The Newest Innovations in Printing Technology - 3D Printers
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By 1993, 3-D printers had become a reality. These revolutionary printers are able to actually print three-dimensional objects using only a computer and a 3-D printer. The process of actually printing an object is rather time-consuming, as you might imagine. To print an object, such as a small flashlight, for instance, it can take a consumer-grade 3-D printer about eight hours to complete. Desktop 3-D printers are currently on the market, and they can be used to create everything from iPod covers to your favorite snack – yes, 3-D printers can even “print-out” edible treats.
The technology of creating a 3-D object with only a computer and a printer is complicated, as you may already imagine. The basics of this process, though, involve designing the object using some type of design software, and then sending the completed design to the 3-D printer to make the design a reality. The printer itself is composed of any number of “inkjets,” and each can hold resin, powder, frosting, or any other type of gooey material that would work for building the desired object.
The cost of these 3-D printers, which are still in the very early stages of development, can range from a few thousand dollars on up to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Developers of these amazing printers believe that in the next twenty years, consumers will be able to print out their own personal consumer electronic products such as MP3 players, cell phones, and other small electronics – batteries, wiring and all! This type of technology would allow people to create their own products at home and be able to sell them at places such as eBay, in the same way that the big companies manufacture and sell these types of products now.
3-D printers are even getting some attention from the medical community. Studies are currently being conducted to see whether or not 3-D printers could be used to actually construct living cells that could grow into actual human organs for people in need of a donor organ – that's right...real human organs! This new field of research is being called organ printing, bio-printing, or computer-aided tissue engineering. This type of technology almost seems to be something out of a science fiction movie, but it may soon be a reality. If you're a techie (and if you're reading this article, you probably are), you've got to love the fact that a consumer electronics product may one day be able to help to save lives by aiding in the creation of vital human organs.
Source: Cartridesave
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