ENTER HERE - 3DPrint - Ultimate 3D Printing Giveaway!

[Whiterabbit9313]

Question 1: there is so many interesting things that are made with 3D technology for toys for a child, to statues, to medical devices, small working models of item to take to show idea off to board meetings, even to hats and shoes. Each item is interesting that is made with 3d printing so how could someone really choose.

Question 2: my dream printer would be kinda like on Star Trek in the fact it could be use to make anything and everything, and one that is easy to use and teach to young children how to use. I would love to see what a person would come up with if taught the 3d technology from toddlers years. Would they come up with the next big medical device the world needs, or would it be something for everyday use.

[chaos1ao]

What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?

In person, watched built, a 3D printed crescent wrench that went into the wash tank as a single print and came out a functional item. As a far as the neatest thing I have read about being done, I think the bio printing is the most amazing to date. The ability to create new body parts for people is as revolutionary as it gets in my book!

- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild!

My dream printer would have built in expansions to enlarge the build area for large projects or collapse back in for smaller builds and storage. It would have a quad head to feed multiple colors, filaments, or support material. The bed would be heated and self leveling and the build area would be enclosed to help with temperature control. The system would be able to print from SD card or via download from a computer and would have a sensor to pause the system if one of the feed rolls ran out. (seriously, I think a simple optical sensor on the ones that don't have this would fix this problem) And, because I love options, my dream 3D printer would have a changeable portion on the head that would work with a cutting laser, milling head, and 3D scanner attachment. I have actually looked as some of the newer machines that are multi-function coming out and these systems seem to me like true desktop fabrication units. To finish off the dream machine, the construction would include extruded aluminum supports, metal ball screws for axis travel, and some position sensing spots so the system could monitor and correct position as needed or perhaps even a vision system to monitor the build and see if the image matches the outline of the uploaded file. The only down side is my dream 3D printer would end up costing much more than the budget I will have to spend on such, but it would be a great machine for startups and businesses that need a multi-function workhorse in the shop.

[ewitt1993]

AHH this is exciting! I just got the opportunity to move half ay across the world to study product design in London and this would be an amazing contest to win so thank you for the opportunity!
hmm question answers, heres my thoughts on it :

1- one of the most interesting things Ive seen done with 3d printing was the work by bespoke prosthetics in my hometown of San francisco. I got to peep into their inner workings and it was amazing. what really got me was the fact that these prosthetics where really works of art, not just for necessity but also aesthetics. Knowing that they were 3d printed and doing good in the world kick started my current passions. Ive gotten to use 3d printers and I think they are the next wave of tech, but the cost has kept me from being really where I want with them.

2- oof this question is a biggie, so ill try to really narrow it down. When it comes to 3d printers for me, I think the two biggest factors that determine the quality of one for me is print quality, and ease of use. for the first part of this question, I would actually move away from extruder style printers. the fact that you have to be mindful of overhangs and tight places doesn't make them the perfect candidate. also they are more likely to mess up because of the extruder being to hot, not hot enough, or the z height messing up the final print. there is just to much room for error. This is why my ideal printer would be a resin based printer! Ive never used one, but from what I've seen, they are easier to use and produce a much cleaner finish. And for the second half, ease of use. Having a nice, simple software that goes with the printer to prepare your STL files is key. instead of jumping through softwares, you should be able to upload your stl to a simple interface made specifically for that printer, work out kinks and be able to just press go.

Well there is my view on the matter! As a university student, this contest is my dream! So thanks again!

[car3less]

- What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?
The 3D printing technology is a miracle revealing itself day by day. Its uses in the medicine world seem to be the most amazing ever for the years to come: replicating the human heart, printing prosthetics etc.


- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild!
My 3D dream printer would print with precious metals and stones so I could do the jewelry I design much easier than before.

[Heloperator]

- What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?
3D printers are amazing and they seem to go beyond our possibilities on a daily basis now. Being able to print foods and sugars is something I never would have imagined, but people have made it possible. Where's my earl grey tea, hot?

- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild!
If I had the chance to build my own 3D printer, it would ultimately be the most adjustable and community oriented machine we all want. An ideal 3d printer would be able to work with all sorts of materials from plastics to metals, from foods to organic material. Our world would be changed forever.

[ajperez]

- What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?

Definitely the work on human tissue that Dr. Anthony Atala and colleagues have done at Wake Forest Institute and which I was fortunate to catch at Inside 3D Printing NY 2014. It is hard to fathom the impact that such groundbreaking research will continue to have in decades to come. Here is Dr. Atala's famous TED talk from 2011: http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_ata...a_human_kidney

- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild!

Most current popular 3D printers do additive manufacturing only at the macroscale, and not at a fundamental, molecular level. The most widespread technologies (i.e. FDM, SLS) are in fact mostly arranging molecules that have been previously formulated and manufactured into a raw material that the machine can use. To be sure these technologies are unique and revolutionary, but the future certainly holds in store machines that do true additive manufacturing at the molecular/nanoscale. My ideal 3D Printer would take minimally/no pre-processed raw materials, say organic food scraps or moon rock, and rearrange them at the nanoscale to make fundamentally new structures via molecular additive manufacturing.

[Tmos540]

The coolest thing I have seen done with 3D Printing changes every day. First it was printing with metals, ceramics, and cake icing, then printing with SLA lasers, then it was low temp liquid metal, then it was printing in concrete, then that software that moves all three axis at the same time for super smooth prints, then it was the software that chops things up and fits them onto one build platform. Then it was printing a car. By the time I post this, it may be something else. I'm just that ADD, and 3D Printing is just that cool.

But I am a dreamer when it comes to my dream printer. I want a literal dream printer. Something that connects to my brain, and perhaps combines with a VR overlay to basically create what I imagine. Like if I sketch something up in my head, but can't quite model it out with mouse and keyboard, the printer helps me to solidify the object by sorta reading my mind. I want to look at an object, and even if it is broken, be able to print a replica (in original condition). I'd also like to be able to print in living plant tissue too. Imagine printing out your furniture, but between printing and using it, you plant it for a year for it to get a good woodgrain and some knots. We already have printed lattices for human cells to grow on, why can't we do the same with wood? I think it would be really cool to print basically small trees in a weird, bonsai-like form, already shaped into the things we want. No more cutting and gluing and nailing to get the shapes you want. No more wasted wood. Just print it, grow it, harvest it, finish it, and use it. Basically the same as grafting, and training saplings to grow into the shape of furniture, but without all the time involved in bonsaiing your furniture.

[InteMed]

MY ENTRY:

- What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?
I am developing expansion devices for the Smartphone by using a battery back-up case platform. I have three in development that where all 3D printed. You can see them an www.intemed.net and www.intevape.net or take a look at one of the videos on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp_IkyWGqO4

- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild! My dream 3D printer would print entire electronic devices, not just the cases.

[LesterCHall]

1. It may seem copycat, yet it's true for a reason: medical devices and architecture. The medical devices can improve the quality and quantity of life that we have here on Earth and who isn't excited about those possibiliites? Also I was impressed by the response to the 3D printed castle (love that one) as "heralding a new age in architecture". We are in heady times, when technologies and ideas sparkle across the globe like firelies on a lawn, all glowing and flying and, well, you know what they're doing that for - to make more fireflies! Ideas are catchy like that, spontaneous and wonderful wisps and flashes and blinks of brilliance all dancing and fluttering about. I tell an idea to a friend and I see it in place two weeks later, someone is doing it. Not from me alone, but from the thousands of us who all had that same idea and shared. It's the collective human consciousness raised to the nth power!

2. My ideal 3D printer would be reliable and operate stand-alone plus print both objects and circuit boards. I am close to that with copperfill being releases following bronzefill. While copperfill itself is not conductive, I wonder if it can be soldered to make it so? Also products like Tinnit which you mix two bags of crystaline material in water and bathe the copper clad in the solution to tin plate it exist, could they take copperfill and make it conductive? Just as soon as we have the ability to make traces in 3D we will see circuitry sculptures the likes of which have not yet been imagined. Art and science will combine to produce beauty and functionality. I am looking forward to that!

[dylan]

My entry:

- What is the most interesting thing you have seen done with a 3D printer or 3D printing technology?

3D printer on the space station!!! so cool!

- If you could build your dream 3D printer, what would it include and what would it do? Let your imagination run wild!

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