Furuflaten School Project
Posted by: cherie | Comment (0)Tagged in: norway, MeshUp, education, 3D printing
Our team has always been interested in community outreach, transferring technology and giving back and inspiring whenever possible.
This year the local school in Furuflaten asked Uformia if we could introduce the students to the world of 3D design and printing. It was impossible to say no to an opportunity like this. The principal and teacher Herdis Marie Larsen who invited us into her classroom, as well as all the other teachers at this school, were truly interested in thinking outside the box and standard curriculum, and opened the classroom up to allow the students to tap into their creativity, get a deeper understanding of mathematics and glimpse into the future.
Top left to right: Joachim, Sigve, Marie, Herdis (the teacher), Sigrid, Anna, Sunniva, Maia.
Seated left to right: Cecilie, Julie.
The main goal of the project was to show the students how easy it is for anyone today to conceive, design, manufacture and then sell objects they have designed. Each student was able to create their own cup design to be printed in ceramic.
Students were tasked with thinking out their design on paper prior to choosing modeling tools.
Basic orthographic and perspective concepts were taught as well as a general understanding of the cartesian coordinate system. A variety of software tools were used to introduce the concept of 3D design.
Thanks to Frode at Eldevik Industridesign, we had access to a hand scanner and offered the ability for the kids to apply their own face scan to their designs.
Using MeshUp, the faces were combined with the cups then blended to create the awesome results seen below (also available at our Shapeways store):
 Anna |
 Cecilia |
 Joachim |
 Julie |
 Maia |
 Marie |
 Sigrid |
 Sigve |
 Sunniva |
 Herdis, the teacher |
We are working with the ceramic printing experts at Figulo to print the cups.
The students finished their cup designs faster than anticipated, so they also co-designed a robot, which would be printed on our EnvisionTec printer in Furuflaten. Each student designed one element of the robot and we combined him with MeshUp. The students dubbed him Bob the Robot.
Bob takes in a little sunshine in Furuflaten, Norway.
Inspired by the students and their teacher, we put Bob up for sale on Shapeways. The proceeds will go towards buying the school their own 3D printer, an Ultimaker. Next year Uformia would love to go back to the school and repeat the experience, and this time the students can also assembly their own 3D printer and print objects right in the classroom.
Help us and Bob the Robot to put a 3D printer in the hands of young students and inspire the future generation of design and engineering!
Hat tip to Intek Lyngen for their help in organizing this project.
Share this post
Two new videos have been posted Vimeo page or our video page:
A simple example of shelling:
Two basic mesh repairs examples:
Also check out the updated status page on MeshUp's progress.
Share this post
Future power plant = plants
Posted by: cherie | Comment (0)Tagged in: technology, digital revolution, bioprinting, 3D printing
Photosynthesis. A relatively simple but highly efficient process of plants using sunlight to split water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen, which produces electrons and creates sugars for the plants growth and reproduction. Plants have evolved this process to a near 100% efficiency -- every photon of sunlight is converted to an equal number of electrons.
To date, even though the sun is the most abundant source of energy on the planet, humans harvest only a small fraction and convert it into energy. Researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to tap into the plants photosynthesis process and capture the electrons before the plant can convert them into sugars. While this work is still in its infancy they do predict that in the near future it could be possible to power remote sensors or other lower powered portable electronic equipment.
But if we imagine beyond this -- what about man made objects that have the intelligence and ability for photosynthesis, such as the vision of the artist Vivien Muller below. Pretty cool, but let's go another step beyond this. One of the areas where there is much R&D in the 3D printing industry is in material science. And not just to produce better plastics, powered metals and even glass,but to use 3D printers with natural materials and for the creation of meta materials. Regenerative medicine is certainly pushing the boundaries here, and will stand to make massive changes to in the human existence. Some researchers are even using 3D printers to produce synthetic meat. In addition, imagine using this same technology to print synthetic wood, even synthetic trees and plants - a forest. It will could look exactly like a natural forest (this would be up to the designer of course), with the addition of electrical plugs.
Far fetched? Less so then you might think.
The possibility of this future is partially what inspired Uformia to develop our new geometric kernel and subsequent tools. In fact if anyone has seen Turlif speak during the last few years, you have heard these ideas before.
So, why all the fuss over the 3D printed gun when we have things like this to discuss?
Via Slashdot
Share this post
The largest test of using 3D printing for direct mass manufacturing will occur at General Electric as they produce complex fuel nozzles for their jet engines. The objective is 25,000 nozzles per year, over the next three years. The first appearance of these parts will be installed in planes in late 2015 / early 2016.
Other divisions of GE will be watching the project as they consider using additive manufacturing in printing parts for gas and wind turbines, and probes for ultrasound machines.
Via International Business Times
Share this post
This new video, available on our Vimeo page or our video page, demonstrates how you can use Envelope to take a broken mesh, with no thickness and very quickly apply thickness and simultaneously repair the mesh. Also there is a first peak at the graphic menu system and gimbal (our gumball).
Share this post
Curious how MeshUp is progressing?
As a way to keep everyone updated on MeshUp's progress, we are posting a running log of graphs and change logs, taken directly from our roadmap and feature tracking. This will be a quick and easy way to post frequent updates. Check back here often!
* When the salmon bar of all items reaches 100%, MeshUp is ready for the early beta release.
* When the blue bar of all items reaches 100%, MeshUp 1.0 RC is ready for the full public release.
Share this post
Tecnologia Humana 3D started 3D printing fetus for diagnostic purposes with high risk pregnancies, they are now using 3D scan data to print replicas of embryos for their Feto 3D project. This service has been successful with helping blind parents make an early connection to their unborn baby after a scan.
Surprisingly, or not, this is not the only place to find such a service. A company in Japan, Fasotec and Hiroo Ladies Clinic, will print a 3D model from CT or MRI scans. The cost is $1,275. Fetus keychains and cellphone dongles are offered for an additional price.
Via 3D Printing Industry and the Verge
Share this post
Slashdot posed the same question we have heard so many times over the last few years: what is holding back 3D printing?
MIT's Technology Review repeats the answer which echos this question time and time again: it is the software that keeps 3D printing from achieving widespread adoption.
"...software innovation could be more important to 3-D printing than gradual improvements in the underlying technology for shaping objects. That technology is already 30 years old and is widely used in industry to create prototypes, molds, and, in some cases, parts for airplanes..."
Exactly. While there are more applications available in the vein then their used to be (OpenSCAD, Autodesk 123D, SketchUp, etc.), that 'killer app' still has not been realized.
Uformia will be throwing our hat into the ring very soon with MeshUp.
Via Slashdot
Share this post
TED Fellow Skylar Tibbits talks about 4D printing, where the fourth dimension is time. This translates to printed objects that can reshape themselves or self-assemble over time.
Think: a printed cube that folds before your eyes, or a printed pipe able to sense the need to expand or contract.
Via TED
Share this post
VRI Troms, Innovation Norway and the Research Council wanted to promote 20 high innovation companies in Northern Norway. Uformia was one of these showcased companies. Below is a rough translation of an excerpt from the article.
Credit to Jørn Indresand for the article and the main photograph.
Deep in the northern Troms, specifically in the small village Furuflaten in Lyngen, Americans Cherie Stamm and Turlif Vilbrandt settled for developing revolutionary software for 3D printing. It is starting to reverberate in an industry with unreal visions for the future.
...
"We're just getting started and scratch the surface of what is possible. The world is facing a new manufacturing revolution, which one can replicate and produce almost any objects directly from a computer. Today it is the software, not the printer itself that is the problem. Until now, software has driven hardware developments. In 3D printing is quite the opposite. This will change radically with our technology, says a very enthusiastic Turlif Vilbrandt. - We have already reached a position where we can push manufacturers of 3D printers to develop machines to deliver higher resolution and be able to combine several materials, he adds."
...
Why Furuflaten?
"Because we can!"
Both Cherie Stamm and Turlif Vilbrandt have extensive experience in programming and software development from a number of places in the world. Five years ago they came to the idyllic Furuflaten in Lyngen. They are mostly met the same question from everyone they meet. Why stay and develop a software company in Furuflaten?
"The answer is simple: Because we can, says Cherie and smiles broadly."
Share this post
