Synopses & Reviews
Until now, 3D printing has been stuff of research labs and DIY geek fairs, but it's ready for its debut the mainstream. 3D printers, combined with low-cost, user-friendly computer-aided design software and vibrant online communities and marketplaces, enable regular people to turn their ideas into real objects.
Toy makers design historically accurate model trains from old photographs and print identical miniatures. Teachers and students bring book learning to life by sharing design files and 3D printing historical relics and models of human organs. Companies print prototypes of product ideas.
And one doesn’t have to own a printer to enjoy the fun. Similar to commercial print shops, a growing number of online 3D print services make the technology available to everyone. Consumers design (or select) their desired object, upload the file to the printer’s web site, and the 3D print service fabricates in a wide range of materials, ranging from hard plastics, to silver, to spongy foam, to food.
Written by the people bringing 3D printing to the masses, this book starts at the beginning, describing the market and machines. It then goes on to describe the software, the design and prototyping options, and how to integrate it all into your surroundings, be it at home, work, or school. It ends by discussing the future of this truly groundbreaking new industry. The book includes:
- Part I: the technology how they work, industrial and hobbyist models, software
- Part II: the businesses the marketplace, companies that sell services and host storefronts, design and prototyping companies
- Part III: how to integrate and use 3D printing - to invent, design, teach, or eat
- Part IV: the future - the power of combining previously incompatible materials, intellectual property and consumer safety
This is the first thorough introduction to this brave new world, brought to you by the people who are making it happen.
Synopsis
Out of the lab and into your home or office with 3D printingWhile corporate labs and design companies have used 3D printers as prototyping tools for years, this futuristic technology has not made it into the mainstream, until now. The cost of 3D printers has come down, and with this fascinating book in hand, you can learn how 3D printing is being integrated into schools, kitchens, and offices.
A 3D printer "prints" layer by layer with actual materials to form precise 3D objects. Toy makers create historically accurate model trains from old photographs. Teachers and students bring books to life with 3D printing of historical relics. Companies "print" product prototypes. This book guides you through it all: the technology; the software required; the marketplace of available services; how to invent, design, teach, or eat 3D printed objects; and what the future holds for this startling technology.
- Offers concepts and practical steps for 3D printing to anyone interested in the technology, even if you are not necessarily an expert in CAD software or 3D printing
- Explains how everyday people can expand the boundaries of what they do, by learning how to invent, design, teach, or eat 3D printed objects
- Covers the technology, the software and prototyping process, the marketplace of services available to help with concepts, and what the future holds
- Features an expert author team that has received widespread media coverage for their breakthrough innovations and ideas
Based on hundreds of hours of research and dozens of interviews with experts from a broad range of industries, Fabricated offers you an informative, engaging and fast-paced introduction to 3D printing now and in the future.
Synopsis
Out of the lab and into your home or office with 3D printingWhile corporate labs and design companies have used 3D printers as prototyping tools for years, this futuristic technology has not made it into the mainstream, until now. The cost of 3D printers has come down, and with this fascinating book in hand, you can learn how 3D printing is being integrated into schools, kitchens, and offices.
A 3D printer "prints" layer by layer with actual materials to form precise 3D objects. Toy makers create historically accurate model trains from old photographs. Teachers and students bring books to life with 3D printing of historical relics. Companies "print" product prototypes. This book guides you through it all: the technology; the software required; the marketplace of available services; how to invent, design, teach, or eat 3D printed objects; and what the future holds for this startling technology.
- Offers concepts and practical steps for 3D printing to anyone interested in the technology, even if you are not necessarily an expert in CAD software or 3D printing
- Explains how everyday people can expand the boundaries of what they do, by learning how to invent, design, teach, or eat 3D printed objects
- Covers the technology, the software and prototyping process, the marketplace of services available to help with concepts, and what the future holds
- Features an expert author team that has received widespread media coverage for their breakthrough innovations and ideas
Based on hundreds of hours of research and dozens of interviews with experts from a broad range of industries, Fabricated offers you an informative, engaging and fast-paced introduction to 3D printing now and in the future.
Synopsis
Fabricated tells the story of 3D printers, humble manufacturing machines that are bursting out of the factory and into schools, kitchens, hospitals, even onto the fashion catwalk.
Fabricated describes our emerging world of printable products, where people design and 3D print their own creations as easily as they edit an online document.
A 3D printer transforms digital information into a physical object by carrying out instructions from an electronic design file, or 'blueprint.' Guided by a design file, a 3D printer lays down layer after layer of a raw material to 'print' out an object. That's not the whole story, however. The magic happens when you plug a 3D printer into today’s mind-boggling digital technologies. Add to that the Internet, tiny, low cost electronic circuitry, radical advances in materials science and biotech and voila! The result is an explosion of technological and social innovation.
Fabricated takes the reader onto a rich and fulfilling journey that explores how 3D printing is poised to impact nearly every part of our lives.
Aimed at people who enjoy books on business strategy, popular science and novel technology, Fabricated will provide readers with practical and imaginative insights to the question 'how will this technology change my life?' Based on hundreds of hours of research and dozens of interviews with experts from a broad range of industries, Fabricated offers readers an informative, engaging and fast-paced introduction to 3D printing now and in the future.
Synopsis
What would you create if you had a machine that could make (almost) anything?Fabricated offers you practical and imaginative insight into the question, "How will 3D printing change my life?" This book is an informative and fast-paced exploration of 3D printing technologies and the people who use them. You'll take a journey to design studios, businesses, schools, and cutting-edge research labs. Based on hundreds of hours of interviews, Fabricated explores the promise and peril of a 3D printed present and future.
- Businesses will be liberated from the tyrannies of economies of scale
- Factories and global supply chains will shrink, finding themselves closer to their customers
- The law, already reeling from digital media, will once again need to be redefined
- Our environment might breathe easier in a 3D printed economy, or it could choke on a rising tide of plastic
- 3D printed digital and intelligent, adaptive materials will change our relationship with the physical world
If you're intrigued with new technology, business strategy, popular science, or the social impact of technology, Fabricated will fascinate you.
About the Author
Hod Lipson and Melba Kurman put innovative technologies into context. Lipson is a leading researcher and speaker on 3D printing, digital materials, and the transformative power of intelligent machines. His lab at Cornell University has pioneered interdisciplinary research in 3D printing, product design, artificial intelligence, and smart materials. Kurman is an author and technology analyst who covers game-changing technologies in language that intelligent (and busy) non-experts can understand.
Table of Contents
Preface xiii
Chapter 1: Everything is becoming science fiction 1
Chapter 2: A machine that can make almost anything 7
Printing three-dimensional things 11
The ten principles of 3D printing 20
Chapter 3: Nimble manufacturing: Good, fast, and cheap 25
Somewhere between mass production and the local farmer’s market 27
The blank canvas of the 21st century 35
Chapter 4: Tomorrow’s economy of printable products 45
Like ants with factories 46
The experience economy 51
A future economy of printable products 56
Chapter 5: Printing in layers 65
A manufacturing process at heart 65
Two families of printers 68
Cleaning up design files 77
The raw materials 81
Chapter 6: Design software, the digital canvas 85
A word processor for drawing 85
Today’s design software 91
What you design is not (necessarily) what you print 100
The next generation of design software: digital capture 102
Chapter 7: Bioprinting in "living ink" 105
The printer of youth 105
Tissue engineering 111
CAD for the body 120
The future 124
Chapter 8: Digital cuisine 129
Digital gastronomy 130
Feeding the quantified self 142
Processed food 144
Chapter 9: A factory in the classroom 153
Make to learn: Children's engineering 154
Not a national crisis. . . but learning should be enjoyable 161
Now let's see you draw that abstract equation on a graph 166
Barriers to classroom adoption 171
The road ahead 173
Chapter 10: Unleashing a new aesthetic 175
Computers that act like nature 176
Printing wavy walls and custom gargoyles 191
Chapter 11: Green, clean manufacturing 197
A tale of two plastic toys 200
Greener manufacturing 202
3D printing a more beautiful landfi ll 206
Chapter 12: Ownership, safety, and new legal frontiers 217
Printing weapons, drugs, and shoddy products 218
Rip, mix, and burn physical things 224
Exclusivity vs. the freedom to innovate 230
Chapter 13: Designing the future 241
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. 241
A bicycle for our imagination 243
The language of shapes 252
Changing the shape of design tools 260
Chapter 14: The next episode of 3D printing 263
The three episodes of 3D printing 265
Cofabrication of multiple materials 266
Moving from printing passive parts to active systems 271
The final episode—from analog to digital 275
Machines making machines 280
References 283
Index 291