Climateer Investing: 3D Printing Is so Passé, Here Comes Digital Fabrication (FabLab)

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

3D Printing Is so Passé, Here Comes Digital Fabrication (FabLab)

Or, as the kids say, "...so last century".
From 3D Printer:

The future of digital fabrication blows 3D printing out of the water

Just when I thought I’d heard it all in the latest 3D Printing news, I went to a meeting last week at MIT on Digital Fabrication that just blew 3D Printing out of the water.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy [OSTP] asked Neil Gershenfeld, Director of the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT, to organize a meeting that allowed the digital fabrication community to voice their needs for policy and programs to the Executive Branch. Tom Kalil, the OSTP Deputy Director for Technology and Innovation, made clear “the President believes manufacturing is important to the future of the nation. Since R&D and manufacturing are coupled, the White House believes that if manufacturing goes off-shore, then R&D will follow.” And it is innovation in R&D that has been an American strength for decades.

As the creator of the FabLab concept, Dr. Gershenfeld assembled the best and brightest researchers working beyond just 3D Printing, to expanded digital manufacturing. He opened with his famous analogy of the microwave oven. While the microwave is a great convenience in the kitchen, it still has not replaced the rest of the appliances. Digital manufacturing includes many different types of tools. The common feature is that a CAD file tells the machine what to do. For a CNC machine or Laser cutter CAD files tell the machine where to cut; for 3D Printers, CAD files tell the machines where to deposit material.

The individual technologies were not the focus here, but rather collectively how these machines could be made to be more efficient and cost effective with reduced waste in both production and at the end of the product life cycle.

I was looking forward to this technical conference as scientists and engineers tend not to get caught up in the hype, such as we’re currently hearing in the media about 3D Printing. But the predictions were astonishing.

The first set of presentations essentially talked about digitizing the materials themselves: filling materials with the information they needed for many tasks such as self-assembly. Peng Yin from Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, essential question was “Can we grow a computer from DNA?” Using DNA “origami” and DNA nanorobots, the answer appears to be yes....MORE

Here's MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms.
And from the FAQ:

...Fab labs share core capabilities, so that people and projects can be shared across them. This currently includes:

A computer-controlled lasercutter, for press-fit assembly of 3D structures from 2D parts

A larger (4'x8') numerically-controlled milling machine, for making furniture- (and house-) sized parts

A signcutter, to produce printing masks, flexible circuits, and antennas

A precision (micron resolution) milling machine to make three-dimensional molds and surface-mount circuit boards

Programming tools for low-cost high-speed embedded processors

These work with components and materials optimized for use in the field, and are controlled with custom software for integrated design, manufacturing, and project management. This inventory is continuously evolving, towards the goal of a fab lab being able to make a fab lab.