, mapmakers
have struggled with ways to represent the earth on flat
paper. With rapid prototyping, it’s possible to print full-color
three-dimensional maps. (7/25/02)
Laser sintering makes custom hearing aids -- A rapid prototyping technique makes hearing aids faster and better than conventional handcrafting. (6/27/02)
Rapid prototyping service trends -- For the past decade, the Rapid Prototyping Report’s Rapid Prototyping Directory has been the world’s most complete listing of rapid prototyping service bureaus, equipment manufacturers, materials suppliers, and other rapid prototyping-related companies. Now available online at CADCAMNet, the directory is a good place to look for industry trends. Since this time last year, we find the number of service providers has only increased slightly while the number of machines in use has continued to rise steadily
Rapid wind-tunnel models -- Designers can spend weeks building prototype airplanes for wind-tunnel testing. A team of students from North Carolina State University used rapid prototyping to make wind-tunnel models more quickly.
A royal rapid prototype -- Recently, stereolithography helped create an innovative crown for Holland’s new Princess Maxima.
Rapid prototyping helps Coleman bring Olympic flame to Salt Lake -- At the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, the Olympic torch was ignited from a flame that had traveled by torch relay from Athens, Greece. The individual torches that passed the flame from person to person were designed and built by the Coleman Company of Wichita, Kansas. Coleman used rapid prototyping for everything from design review to creating investment-casting patterns.
Biomolecular modeling -- Tim Herman of the Center for Biomolecular Modeling at the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) is exploring the use of rapid prototyping to make physical models of molecules directly from atomic maps.
Cracking the secrets of an ancient egg -- Giant flightless birds roamed the jungles of Madagascar as recently as 300 years ago. Their eggs, each holding about two gallons of embryonic material, were larger than those of any dinosaur. Now researchers at the University of Texas are using rapid prototyping to replicate the embryo inside an elephant bird egg without cracking it.
Rottefella tests rapid prototype ski bindings -- Rottefella, the world’s leading maker of ski bindings for telemark and cross-country skiing, has cut a year off the time it takes to bring new products to market by using rapid prototypes for functional tests.
WaterClear lets DeWalt check operation of new drill -- An easy way to spot interferences or wasted space in a power-tool design is to build a transparent housing for a tool and then simply observe how an assembled prototype functions. On a recent project, DeWalt Power Tools had Design Prototyping Technologies (DPT) of East Syracuse, New York, build an optically clear housing for a new hand-held drill using DSM Somos’ new WaterClear stereolithography resin.
Optically clear stereolithography resin enhances firefighter safety -- Thanks to DSM Somos' new WaterClear resin, Morris Technologies, Inc., a rapid prototyping service provider in Cincinnati, has built prototypes of optically clear face shields for firefighters' self-contained breathing apparatus without employing secondary processes.
Rapid prototyping rescues family from dinosaurs -- This summer’s blockbuster movie, Jurassic Park III, gives a pivotal role to rapid prototyping.
Rapid prototyping helps diving masks get wet more quickly -- Pete Ryan of Diving Systems International (DSI) in Santa Barbara, California designs some of the world's most advanced scuba-diving facemasks. Rapid prototyping has shortened the development time for a new mask from two or three yeas to just a few months.
Rapid prototyping helps Sandia get small -- They may be the world's smallest autonomous robots, and rapid prototyping is playing a key role in their development. At one-quarter cubic inch in size and weighing just seven grams each, Sandia National Laboratories' new mini-robots can sit on a dime. Sandia envisions similar robots one day performing such tasks as disarming land mines, scrambling through pipes, or sneaking into buildings to monitor conversations.
Tooling news -- Optomec has tested two injection-mold inserts built with its laser-engineered-net-shaping (LENS) process. These tests demonstrate that conformal cooling may reduce mold cycle time and thus improve productivity.
Rapid prototyping custom dental implants -- According to the American Dental Association, approximately 113 million American adults are missing at least one tooth, and 19 million have no teeth at all. Many of these people use dentures or bridges to replace their missing teeth. But removable dentures can be uncomfortable and troublesome, and they often provide a patient with only a fraction of the chewing force of natural teeth. Fixed bridges are more effective than dentures but typically require that adjacent healthy teeth be ground to stubs in order to accommodate caps. In recent years, many dentists have turned to dental implants as a better way of replacing missing teeth. Dr. Stephen Schmitt, a dentist in San Antonio, Texas, uses a combination of digital imaging, CAD, and rapid prototyping to make custom dental implants.
Concept modeler speeds handheld scanner development -- -- -- Symbol Technologies of Holtsville, New York, builds a variety of handheld computers and laser bar‑code scanners used in retailing, transportation, logistics, warehousing, manufacturing, health care, education, government, and military applications. In recent years, the company has almost completely abandoned drawing boards and sketchpads in favor of digital design tools such as Alias Studio and SDRC's I-DEAS CAD software. Now, a ThermoJet three-dimensional printer from 3D Systems is making modeling foam a thing of the past.
Tips and tricks from the rp-ml -- The rp-ml Internet mailing list provides a great way to exchange ideas and chat with rapid prototypers from around the world. Discussions range from questions about specific rapid prototyping materials or processes to speculation about what the future of rapid prototyping might hold. Recently, the list provided some great tips about cleaning ThermoJet parts.
RP helps speed new vacuum cleaner to market -- The Oreck Corporation of New Orleans manufactures some of the world’s best vacuum cleaners. Recently, by bringing rapid prototyping in-house, Oreck was able to cut approximately five months off the development of its new Dual Stack vacuum. The company also realized a potential savings in tooling costs that it estimates at several hundred thousand dollars.
May the rapid prototyping force be with you -- When Karl Meyer started Gentle Giant Studios in Burbank, California, rapid prototyping didn't exist. Now, he says, his business could hardly survive without it. Gentle Giant develops three-dimensional models for Hollywood and the entertainment industry and owns three 3D Systems ThermoJet modelers and one SLA-250 stereolithography system that Meyer says run around the clock.
Rapid prototyping helps Reebok stay on course -- Over the past few years, the sport of golf has seen a dramatic rise in popularity. With ever-increasing numbers of players, however, many golf courses are attempting to minimize the trauma to their meticulously groomed greens caused by so much foot traffic. To this end, some courses and clubs are discouraging or even banning traditional metal-spiked golf shoes. Good traction, however, is essential for a good golf swing. Reebok's golf division recently used DTM's selective laser sintering to develop a new spikeless golf shoe sole.
Rapid Prototyping helps robots build themselves -- When we think of robots, we tend to think of them as resembling human beings -- Commander Data of Star Trek or C3PO of Star Wars. But there’s no reason a robot should look, or act, like a human being. Brandeis researchers are working on a program that will let robots evolve through a process akin to natural selection, and then build themselves with freeform fabrication.
Freeform fabrication for architecture -- If rapid prototyping can be used to build cars and airplanes, why, asks architect Kevin Rotheroe, can’t it also be used to make buildings? Rotheroe is pioneering the use of rapid prototyping to make freeform architectural structures.
Rapid prototyping solves mystery murder -- In July 1999 two canoeists on the Wisconsin River discovered a dismembered body. The skin of the victim’s face had been cut away making identification impossible. After months of tracking down leads to no avail, detectives turned to rapid prototyping to build a replica of the victim’s skull for use as the basis for a forensic facial reconstruction.
Rapid prototyping helps bring dinosaur to life -- Paleontologists at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. had a problem. One of the dinosaurs in the National Museum of Natural History was literally falling apart. The Smithsonian’s triceratops skeleton, originally mounted in 1905, was in danger of collapse. With the help of the rapid prototyping community, the Smithsonian was able to digitize the dinosaur’s skeleton and use rapid prototyping to make patterns for casting replacement bones.
Rapid prototyping helps UK company develop a new pump -- PAPA Pumps, located in Cornwall, England, makes hydraulic-ram pumps, primarily for agriculture. Traditionally, PAPA has manufactured its pumps by casting them from stainless steel or bronze and then machining the castings. This process is expensive and time-consuming. PAPA used prototypes made from DTM's Duraform to see if it could make similar pumps from injection-molded plastic.
Rapid prototyping steps up to custom manufacturing -- Traditional braces require metal caps be cemented to each tooth. Teeth are moved by tightening wires connected to the caps. Many adults don't get needed orthodontic work because they don't want a mouth full of metal and can't spare the time for biweekly trips to the orthodontist to have the wires tightened. Align Technology has developed a new system for straightening teeth that uses rapid prototyping to make a series of nearly-invisible aligners that eliminate the need for traditional braces.
Rapid prototyping helps Design Continuum make ideas real -- Industrial design is as much art as it is science. Traditionally, top industrial designers have preferred working in such media as pencil and paper, clay, and sculpting foam, instead of electronic design tools such as computer aided design software and rapid prototyping. This month we see how Design Continuum is using rapid prototyping to change the way designs progress.
Selective laser sintering helps roll out new skate -- Roller skating is one of the fastest-growing sports in the United States. When V-Formation, a skate manufacturer in Lincoln Park, New Jersey, recently decided to introduce a new line of hockey skates, sized for children, it turned to rapid prototyping. Now after months of test skating, V-Formation has still been unable to break one of its prototype frames.
3D Keltool speeds tooling for new ACCO stapler -- When ACCO Brands decided to introduce a stapler with aggressive new styling, it wanted several thousand prototypes to use for product testing, focus groups, and manufacturing-process planning before committing to production tooling. And it needed the prototype staplers to be made of the same materials that ultimately would be used for production. So ACCO turned to Fusion Engineering to have 3D Keltool molds made.
Z-402 used to build diesel motorcycle engines -- For centuries, armies have relied on horses to take troops and supplies into places that are inaccessible to other vehicles. Since World War II, motorcycles have largely replaced horses, giving soldiers the mobility to go where no roads exist. With advances in technology, the potential advantages to be gained by the field use of motorcycles are constantly increasing. But while other battlefield vehicles, from trucks to tanks, use diesel fuel, all motorcycles to date have run on gasoline. Having to provide a unique fuel, just for motorcycles, creates logistical nightmares. So recently, the United States Marine Corps decided to see if it could use rapid prototyping to develop a motorcycle that could operate on diesel fuel.
Rapid prototyping helps celebrate new millennium -- In the center of London's Millennium Dome sculpture park will be a work called the Quantum Cloud. Standing 95 feet tall, the artwork, which also has come to be known as the Millennium Man, will be made of a lattice-like structure of more than 3,500 interlocking steel tubes that will sway in the wind. And without rapid prototyping, say its designers, it could not have been built in time for the millennial celebration.
Selective laser sintering parts used directly in spacecraft production -- There's been much discussion lately about whether rapid prototyping technologies will ever be capable of making real products instead of only concept models or prototypes. Recently, a project conducted by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California, demonstrated that, for at least some applications, the era of direct rapid manufacturing might already have arrived.
Metal forming using rapid prototyping -- Most often, rapid prototyping processes are used to create prototype parts for design review, fit and assembly verification, and limited functional testing. But rapid prototyping techniques can also be used to make tooling for traditional manufacturing processes. This month, we look at Northrop Grumman's use of rapid prototyping parts as patterns for sheet-metal forming.
Rapid prototyping used to make burn masks -- When a person is severely burned, extraordinary steps must be taken to prevent or minimize the formation of scar tissue during healing. Such tissue is not only unsightly, it is also painful and restricts movement. According to Jennifer Whitestone, president of Total Contact, Inc. of Germantown, Ohio, rapid prototyping is a key component in a new technique that greatly reduces post-burn scarring.
Toyota uses fused deposition modeling to bypass prototype tooling -- The Toyota Technical Center’s Plymouth lab is using rapid prototypes made by Stratasys’s fused deposition modeling technology as masters for cast-urethane prototypes, in many cases eliminating prototype tooling altogether.
Volvo Penta uses direct RapidSteel prototypes -- When it needed metal prototypes of bearing-retaining rings for a new sterndrive, Volvo Penta turned to Paramount Industries to build direct metal parts.
Concept modeler from Z Corporation helps Orion Research design medical laser -- How is a concept model different from a prototype? Sam Millen of Orion Research tells how he used his company's new Z402 modeler to build more than 50 concept models to aid in the design of a new laser for cosmetic surgery.
Biomet uses Stratasys ABS parts as casting patterns -- Conventional investment-casting patterns are made from wax. But making tooling to produce wax patterns is costly and time consuming. We visit Biomet and learn how it is using casting patterns made from Stratasys's ABS material to make as many as 60 implantable casting each month.
Could Microfabrication be rapid prototyping's killer application? -- From the earliest days of automated fabrication, industry watchers have been looking for a so--called “killer application” — one that will push demand beyond traditional prototyping into a much larger universe. High--value applications are the Holy Grail of all new technologies. This month we look at a new technique for making microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) called electrochemical fabrication (EFAB). Developed by USC's Information Sciences Institute under a project headed by former 3D Systems employee Adam Cohen, EFAB may make it possible to make tiny device that are impossible to manufacture using other common MEMS techniques.
Rapid prototyping helps duplicate the structure of life -- Boston's Molecular Geodesics, Inc. is developing a new class of "biomimetic" materials that mimic the microstructural organization, mechanical responsiveness, and biocatalytic activities of living cells and tissues. MGI's strategy is to look at the underlying structures that provide living cells and tissues their strength, flexibility, and porosity, and develop ways to apply these structures to man-made products. To further this work, MGI is working with Laser Fare to make rapid prototyping models of its unique structures. This month we explain how rapid prototyping may make it possible to build "smart" materials in entirely new ways.
Rapid prototyping builds karma for the next millennium. Rapid prototyping is good at building relatively small objects. What about something really big? This month, we describe how rapid prototyping technologies are being used to help design what will be the largest statue in the world -- a 500-foot-tall Buddha. Salt Lake City's Javelin, in conjunction with the University of Utah, used layered manufacturing techniques to build a 25-foot tall model of the statue.
When Michigan Critical Care Consultants, Inc. (MC3) of Ann Arbor, Michigan received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop an artificial lung, company president Patrick Montoya decided to see if rapid prototyping could be used to save time and expense. Utilizing models built on a Stratasys FDM-2000, MC3 has now built rapid prototypes that are actually undergoing animal tests.
Body doubles via rapid prototyping -- Have you ever wanted wondered how Hollywood costume designers make those elaborate outfits? We visit Cyberform Corporation and find out how it is using a sophisticated three-dimensional digitizer to collect personal body data and turn it into personalized dress forms.