Tag Archives: 3D Innovations

Popular 3D Printing & STEM Education News (May 20th – May 24th)

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Happy Friday! Below are some of the most talked about 3D printing and STEM education news articles this week. A news story that was not only heartwarming but inspiring this week is that of a little boy that had a plastic airway 3D printed for him (Doctors save little boy’s life by 3D printing tiny plastic airway for him in world first). 3D printing is making great advancements in medicine, and stories like this remind us of the potential of this type of technology.

As always, please share any additional news articles with our community by leaving it as a comment on this blog post. Thank you!

3D Printing News

STEM Education News

What Does the Future Look Like For Computer Aided Design (CAD)?

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Computer Aided Design (CAD) is a tool that many engineers have come to heavily rely on. This technology has been around for decades and we have witnessed many advancements in the technology. Recently though we are starting to see a shift in CAD to more “futuristic” ways of using the technology and we wanted to pose a question to our community, What do you think the future looks like for CAD?

For two months in a row now, Rapid Ready Technology has posted some intriguing articles about companies that are trying to advance CAD applications and software in very drastic ways.

1. Leonar3Do Brings Virtual Reality to 3D Design: A Hungarian startup, is ready to offer a different approach to 3D design by allowing people to actually design in 3D. The company’s proprietary technology uses imaging glasses and a stylus called the “Bird” as part of a virtual reality (VR) design space that creates objects in 3D.

“Leonar3Do’s vision has always been to breakout of the antiquated 2D mold and drive design innovation to empower how people can visualize, create and innovate their ideas they have imagined but in real, 3D space,” said Roland Manyai, Leonar3Do’s business development and marketing director.

The system uses infra-red position detection in the form of three sensors mounted around the workspace. The glasses have built-in infra LEDs enabling head-tracking positioning, and the Bird is a spatial input device that allows users to create and interact with 3D VR images.

2. Thinker Thing Directs Digital Design with Your Mind: What if someone could build a design tool that allows the user to make anything they can imagine, by thought alone? Thinker Thing is a company that has taken on this ambitious project, with startup funding from the Chilean government. Instead of controlling the evolution of a design with a mouse or touchscreen, the company is developing a method of using an Emotiv EPOC EEG reader to build 3D objects.

At this point users aren’t directing complete designs with their thoughts, as though your brain were controlling the mouse. Instead, the EPOC measures reactions to different design elements and selects the element that, according to your EEG, is most appealing to the user. Each piece of a larger design slowly evolves as EPOC continues to monitor a user’s thoughts, until eventually the entire piece is complete.

Both of these projects are extremely interesting but at the same time seem a little far off. As far as the future of CAD goes, we expect to see a couple advancements within the next few years. One, Multi-Touch CAD; Take away the keyboard and mouse and you are left with designing on touch screens with your fingers (much like how we use an iPad). Moving geometry, viewing and sketching could all be done with your digits, and could even allow for greater expression than through a keyboard and mouse. Some apps have achieved this, but we expect to see this technology translate to our workplace and become more common. Two, Sharing; One aspect to CAD is the ability to share files from one person to the next. Currently, there are many types of files that cannot be opened with different applications and we expect to see immense growth in this area of CAD as more designers collaborate on projects and push software developers to find better and more standardized was to share files.

These are exciting times for designers, engineers and CAD! We are eagerly anticipating future CAD advancements and can’t wait to see this technology continue its transformation.

Research Articles

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

Popular 3D Printing & STEM Education News (May 13th – May 17th)

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Your weekly 3D printing and STEM education news roundup has arrived! Another busy week in the realm of 3D printing; one article we found very interesting was Harvard Robots are 3D Printed, Self-Assembling…It will be very interesting to watch this type of technology evolve. We would like to give a shout out to Miss Hawaii USA, Brianna Acosta, for proclaiming “I’m a robotics nerd” and for being such a public FIRST Robotics figure — Go STEM!

If you would like to share a news article with the 3D Innovations community, please feel free to leave it as a comment on this post. Thank you!

3D Printing News:

STEM Education News:

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

3D Innovations: In the Community

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We know how important it is to be an active business member in society, and we pride ourselves on our involvement with the local STEM community as well as the local and national 3D printing and start-up communities.

If you have not had a chance to see what we have been up to, click on over to the news section of our website!

Here is a quick summary of our most recent news:

1. 3D Innovations sponsors the Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo

April 22 & 23, 2013: 3D Innovations sponsors the first Inside 3D Printing Conference and Expo in New York City.

2. 3D Innovations sponsors 4th Annual Hawaii STEM Conference

April 19, 2013: 3D Innovations sponsors 3D CAD/Pre-Engineering workshops for students to learn about Engineering/Design and enhance their tech skills. Visithttp://www.womenintech.com/HawaiiSTEMConference/ for more information.

3. Bytemarks Cafe features 3D Innovations/3D Academy

November 28, 2012: Catch us talking about our business trip to Asia and learn more about 3D Printing on Bytemarks Cafe – Wed. Nov. 28th 5-6pm on KIPO – 89.3 FM

4. Cool Jobs Features 3D Innovations/3D Academy

November 26, 2012: STEMWORKS and KIDS AHEAD features Collin Kobayashi of 3D Innovations/3D Academy in their latest edition of “Cool Jobs”. Read more about his job that involves working with 3D Technology. Check out the story here.

5. Sachi Kitchenware Launches New Product

September 21, 2012: With design, prototyping, and manufacturing support, 3D Innovations was able to assist Sachi Kitchenware with product development, going from concept to product and bringing their product to market. Visit www.3d-innovations.com/pupucooler.html for more information.

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

Popular 3D Printing & STEM Education News (May 6th – May 10th)

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Happy Friday! Your weekly news roundup has arrived! In honor of Teacher Appreciation Week, we would like to thank all of the hardworking educators out there making a difference in the lives of our youth. This week saw a lot of mixed press regarding 3D printing, and among all of the negativity we would like to point you to an inspiring article from Makerbot about the Robohand Project; it is wonderful to see 3D printing make such a positive impact on the lives of children and people in need.

As always, if you would like to share a news article with the community, please leave it as a comment on this post. Thank you!

3D Printing News

STEM Education News

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

The Magic of Robohand

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This is just one of those news stories that leaves you inspired, and this is precisely why we wanted to share it with our 3D Innovations community.

Makerbot has released a video about how a group of hackers built 3D-printed hands for children and adults who are missing fingers or entire hands. The project aims to take the cost and complexity associated with hand prosthesis out of the process. It is working.

In short, the Robohand project is an effort to release the plans for a completely open-source, 3D-printable hand. The fingers close when the user bends his or her wrist and the parts can be printed on any 3D printer. It’s perfect for kids because, as they grow, caregivers can simply upgrade the hand with a few mouse clicks.

How Do I Get A Robohand? Robohand was not imagined as a service or a product. Instead, Richard has shared the design files and instructions for creating a Robohand on Thingiverse so that people around the world can download, customize, print, and assemble Robohands for themselves or for others.

To read the full blog post on Marerbot, click here.

To read the full article by Tech Crunch, click here.

Popular 3D Printing & STEM Education News (April 29th – May 3rd)

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Happy Friday! Below is a summary of the most talked about 3D Printing and STEM education news for the past week. Two 3D Printing stories really took off this week Scientists use 3D printer to create ‘bionic ear’ that hears better than you and GE Prepares to Test the Potential of Additive Manufacturing, so if you are short on time we highly recommend that you check out these two news bits. Regarding STEM, the Smithsonian came out with an interactive infographic in which you can follow the STEM education path from early childhood to workforce entry, and along the way you can see the benefits of a STEM education at the different stages Infographic: Where a STEM Education Can Take You (very cool!).

As always, if you would like to add a news article to the list, please leave it as a comment on this blog post. Thanks!

3D Printing News

STEM Education News

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

The Product Development Process

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The 3D Innovations Product Development Process Explained

Concept
The conceptual phase typically begins with developing the basic idea and requirements into a visual object that depicts what the final product could look like. This involves integrating industrial design methods that include various materials, surface finish of the parts, and overall aesthetics.

Design/Prototype
With the requirements fully or partially defined, the conceptual design can be transformed into a virtual design that is not only functional, but manufacturable. Design For Manufacturability (DFM) is a critical part of this design phase. The DFM process will be based on the product type and ultimately, the production manufacturing method(s) that will be used. Once a virtual design is completed using 3D CAD (Computer Aided Design), it must be validated to ensure the proper functionality. Having a tangible item to feel, touch, hold, and test is always recommended and can save on the cost of re-design and re-working of production tooling and molds if errors are not caught before proceeding with the manufacturing phase. With 3D Printing becoming more mainstream and with more materials available for use, this is often times the preferred method for prototyping a design. Other prototyping methods can also be used if required. Prototypes can also be produced to be used as marketing tools to present to investors, potential partners, or for media releases.

Manufacturing
Once the design has been fully validated to ensure that form, fit, and function have been accounted for, the production manufacturing phase can begin. If high volume quantities are required, special molds and tooling are likely needed to efficiently and cost effectively produce final production parts. Low volumes can also be produced using various molding methods, but may not be feasible for quantities less than several hundred parts. Depending on the products functionality, an appropriate manufacturing method will be selected. If the product requires integrating electronics or assembly of other parts, this would be done during the manufacturing phase once all individual components have been produced.

Product
Product packaging and marketing play an important role in getting the product launched and promoted in the marketplace. Specialized packaging can be design and manufactured to fit the product specifications. With a team of Marketing and Graphic Design specialists, promotion/marketing, product packaging, graphic design for collateral and websites can be created to showcase the product capabilities.

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

Popular 3D Printing & STEM Education News (April 22nd – April 26th)

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Your weekly 3D printing and STEM education news roundup has arrived! This week the internet was buzzing about the $30 million round of financing announcement by Shapeways — this is really going to help them advance their mission of bringing 3D printing to everyone. On the STEM education front, we wanted to give a shout out to Ms. Sylvia Todd (age 11) who last week won a silver medal at an international robotics competition; and then on Monday took part in the White House Science Fair, where President Obama tested her latest project, a robot that paints. She is a maker, tinkerer and her online Maker Show has made her a STEM superstar. Way to go Sylvia!

As always, if you would like to share an article with our community please leave it as a comment on this blog post. Thanks!

3D Printing News

STEM Education News

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.

What 3D Printing Means for Small Business

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“3D printing is wowing entrepreneurs and enthusiasts because of its extreme flexibility. It has applications for almost any industry or field” (Yahoo Small Business).

Small businesses have found that 3D printing has not only helped on a per product basis, but overall it has made them much more competitive in the marketplace. Below are four ways in which 3D printing benefits small business:

  1. Prototyping: You can now have a sketch in the morning of a product idea and by the end of the day, you can hold that product prototype in your hands. Yes this IS possible! 3D printing has simplified and streamlined the prototyping process for businesses. When you are able to modify your product design and prototype in a matter of a week or so, sending the final design to the manufacturer just became that much easier.
  2. Personal Customization: 3D printing allows you to personalize renderings and products for each individual consumer. You are able to use different materials, tweak the product design and add additional customized features so that you provide your customer with exactly what they are envisioning. “Imagine people tweeting or sharing their personally customized version of your product that fits them perfectly. A business could easily market the base design for a product, and tout its customizability to consumers everywhere” (Yahoo Small Business).
  3. Manufacturing: Cutting out the “middle man” on short production runs means that your business will be able to get your product to your consumer much faster and at a lower cost. Also, consider this, in the future a business might also be able to offer their product designs to consumers through a purchasing process so that consumers can download the CAD file and print out their own product at home.
  4. Leveling the Playing Field: 3D printing allows small businesses to take on larger corporations in their field because of the quick product turn around times and increased flexibility. “There are a ton of companies, from one- and two-person organizations to sub-100-person organizations, that actually make themselves competitive with the 10,000-pound gorilla in their particular marketplace because of the advantages they get with 3D printing,” says Bruce Bradshaw, marketing director of Objet” (Entrepreneur). Not all large corporations have been quick to adapt 3D printing technology, and thus they have left themselves vulnerable to smaller and much more flexible businesses that are embracing the technology.

The efficiency of 3D printing has transformed business and will continue to have an ever expanding impact as the technology evolves and becomes more mainstream.

If you are interested in learning more about 3D printing and the advantages it can have on your business, contact us at info@3d-innovations.com and would be more than happy to discuss this with you!

Resources

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3D Innovations is a full service 3D Engineering/Design company – from the  3D Design to a fully functional 3D Prototype & Product.