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How 3D Printing Is Green

3D printing is a very neat form of manufacturing technology in my opinion. It allows for the creation of some seriously intricate pieces that can’t be done through traditional manufacturing, it is very efficient in many situations, and has no ceiling on where it can go. There are some crazy applications such as printing parts to firearms, food, houses, organs, and other entirely custom designs. There is simply no limit as to where this technology could go in my opinion. One factor about this technology that I want to discuss is the efficiency, as well as the “green” capabilities of this technology. 3D Printing is much more friendly for the environment than other forms of manufacturing like mold manufacturing, or traditional (and newer) machining applications. There are simply so many possibilities for this technology, not to mention the great factors for it.

Before I even get into that, let me discuss what 3D printing actually is, and how the process works. First off, 3D printing is the layer by layer assembly of pretty much whatever you want. A printer, or machine used for 3D printing will actually lay down materials at a layer at a time. These layers could be a fraction of the diameter of a human hair, or they could be a foot in length. There are so many options when it comes into manufacturing pieces. There are so many materials to choose from, there are well over 100 in fact. There are so many machines to choose from! There are printers which are as small as your desktop printer, but there are printers which are larger than your king sized bed. Some of these printers will be creating small pieces for dental applications, hearing aids, jewelry applications, and small pieces. Some of these printers are prototyping large pieces used in cars, houses, and various large pieces. There are tons of variety in what can be produced.

How does 3D printing actually work? Well, like I said the printer will lay down material one layer at a time. However, these machines run off of a CAM system, or a computer aided manufacturing system. This means that 3D printing is done through an automated process. A designer of some kind will have to create a 3D model from his or her computer, and he or she will have to send the model to the printer. When everything is assembled on the printer, the design will be plugged I, and the operator will pretty much hit “go” and the print will start.

This technology is very significant, as it is very green for the environment. The amount of material used is typically the amount of material used. Due to the layer by layer process, material is added, not removed and wasted. Also, 3D printing helps to reduce outsourced work, as it can simply be plugged into the machine in the US, instead of outsourced to India, China, or Taiwan. The transportation of moving product from a facility in China to the USA is much harsher than the production of a custom part from a local printer.

3D Printing & The Maker Movement

3D printing is a very interesting form of manufacturing technology in my opinion. This technology allows for the creation of pretty much anything you can think of. Of course there are some design parameters, and there are only so many materials offered – but there are quite a few possibilities for what can be produced through 3D printing.

The amount of materials is blowing up in quantity in the world of 3D printing. There are over 100 materials to choose from in fact! Some of the materials are similar to rubber. Some are very mechanical, such as stainless steel, Inconel, and titanium. Some of the materials are flame retardants, like prime-part. Other materials offer extreme levels of detail. Quite a few are hard, while others are soft. Some even offer full color!

There are quite a few size parameters to keep in mind. Some machines, or 3D printers used in 3D printing offer very small build envelopes, or build sizes. These small printers are great for things like hearing aids, dental applications, and jewelry. Other printers are great for prototyping such as the objet line of printers, which can be any size from the size of your desktop printer to the size of a refrigerator. Other printers are larger than your king sized bed, producing large parts. There is even a printer which is large enough to print concrete houses! The size and possibilities for materials are very extensive within 3D printing.

Speaking of printers, I want to highlight what the consumer is going to be able to use. Instead of branching out to a 3D printing service or an expensive manufacturing facility, users are going to be able to purchase their own printers. Some of these 3D printers can be over $100,000. Some of them are well over $50,000. The “affordable” ones have been above $20,000. Now, thanks to the maker movement, we have been seeing printers dropping well under $2,000. Some printers are even under $1,000!

Of course the much more inexpensive models aren’t going to be producing incredibly intricate pieces which triumph over the expensive printers, but they are creating affordable prints. These 3D printing machines are here to change the way that users manufacture everything! Some of these printers have been designed to fit in a brief case. Some are no larger than your desktop 2D printer. These printers have typically ran off FDM technologies, but there have been some SLA printers that have been coming out. In fact, lately there has been a strong variety in cheap, or inexpensive printers in the maker movement. 3D printing companies like 3D systems, Stratasys, Makerbot, and others have been putting out some seriously powerful work by empowering the average “maker” to work with manufacturing. This technology is available to more than just the industry giants.

I think that within the next 50 years or so, there will be a strong movement pressed on making manufacturing easier for the average user. There will be printers available at places like hobby lobby, and office depot – giving us the power to manufacture pretty much whatever we want when we want to do it.

3D Printing Hearing Aids

I’m very interesting in the technology known as 3D printing. This technology is very cool, as it allows for the creation of pretty much anything! There isn’t a general application for 3D printing; this technology produces parts within all industries. Some of the models include architectural models. Some of the applications are in the medical field, including prosthetics and even organ replication. Some of the applications work around prototyping and product development. Others applications are great for full color character models. There isn’t one “average” type of print that comes from a 3D printer. There is too much to cover! Let me elaborate.

3D printing allows for the creation of so much, the possibilities really depend on the designer of the 3D model used. There is an extensive library of materials, well over 100 in fact. There is a material for pretty much everything. Precious metals like platinum, gold, and silver are around. Mechanical materials like stainless steel, Inconel, and titanium are around. Look at the Objet tango family for rubber like materials. Many others such as “snap fit” materials or flame retardants are in existence as well. There is just so much to choose from; like I said earlier, there are over 100 materials to choose from. There is also an extensive library of printers to choose from as well. Tons of printers exist today to produce what you’re looking for. Some printers offer small builds like desktop printers or medical printers that work around hearing aids, jewelry, and dental applications. There are printers which can actually use concrete to manufacture houses! Other printers are around which can produce large pieces for prototyping. There is a material, and a size of that material for pretty much everything.

One thing I want to discuss is 3D printing small parts for the medical industry. There have been a wide variety of options for what 3D printing has jumped into, but the medical world is definitely one of them. It has even done some organ replication! Let me talk about 3D Printing hearing aids, dental work, and custom parts. Like I mentioned earlier, there are materials for pretty much whatever you need. One of the material requirements for the medical world in some instances, would be the material to offer incredibly high detail and resolution, while being safe to be placed in the body. Dental applications have definitely taken notice of 3D printing, and hearing aids have definitely expanded on this technology. When a print can include an entirely unique model per each piece in a build tray, we are talking efficiency. Imagine being able to manufacture 30 hearing aids at once, while each of the models were entirely unique to each individual patient. Think about it; 3D printing can create the model to the exact dimensions required in a material that is practical and safe to use in the body. That is what I call efficient! There are also requirements for very specific situations in which a patient may need a highly customized piece that is made from a material that offers specific materials. 3D printing can definitely help with those needs!

Is IPad The Next Great Thing In The World Of Gadgets?

Tech savvies always look for some technologically advanced gadgets and for these people ipads cannot fail to meet their expectations. It is offered in a sleek design along with amazing graphic features. The applications with which this gadget is offered are fun filled and useful as well. One of the important points that attract people towards this device is their size. It is maneuverable and light just weighing 1.5 pounds and with a depth of just 0.5 inches. Some years ago, people changed from desktop to laptop computers for easiness of carrying, but now the trend has changed and now people are looking laptops as heavy and therefore they are turning towards tablet PCs like iPad. With this they will be able to escape from sour shoulders.

It is also popular for its iWork productivity applications that include keynotes, numbers and pages and these are turning out to be time saving functions for businessmen, who are always on the go. Businessmen, who do many presentations, can be greatly benefited with the keynote feature of ipads. They can watch the presentations on the device or they can also make use of VGA adapters for showing the presentations on big television or projector screens.

The iBook and iBookstore applications of this gadget is another important feature with the help of which tech savvys can purchase books and can read them on their ipad itself. They need not travel in search of a bookstore. Browsing the World Wide Web can be done easily and with the help of the bookstore application, they can also create a bookshelf with the help of the books purchased by them. There will a huge inventory of books to choose from and the books of their favorite authors can be downloaded by the users in such a way that they can read any book from the list of downloaded books in the shelf.

Tech savvies, who are interested in reading reviews about the latest technologically advancements can get the help of gadgets technology magazines available in the World Wide Web. From the website of these magazines, they can keep themselves updated about the latest additions to the world of technology.

Gadgets technology magazines would be of great help of people, who wish to get latest information about any newly introduced tablet PCs, or any computer game that has been recently launched, etc… Keeping updated is easier with these magazines and they will be of great use to tech enthusiasts.

IBall Slide Tablet

iBall is an Indian based private computer hardware corporation unit. It manufactures computer devices like keyboards, mouse and CPU units. iBall peripherals includes headphones, microphones, LCD monitors, MP3 Players and Flash Drives. It launched a networking product named iBall Baton for active range and passive ranges. The basic ideology of iBall is sharing technology for advancements to customers. The motto behind iBall is “new technology in eyeball’s view. IBall introduces latest products to people who love innovation in this digital world.

iBall tablet pc is the second computing device released by the company named iBall Slide holding a capacitive display. It runs on Google’s Android2.3 operating system and speeded with a 1GHz ARM processor. It is a 7″inch processor of resolution 800×480 pixels. Its in-built storage unit is 8GB and can be expanded to 32GB microSD. The dimensions of the tablet are 120×120 weighing 450 grams. The unit is very responsive extremely at high speeds for animation access too.

This tablet pc is sealed offering USB support instead of SIM cards thereby to access net connectivity. It holds a HDMI port, USB port and OTG ports for data transmission. A power control switch to turn off, a DC charger are available. A lithium battery unit of 4400 mAh provides charge continuously for six hours. It carries a 2 megapixel camera at the rear end and a VGA camera at its front end. The device plays video formats of all versions. For example if a file cannot be played by its native player, then the secondary unit is pre-loaded.

The audio unit was impressive on handsfree style rather than loudspeaker. The system holds no FM unit but supports an iReader application for eBooks. It is enabled with Wi-Fi connectivity and a Bluetooth unit providing access with 3G networks. They can be reached only by an USB drive. It supports pre-loaded apps like money control, Skype and Facebook. There are several downloading apps for personal and financial aid. The device is light weighted and requires care in usage. The iBall Slide Tablet is released worldwide to contribute to the gadget earth. The iBall Slide price is a low budget product at Rs 11,999 affordable at a practical way. It is renowned as “A Mobile Indian” of first order to receive the up-gradation of the operating system in tablet form. Grab the offer of integrated technology at your eyeball reach for a digital style in living.