3D Printed Car stronger then steel, half the weight

[frigidmagi]

Wired

Besides easy reproduction, making the car body via FDM affords Kor the precise control that would be impossible with sheet metal. When he builds the aforementioned bumper, the printer can add thickness and rigidity to specific sections. When applied to the right spots, this makes for a fender that’s as resilient as the one on your Prius, but much lighter. That translates to less weight to push, and a lighter car means more miles per gallon. And the current model has a curb weight of just 1,200 pounds.

To further remedy the issues caused by modern car-construction techniques, Kor used the design freedom of 3-D printing to combine a typical car’s multitude of parts into simple unibody shapes. For example, when he prints the car’s dashboard, he’ll make it with the ducts already attached without the need for joints and connecting parts. What would be dozens of pieces of plastic and metal end up being one piece of 3-D printed plastic.

“The thesis we’re following is to take small parts from a big car and make them single large pieces,” Kor says. By using one piece instead of many, the car loses weight and gets reduced rolling resistance, and with fewer spaces between parts, the Urbee ends up being exceptionally aerodynamic.” How aerodynamic? The Urbee 2′s teardrop shape gives it just a 0.15 coefficient of drag.

Not all of the Urbee is printed plastic — the engine and base chassis will be metal, naturally. They’re still figuring out exactly who will make the hybrid engine, but the prototype will produce a maximum of 10 horsepower. Most of the driving – from zero to 40 mph – will be done by the 36-volt electric motor. When it gets up to highway speeds, the engine will tap the fuel tank to power a diesel engine.

But how safe is a 50-piece plastic body on a highway?

“We’re calling it race car safety,” Kor says. “We want the car to pass the tech inspection required at Le Mans.”

The design puts a tubular metal cage around the driver, “like a NASCAR roll cage,” Kor claims. And he also mentioned the possibility of printed shock-absorbing parts between the printed exterior and the chassis. Going by Le Mans standards also means turn signals, high-beam headlights, and all the little details that make a production car.

To negotiate the inevitable obstacles presented by a potentially incredulous NHSTA and DOT, the answer is easy. “In many states and many countries, Urbee will be technically registered as a motorcycle,” Kor says. It makes sense. With three wheels and a curb weight of less than 1,200 pounds, it’s more motorcycle than passenger car.

No matter what, the bumpers will be just as strong as their sheet-metal equivalents. “We’re planning on making a matrix that will be stronger than FDM,” says Kor. He admits that yes, “There is a danger in breaking one piece and have to recreate the whole thing.” The safety decisions that’ll determine the car’s construction lie ahead. Kor and his team have been tweaking the safety by using crash simulation software, but the full spectrum of testing will have to wait for an influx of investment cash. “Our goal with the final production Urbee,” Kor says, “is to exceed most, if not all, current automotive safety standards.”

Kor already has 14 orders, mostly from people who worked on the design with him. The original Urbee prototype was estimated to cost around $50,000.

When the funding comes in, the head engineer is planning to take the latest prototype from San Francisco to New York on 10 gallons of gas, preferably pure ethanol. The hope is that the drive will draw even more interest. “We’re trying to prove without dispute that we did this drive with existing traffic,” Kor says. “We’re hoping to make it in Google [Maps'] time, and we want to have the Guinness book of world records involved.”

Huh

[Dark Silver]

I probably haven't said this much on the board......

but god damn I love 3d Printing.....

[rhoenix]

The concept and the idea seem to be catching on pretty fast - and why wouldn't it? In many ways, 3d printing as an option will prove to be as revolutionary as the computer proved to be. It's already changing how we think of getting stuff, and it certainly appeals to the DIY-er in all of us.

First, it was ornaments and a few knick-knacks. Then a prosthetic leg, then a lower receiver for an AR, then NASA planning on using it to make buildings from lunar soil, and now a car.

Depending on how 3d printing capabilities increase over the next several years, this definitely has the potential to become a permanent fixture in people's homes. The main question is whether it will cross the popular culture divide and become ubiquitous (like cell phones), or remain a hobbyist's thing (like Linux).

As a concept, I think it certainly has the potential to become ubiquitous - the question is how the current markets would react to such a thing, since 3d printing directly threatens low-cost manufacturing for most cheap goods right now.

If capabilities of 3d printers keep increasing as they have been, this threat to current paradigms would only intensify - and I could see quite a few corporations sinking lots of money into making sure it doesn't catch on just because of that.

[LadyTevar]

There is one reason why it's catching on so fast. StarTrek Replicators.

[Josh]

Yup, exactly replicators. And it will probably be the death of low-end manufacturing. High-end manufacturing will probably most eliminate human work as well.

What's funny to me is that there are high-end restaurants working with the 3d food printers right now. In time, that's going to totally flip and high end restaurants are going to be the ones that have entirely human-cooked food.

[frigidmagi]

What's funny to me is that there are high-end restaurants working with the 3d food printers right now. In time, that's going to totally flip and high end restaurants are going to be the ones that have entirely human-cooked food.

Wait... What?

[rhoenix]

What's funny to me is that there are high-end restaurants working with the 3d food printers right now. In time, that's going to totally flip and high end restaurants are going to be the ones that have entirely human-cooked food.

Wait... What?

If I understand what Josh is implying here, it's that most of the lower-end restaurants will end up likely using 3d food printers to rapidly make their food, whereas the higher-end restaurants will advertise the "real human touch", as in not using printers, when making food.

At that point, having a chef come by your table at a snazzy restaurant and make your food in front of you could become a thing - "showing the ambiance of a skilled chef," or something.

Of course, by the opposite token, this might mean fast food might taste even nastier.

[frigidmagi]

Yeah I got that part. What's this about 3d printers that can make food, that's what got me off guard here.

[rhoenix]

I couldn't resist looking it up. Here's an article I found:

In popular perception, food is something of the holy grail of 3D printing: printing your own dishes is like being able to use a real-life Star Trek food replicator or a Fifth Element-style meal packet. We're not there yet, but Wired has profiled the Cornell University Fab@Home project's ongoing efforts to make viable 3D printed foods. Unlike projects that focus on molding existing materials like chocolate, Fab@Home uses gel-like substances that can be combined with other materials (including artificial flavoring) to mimic the taste and mouthfeel of many different foods.

While the flexibility and precision of 3D printing could make it a hit in Earth-bound molecular gastronomy, the ability to make small, varied portions of food is particularly valuable for astronauts. Currently, space voyages pack rotating packets of different meal types, but with a 3D printer, those could be swapped for base materials that would then be flavored and printed. Unfortunately, Fab@Home will also have to find a way to extrude the many ingredients that can go into a good meal, all while dealing with different temperatures and textures. Even 3D printers for plastic, a much simpler subject, still tend to only print in one or two colors and materials at a time.

There's also the problem of asking people to eat something that is almost, but not entirely, like ordinary food. Jeffrey Lipton of Fab@Home says early tests of printed mushrooms or cheese "quickly ran into the yuck factor... It was the Uncanny Valley of food." For now, the team will focus on producing tasty, simple food that doesn't try overtly to mimic the real thing, leaving more complex and "natural" meals for later.

This article appears bent on the benefits to astronauts, but the same benefits would make them attractive to a business - being more precise with the amount and type of food materials needed, and being more consistent with the finished product.

Of course, this might actually cause a backlash in the form of more people cooking at home, since getting your food looking and tasting the exact same every time might make you feel like you're in the Matrix or something.

[Josh]

More than that

Though it's not a restaurant, I misremembered. It's the French Culinary Institute in NYC.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- A 3D food printer sounds like something out of Star Trek, but it's not out of this world. It's up and running at the French Culinary Institute in Manhattan -- and in five years, it could be in your home.

As part of a project at Cornell University, a group of scientists and students built a 3D printer and began testing it out with food. The device attaches to a computer, which works as the "brain" behind the technology.

It doesn't look like a traditional printer; it's more like an industrial fabrication machine. Users load up the printer's syringes with raw food -- anything with a liquid consistency, like soft chocolate, will work. The ingredient-filled syringes will then "print" icing on a cupcake. Or it'll print something more novel (i.e., terrifying) -- like domes of turkey on a cutting board.

"You hand [the computer] three bits of info: a shape that you want, a description of how that shape can be made, and a description of how that material that you want to print with works," says Jeff Lipton, a Cornell grad student working on the project. Lipton is pursuing a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering.

The project came out of Cornell's Fab@Home venture, headed up by associate professor Hod Lipson. Started in 2005, the project aims to create do-it-yourself versions of machines that can manufacture custom objects on-demand. The group started experimenting with food fabrication in 2007.

Lipton thinks food printing will be "the killer app" of 3D printing. Just like video games fueled demand for personal computers 30 years ago, he thinks the lure of feeding Grandma's cookie recipe into a printer will help personal fabricators expand beyond the geek crowd.

"It's really going to be the next phase of the digital revolution," he says.

David Arnold, director of culinary technology at the French Culinary Institute, has been testing out the technology since October 2009. He loves the experimentation it makes possible.

"One of the main things I hope this machine will let us do is create new textures that we couldn't get otherwise," he says. "This is the first time I've really seen this happen."

That could draw in chefs and restaurateurs. But Arnold also thinks a 3D food printer will have mass appeal.

"This would be a slam dunk for cookies at holiday time," he says. "Anything that requires a high level of precision that people don't usually have with their hands, in terms of making icing or decorations, this thing can perform amazingly well."

Because it's an academic project, the 3D food printer isn't commercially available -- yet. The Fab@Home project has the blueprints for free online, and dedicated hobbyists can use them to build their own. One retailer, nextfabstore.com, offers an assembled version for sale -- starting at a mere $3,300.

Entrepreneur Jamil Yosefzai plans to be on the forefront of commercializing the technology. His New York City-based startup, Essential Dynamics, is working on a version that can be sold to the first wave potential customers: pastry chefs and tech early adopters.

Yosefzai thinks his version of the printer will kinetically retail for around $1,000, but he expects that price tag to eventually fall to $700 or so. And he predicts that the technology could become a household staple within a decade.

"It comes down to comfort level, and that will expand as the [technology] goes more and more into schools and everywhere else," he says. "Sort of like computers -- the kids picked it up first, then the parents picked it up, and once everybody has an acclimation to it, they'll be printing left and right."

However, there's absolutely no reason that food would have to look the same every time- you can vary up the flavoring however you want, you'll be able to change textures, do all sorts of manipulations. It will probably be the go-to meal maker for those who can afford the printers and eventually become as ubiquitous as the microwave.

What I envision from this is the death of the low-end fast food restaurants. Oh, the companies will survive, but it'll probably be something like McBurger Machines located in every apartment complex and every office building. Money meals will be, like I said, those cooked by people.

[SirNitram]

We can even 3D print stem cells from basic proteins. We can turn stem cells into bacon strips. BACON APOTHESIS MY BROTHERS.

[Josh]

More scarily, bioweapons.

Also incidentally meth and other drugs, which means that 3D printing will pretty much fuck over the War on Drugs. Though as their response to the synthetics shows it'll probably take the fossils in Washington a decade or three to catch on to the trend.

Still, bacon, ARs, and printed El Caminos make it all worth it.

[General Havoc]

More scarily, bioweapons.

Also incidentally meth and other drugs, which means that 3D printing will pretty much fuck over the War on Drugs. Though as their response to the synthetics shows it'll probably take the fossils in Washington a decade or three to catch on to the trend.

Still, bacon, ARs, and printed El Caminos make it all worth it.

3D Printing will thus join common sense and reality as things that have fucked over the War on Drugs.

[rhoenix]

These days, 3D printers are laying down plastics, metals, resins, and other materials in whatever configurations creative people can dream up. But when the next 3D printing revolution comes, you'll be able to eat it.

Engineers and gourmands alike are dabbling with edible substances as raw materials for 3D printing. Among their hoped-for results: previously unachievable food shapes and textures, personalized grub, and varied menus on future long-term voyages to Mars. "There is some very cool stuff going on," says Jeffrey Lipton, CTO of Seraph Robotics and a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University.

Edible 3D printing emerged several years ago with Cornell's Fab@Home printer, which won a 2007 Popular Mechanics Breakthrough Award. The syringe-based machine works like an inkjet printer, depositing layers of viscous liquids to build up an object according to a user's uploaded design. Cornell researchers posted the Fab@Home blueprints online, much to the delight of tinkerers the world over. "People started experimenting, putting in different things like epoxies and silicones," Lipton says. "Then we started seeing what other people did when they went into their kitchens, things like Cheese Whiz, Nutella and frosting . . . You can extrude anything through it." Lipton says wild new shapes and textures for artisanal purposes might serve as some of 3D food printing's first, albeit limited, commercial successes. "You could see food tchotchkes find a little niche. We've pretty much exhausted every known process for inventing new foods."

In fact, foods created by printers have already hit shelves. "A lot of people don't know this, but all the microwave pancakes available in supermarkets in the Netherlands are printed," says Kjeld van Bommel, a researcher at the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO in Dutch). Van Bommel calls the pancakes "two-and-a-half-D-printing," because they are formed through a single deposition of batter. Other products out there meet the definition of 3D printing, or additive manufacturing. The U.K.'s Choc Edge, for example, sells printers that melt chocolate and pile it up in layers to create custom shapes. This past Valentine's Day, FabCafe in Japan crafted 3D-printed chocolate faces of customers' significant others. Last summer, Google introduced 3D-printed pasta in its employee cafeteria.

These early examples have all used simple, processed, single-ingredient pastes, powders or purees. No one is yet able to manufacture anything as diverse as, say, a burger with all the fixings. Cobbling together all the different ingredients and structures, given varying temperature requirements and sterility needs, is truly daunting. "Making one grain of wheat is a hell of a lot more complex than doing anything with wheat flour," van Bommel says. And in many cases, it doesn't yet make economic sense to try. "If a complex structure already exists in nature, like a lettuce leaf, why would you want to print it?" says van Bommel.

So rather than reinventing an organic object, van Bommel says one of the promises of 3D food printing is to create novel consumables with personalized nutritional content. "You can add extra calcium or omega-3 fatty acids, and all done in a patient-specific way," he says. To this end, his group is researching 3D food printing to help nursing home residents who suffer from dysphagia and have trouble chewing and swallowing food. These elderly people typically get their meals in the form of an unappealing milkshake of pureed chicken and broccoli, for example, leading to loss of appetite and malnourishment. Van Bommel has a grant from the European Union to develop 3D-printable soft replacement foods loaded with nutrients.

Printed foods could also use smarter, more sustainable caloric sources, such as algae protein in place of resource-intensive animal meat. "I'd rather that instead of printing a steak from cow protein, you could make it from algae or insects," van Bommel says. In one example, his group added milled mealworm to a shortbread 3D cookie recipe. "The look [of the worms] put me off, but in the shape of a cookie I'll eat it," van Bommel says. "You eat with your eyes."

But what about the dream of a universal 3D food printer—something like a Star Trek replicator that could fabricate whatever you request? This prospect, while theoretically possible, poses immense challenges, van Bommel notes. "Obviously if you're going for universal 3D food printer, you can't have 50 million cartridges lying around for the moment you want to print a tomato," he says. "It sounds simple to say ‘we'll have a fat cartridge,' but there are hundreds of kinds of fats." Instead, he envisions a machine with a limited range of inputs. "Maybe three types of proteins, three types of carbs . . . It could happen, but we would need to know a lot about how to make different types of foods from those building blocks."

A major obstacle for all 3D printing, and especially for that of food, is that the printing process is slow, requiring cooling or curing periods, for example, before more material is deposited. "If I can start a steak and it takes three months to print, no one is going to eat it—it needs to work in minutes or hours," Lipton says.

Some researchers are trying to speed up the process to make 3D-printed food more realistic. Van Bommel's TNO has a process that uses a laser-based technique to locally cook the food (the company used it to cook an egg white into the world's smallest fried egg, less than an inch across). TNO recently demonstrated a machine called PrintValley that aims to accelerate the process. PrintValley runs 100 platforms under deposition nozzles consecutively, assembly-line-style, building up 100 objects about a square inch in size in less than 10 minutes, or about 6 seconds per widget. "We developed this to show it doesn't need to take so long to print a 3D object," van Bommel says.

Printing food in 3D isn't quite practical in most places, at least not yet. But there's one place where it could make a major meal-making difference: in space. Michelle Terfansky recently explored this concept in a master's degree project at the University of Southern California. Terfansky heard how astronauts on the International Space Station get bored with the regular weekly meal rotations; travelers on a future journey of many months to Mars will deal with similar cabin fever. Three-dimensional printers could let friends and family on Earth transmit recipes to break the tedium. Storage-space-wise, 3D printers could allow for a wide variety of dishes without having to stockpile pieces of animal carcasses and heaps of vegetables. "It's a very basic way of making people happy and feel at home, whether on the Moon or Mars or an asteroid," Terfansky says. "It's a morale booster."

But there's one more important area—perhaps the most important area—where 3D food printing will need to improve to be a factor in the future of food, and that is taste. Lipton notes that some of the lab-grown, 3D printed meat stand-ins have been dubbed "shmeat," in a crudely obvious portmanteau. To address this issue, TNO is teaming up with a culinary school to devise more gastronomically advanced and delicious offerings. "As long as it looks okay and it's not toxic, we call it 3D printed food," jokes van Bommel. "But the recipes could be optimized a lot further. We're technicians, not cooks."

Looks like this is becoming a thing already, at least in terms of food industry 3d printing.

[Josh]

Yup.

I have seen the future, and it is the McBurger Machine.

That would essentially give us the Stuffer Shack, chummers.

I mean, sure, it's slow now. But I had a cell phone just thirteen years ago that came in a little bag and had a wire running to the receiver/transmitter unit too. It was a bit obsolete at the time, but it's positively antique under two decades later. Technology will move, and it will move quick.