Upcoming Tradeshow, Conference & Exhibition Summary - May & June 2016

Here is a summary of what Tradeshows, Conferences & Exhibitions to look forward to in the coming months.

How Microfactories Can Bring Iterative Manufacturing to the Masses

ANDREW O'KEEFE and JASON DORRIER for Singularity Hub:  Humans manufacture a mind-numbing amount of stuff each year—ever wonder how we do it? In the past 100 or more years, it’s been all about economies of scale. This means you should make a lot of a thing because the more you make, the more your fixed expenses get spread out. This reduces the cost of each unit, from light bulbs to iPhones. Here’s the problem. It’s expensive to do a big manufacturing run. So, how do you know what to make in the first place? Often, it’s an educated guess based on prototypes and limited feedback, but you don’t really know until you try to sell a product—and by then, you’re fully committed, succeed or fail. Jay Rogers of Local Motors wants to upend common wisdom. Manufacturers should run through tons ofpotentially good ideas and then test them out to see if people actually want what they’re making before going full scale. And Rogers thinks microfactories are the way to do it.  Cont'd...

This 3D printer can rival standard manufacturing on the factory floor

Lucas Mearian for ComputerWorld:  Start-up Carbon began shipping its industrial-grade 3D printer with the expectation that big-name companies will soon be using it to replace traditional forms of manufacturing. Last year, the Silicon Valley company emerged from quiet mode to announce its technology: a machine that can create objects 25 to 100 times faster than other 3D printers. Carbon is not selling its M1 3D printer outright, but instead is offering it through a subscription price of $40,000 per year, which includes a service and maintenance plan. The three-year-old company based in Redwood City, Calif. said its Continuous Liquid Interface Production (CLIP) printing process can create objects in minutes compared to the hours a typical 3D printer requires.  Cont'd...

With this new 3D printing technique, robots can "practically walk right out of the printer"

Katherine Noyes for Digital Arts:  Imagine you could use a standard 3D printer to create your next robotic assistant. Just snap in a motor and battery, and it's ready to go. That's precisely the scenario made possible by a new 3D printing technique developed at MIT. Liquids have long been a challenge for 3D printing, and they're necessary for hydraulic devices like moving robots. On Wednesday, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) announced what they call the first-ever technique for 3D printing robots that can print solid and liquid materials at the same time.  Cont'd...

NASA is sending a 3D printer to space that you can use

Emily Calandrelli for TechCrunch:  NASA is preparing to send its first commercial manufacturing facility to the International Space Station (ISS). The 3D printing company Made in Space has partnered with NASA to send their Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) to the space station on a launch scheduled to take place next Tuesday. Users on Earth can pay to use AMF, a 3D printer specially designed to operate in a microgravity environment, to print products on the space station. Once it arrives, Made in Space will be able to command AMF remotely from their headquarters in the NASA Ames Research Park. Spencer Pitman, head of product strategy at Made in Space, told TechCrunch that the company has already secured 20 paying customers for AMF. Their customers include high schools that are hosting space-related design challenges, universities that will print medical research components, and companies that will print commercial parts for satellites and other spacecraft.  Cont'd...

3D Printing Reboot

Dana Blankenhorn for SeekingAlpha:  While many people consider 3D printing dead, given what has happened to the stocks of industry leaders such as 3D Systems, Stratasys, ExOne and voxeljet , it's more accurate to say the industry has rebooted and is preparing for another run. This means the industry's excitement is now coming from college campuses and startups. As an investor you want to keep an eye on this, but withhold your investment. Industry leader 3D Systems has been drawing a bid this year as it  undergoes a restructuring, bringing in more professional management, anddropping the Cube, its consumer printer, from the product line. For all of 2015 it reported a loss of $664 million, $5.85/share, on revenues of $666 million. The stock, which once traded as high as $96/share during the last boom, is now at around $13, but it had been as low as $6.42 in mid-January. Founder Charles Hull, 76, has been kicked upstairs to a Chief Technology Officer role.  Cont'd...

Will 3D Printing Be the Demise of Plastic Injection Molding?

When it comes to 3D printing versus injection molding, the best production method for your parts will become clear when you can answer these questions regarding your desired quantity, quality and cost.

America Makes and ANSI Launch Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative

America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute, and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) today announced the launch of the America Makes & ANSI Additive Manufacturing Standardization Collaborative (AMSC). The purpose of the AMSC will be to coordinate and accelerate the development of industry-wide additive manufacturing standards and specifications consistent with stakeholder needs and thereby facilitate the growth of the additive manufacturing industry. Participation is open to any interested person. The catalyst for the AMSC is the fact that a number of standards developing organizations are engaged in standards-setting for various aspects of additive manufacturing, prompting the need for coordination to maintain a consistent, harmonized, and non-contradictory set of additive manufacturing standards. Full Press Release:

4D-Printed Concept Car Will Predict Your Wishes

Viknesh Vijayenthiran for Discovery News:  New materials will also play a significant role in the further evolution of the car, according to BMW. This has already started with the increasing use of carbon fiber and other composites instead of conventional steel. Looking further forward, technologies such as rapid manufacturing and 4-D printing (3D-printed materials that change depending on conditions) will open up new possibilities. One of the more interesting aspects of the concept is a technology called Alive Geometry which consists of 4D-printed components that can change their shape and interact with the driver.  Full Article:

3D Printing - Is this the Next Wave of Technology?

Like a superstrong magnet, 3D printing will pull manufacturing away from the manufacturing hubs and redistribute it, product by product, among thousands or tens of thousands of smaller factories across the globe.

A New Boeing Patent Describes Levitating 3D Printing

By Lindsey Kratochwill for Popular Science:  Watching a 3D printer work can sometimes seem like magic--thin filaments slowly build up on top of a platform, turning into parts and figurines. Now, apatent published by aerospace company Boeing introduces an even more futuristic element: levitation. With this method, the object prints while floating in midair thanks to magnets or acoustic waves. A "nugget" or base gets printed first out into space, and then a cadre of 3D printers add more and more of the printing material. But why? Levitation is cool, yes, but it turns out there is also a practical purpose for a floating 3D printed object, at least according to Boeing's patent. The levitating object can be manipulated and turned more so than an object stuck to a platform can be, and using many printheads at the same time would ostensibly speed up the process.  Cont'd...

Samsung to provide 'smart factory' solution in South Korea

Cho Mu-hyun for ZDNet:  Samsung Electronics will provide its smart factory solution for over a thousand small and medium-sized businesses in South Korea by 2017, the company announced. The South Korean tech giant will first provide the solution to 224 firms selected by the Center for Creative Economy & Innovation (CCEI), a state-run startup and small businesses accelerator program, starting this month. The CCEI has centres nationwide and works with almost all South Korean conglomerates to fund and support small enterprises with potential. Samsung will provide these firms with manufacturing execution systems and enterprise resource planning solutions. It will also provide its IT-based manufacturing solutions such as automated manufacturing, process 3D simulations, and CAD/CAM super-precision moulding machines. The firm plans to provide 450 companies with the solutions this year and over 1,000 by next year.  Cont'd...

NASA, Made in Space think big with Archinaut, a robotic 3D printing demo bound for ISS

Debra Werner for Space News: Within five years, companies could begin in-orbit manufacturing and assembly of communications satellite reflectors or other large structures, according to Made in Space, the Silicon Valley startup that sent the first 3D printer to the International Space Station in 2014. As Made in Space prepares to send a second 3D printer into orbit, the company is beginning work with Northrop Grumman and Oceaneering Space Systems on Archinaut, an ambitious effort to build a 3D printer equipped with a robotic arm that the team plans to install in an external space station pod, under a two-year, $20 million NASA contract. The project will culminate in 2018 with an on-orbit demonstration of Archinauts ability to additively manufacture and assemble a large, complex structure, said Andrew Rush, Made in Space president. NASAs selected the Archinaut project, officially known as Versatile In-Space Robotic Precision Manufacturing and Assembly System, as part of its Tipping Points campaign, which funds demonstrations of space-related technologies on the verge of offering significant payoffs for government and commercial applications. Archinaut was one of three projects NASA selected in November that focus on robotic manufacturing and assembly of spacecraft and structures in orbit. Cont'd...

Innovation in Creation: Demand Rises While Prices Drop for 3D Printing Machines

Declining 3D printer prices will prompt innovations at a faster rate in downstream markets, making customization the new norm for a wide variety of products.

Buildings Manufactured From A 3D Printer

With the flexibility of construction, 3D buildings will allow architects to dream up all sorts of extraordinary edifices that would be too difficult or too expensive to build, using traditional methods. A 3D-printed building would not need to coincide with our traditional ideas of what a building looks like.

Records 646 to 660 of 807

First | Previous | Next | Last

Additive & 3D Printing - Featured Product

Materialise CO-AM Software Platform

Materialise CO-AM Software Platform

Scale and maximize your AM ROI - Connect data via a digital thread, maximize your ROI, and ensure you get the most out of your additive manufacturing (AM) production. CO-AM combines our industry-leading Pre-Print Software, like Magics and Next-Generation Build Processor, with our AM Digital Factory Software, such as our state-of-the-art AM MES and Identify3D.

Manufacturing and Automation - Featured Company

CSP US Inc.

CSP US Inc.

The CSP Manufacturing OS supports companies in the manufacturing industry in setting up an end-to-end quality architecture. It combines all quality-relevant processes in a central system - from the store floor to the compliance level. Instead of isolated individual solutions, an integrated environment is created that monitors processes, prevents errors at an early stage, analyzes data and archives it in an audit-proof manner.