3D printing with light, in Nature and Science last week - video and GIF

[Jon]

Instead of building by deposition, 3D printer that builds by projecting light into a solidifying resin. Featured last week in Nature and Science. 2:09 video:

They nicknamed it 'the replicator' — in homage to the machines in the Star Trek saga that can materialize virtually any inanimate object.

Researchers have unveiled a 3D printer that creates an entire object at once, rather than building it layer by layer as typical additive-manufacturing devices do — bringing science-fiction a step closer to reality.

“This is an exciting advancement to rapidly prototype fairly small and transparent parts,” says Joseph DeSimone, a chemist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

More:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-07798-9
Volumetric additive manufacturing via tomographic reconstruction | Science

Previously:

3D scanning objects for 3D printing - GIF and photo
3D printed wire bender - GIF
3D-printed tomato sorter - GIF
Makerarm all-in-one robotic arm for 3D printing, engraving, pick-and-place, milling

[sossol]

3d printing by solidifying resin with a laser is not new. I watched such a machine at work at a now-defunct Industrial Design/rapid prototyping company in Indianapolis when I was in college (I graduated in 1998). The laser was above a basin filled with the resin. They had a similar machine that solidified a powered resin. Both were fascinating, though I thought the dry was more interesting to watch. It had a screed that smoothed the powder as the platen dropped a blonde one after each pass, while in the liquid one, the platen in the liquid resin just dropped. On the other hand, you could see the structure in the liquid resin (barely), while the structure in the power disappeared as soon as the screed passed over.
As I recall, the dry resin produced more intricate parts, but they required a lot of hand finishing. The liquid resin made nicer items, but couldn't do detail.

This rotating aspect is an interesting and relatively lo-tech application of several high-tech devices. One of those retrospectively genius things that happen when someone says "..what would happen if...".

Neil