Building the body panels is great. Functional, durable, aesthetically pleasing, and relatively fast to create. There will be no end to the uses of additive manufacturing. I am very intrigued by the idea of large scale builds with this technology. How about Moon bases, custom housing? Endless possibilities... http://www.fastcompany.com/1579263/3-d-printing-whole-buildings-in-stonein-space-this-printer-rocks
I actually did a story on the Urbee a while back and to my knowledge, it was (at that point) the first vehicle to use 3D printing to produce not just individual components, but the bulk of the vehicle body. My understanding was that KOR Logic was just leveraging 3D printing for the efficient production of prototypes, not production vehicles. I don't think the technology is there yet.
Beth, I think you hit the nail on the head. The real value of additive manufacturing lies in its potential for customization. This is of obvious use in medical and dental applications, where prostheses can be custom made for the recipient's body. But I was less impressed by the 1/6 scale model car. Is this really the first model car made using a 3D printer? Am I missing something?
Also - and more importantly - is Urbee's plan to use 3D printing to make body panels for the production vehicle? There are big differences in material properties between FRP and ABS. ABS does not have anywhere near the strength and stiffness of FRP. I would be very concerned about the safety of this vehicle if the plan is really to use ABS in production.
Informative piece that really gives you a sense of the range of what additive manufacturing is capable of. I think Doug's reporting around how additive manufacturing advances are going to facilitate mass customization is really the crux of why this technology has so much potential and why there's so much interest across sectors and particularly in the medical and dental care markets. Being able to cost-effectively produce hearing aids and dental implants that are customized to the individual patient will go a long way in making devices that have been too expensive or too uncomfortable to wear part of patients' daily care.
By experimenting with the photovoltaic reaction in solar cells, researchers at MIT have made a breakthrough in energy efficiency that significantly pushes the boundaries of current commercial cells on the market.
In a world that's going green, industrial operations have a problem: Their processes involve materials that are potentially toxic, flammable, corrosive, or reactive. If improperly managed, this can precipitate dangerous health and environmental consequences.
With LEDs dropping in price virtually every year, automakers have begun employing them, not only on luxury vehicles, but on entry-level models, as well.
From Dell / Intel® New Paradigms in Design Work Scott Hamilton, vertical market strategist for Dell Precision workstations, 5/2/2013 3
Early in my career, I worked as a draftsman and remember the days of drawing on vellum with numbered pencils and Mylar with plastic lead. This was a fun experience in the sense that I ...
I've been using workstations for more than 10 years and love finding ways to get more performance from my system. With demanding professional applications that require more power each ...
A lasting memory from my first job as an engineer in an auto assembly plant is standing on hard concrete at six in the morning, vending-machine coffee clutched in hand, listening to ...
A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
3 
