Robert Downey Jr. Gives a Real Bionic Arm to an Incredibly Dapper Kid

In case you need another reason to love Robert Downey Jr., the Iron Man star recently presented a 3D-printed, real-life bionic arm to a little boy named Alex.

https://www.facebook.com/Polygonz3D/posts/927625137268361

All-in-one 3D printer, CNC mill and laser engraver!

While desktop FDM 3D printers are great for toying with at home and making small and fun parts, its potential for serious and multi-material manufacturing is sadly quite limited. Anyone wanting to take things to the next level is currently forced of spending thousands on buying various manufacturing machine. But why not go for an all-in-one option? For a 3D printer that can simply be fitted with another tool head to turn it into an entirely different machine?

That option is becoming more realistic on a daily basis. While several multi-functional manufacturing machines are currently being developed, a highly promising model just launched its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter: the BoXZY, an all-in-one 3D Printer, CNC Mill, and Laser Engraver. Developed by Joel and Justin Johnson, two brothers from Pittsburgh, this machine is shaping up to be a multipurpose masterpiece that will appeal to both beginning and experienced users.

3D printed 2-string violin-like instrument

When it comes to sonic experiences however, Florida-based MONAD Studio wants to turn everything you know about instruments and sound environments up on it’s head.  

Founded in 2002 by design principals Eric Goldemberg and Veronica Zalcberg - both of whom studied architecture in Buenos Aires, Argentina and New York, USA - MONAD is a design research practice that focuses on “spatial perception related to rhythmic effect” with a focus on everything from urban plans and buildings to landscapes and product designs.   

Although the design team have focused on a wide variety of projects, it is perhaps their designs that center around sound that have garnered the most attention - particularly due to to their generative design methods that resemble what some might consider an futuristic spaceship aesthetic.  Of course, these wouldn’t be possible without additive manufacturing techniques.

The studio’s two-string Piezoelectric Violin (one of five instruments designed by the pair along with musician Scott F. Hall) would likely not be interpreted as a violin unless somebody saw one of the press photos, which features a musician playing the form like a traditional violin.  The design more closely resembles a scale model of a spaceship - however it is perfectly capable of playing a tune thanks to a piezoelectric sensor, which is used commonly used as a “pickup” on musical instruments to amplify sound.

The violin, which will be on display at the Javits Center in New York on April 16th and 17th, is a part of an installation titled ‘MULTI’, which aims to interweave the sonic artifacts within a backdrop activated by piezo mics that metamorphose into a complex meta-instrument in the tradition of a one-man band.

Three-legged dog to get 3D printed prosthetic leg

While Hobbes is still capable of walking and seems full of energy, he does have to hop along which quickly fatigues him. Therefore Bledsoe and two of her fellow UC Davis graduate students are now determined to make a 3D printed prosthetic leg for him. As Randy Carney, postdoctoral fellow in biochemistry and molecular medicine, added: "And he’s so young and full of energy that it seemed like a waste if he couldn’t get moving like he wanted to."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ml6a9Bx6Aks

Researchers create 100x rooftop solar concentration from 3D printed lenslets and solar cells used in Space

Ultra-high efficiency solar cells similar to those used in space may now be possible on your rooftop. A team of researchers have worked on a new microscale solar concentration technology that uses inexpensive optics to concentrate sunlight.

Concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) is a photovoltaic technology that generates electricity from sunlight. "Current CPV systems are the size of billboards and have to be pointed very accurately to track the sun throughout the day. You can't put a system like this on your roof." said Noel C. Giebink, assistant professor of electrical engineering at Penn State University.

Fortunately, the falling cost of typical silicon solar cells - from about 20 percent for silicon to more than 40 percent with the new CPV - is making them a smaller and smaller fraction of the overall cost of solar electricity, which also includes "soft" costs like permitting, wiring, installation and maintenance. 

To enable CPV on rooftops, the researchers combined miniaturized, gallium arsenide photovoltaic cells, 3D-printed plastic lens arrays and a moveable focusing mechanism to reduce the size, weight and cost of the CPV system. With this combination CPV can be placed on the south-facing side of a building's roof.

They report their results on Feb. 5th in Nature Communications.

"We partnered with colleagues at the University of Illinois because they are experts at making small, very efficient multi-junction solar cells," said Giebink. "These cells are less than 1 square millimeter, made in large, parallel batches and then an array of them is transferred onto a thin sheet of glass or plastic."

To focus sunlight on the array of cells, the researchers embedded them between a pair of 3D-printed plastic lenslet arrays. Each lenslet in the top array acts like a small magnifying glass and is matched to a lenslet in the bottom array that functions like a concave mirror. With each tiny solar cell located in the focus of this duo, sunlight is intensified more than 200 times. Because the focal point moves with the sun over the course of a day, the middle solar cell sheet tracks by sliding laterally in between the lenslet array.

The researchers discovered that they could reach 70 percent optical efficiency — and they hope to reach 90 percent efficiency — using their design.

"The main benefit of printed optics for CPV is rapid prototyping and testing of initial concepts. The quality of the printed optics is sufficient for proof of concept," said Noel Giebink, one of the authors of the research and an assistant professor of electrical engineering at Penn State University.

Previous attempts at such translation-based tracking have only worked for about two hours a day because the focal point moves out of the plane of the solar cells, leading to loss of light and a drop in efficiency. By sandwiching the cells between the lenslet arrays, the researchers solved this problem and enabled efficient solar focusing for a full eight hour day with only about 1 centimeter of total movement needed for tracking.

To lubricate the sliding cell array and also improve transmission through the lenslet sandwich they used an optical oil, which allows small motors using a minimal amount of force for the mechanical tracking.

"The vision is that such a microtracking CPV panel could be placed on a roof in the same space as a traditional solar panel and generate a lot more power," said Giebink. "The simplicity of this solution is really what gives it practical value."

Because the total panel thickness is only about a centimeter and 99 percent of it -- everything except the solar cells and their wiring -- consists of acrylic plastic or Plexiglas, this system has the potential to be inexpensive to produce. 

Giebink cautions, however, that CPV systems are not suitable for all locations.

"CPV only makes sense in areas with lots of direct sunlight, like the American Southwest," he said. "In cloudy regions like the Pacific Northwest, CPV systems can't concentrate the diffuse light and they lose their efficiency advantage."

The researchers tested their prototype concentrator panel outside over the course of a day in State College, Penn. Even though the printed plastic lenses were not up to specification, they were able to demonstrate over 100 times solar concentration.

Researchers at University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and LUXeXcel Group B.V., The Netherlands were involved in the project. The U.S. Department of Energy funded this research.

Israeli doctors use 3D printing to rebuild injured Syrian man's face

War-torn regions are generally home to the absolute worst humanity has to offer, but sometimes bring forth heartwarming acts of human kindness as well. That’s exactly what’s going on at the Israeli-Syrian border, where Israeli doctors are doing everything they can to help the Syrian victims of the countless atrocities taking place in their country, even going as far as producing very expensive 3D printed implants to help them.

For while Syria is very far away from most of our beds, it is just around the corner for Israel. As the BBC recently revealed, as least 1500 Syrians have travelled to Israel to receive medical treatment. While this doesn’t sound too weird – people flee from war zones all the time – something of an unofficial state of war has existed between these two countries since the Six-Day-War between Israel and its surrounding Arab countries in 1967. Even today, there is something of a no-man’s-land between the two nations, and especially Syrian propaganda is unrelenting in its attacks on Israel.

And yet, wounded Syrians are finding their way to Israel in increasing numbers. While not exactly known how the process works, wounded Syrians find their way to the border on the Golan Heights, and somehow end up in the hands of Israeli soldiers who transport them to hospitals – most of them go to Haifa.

Recently, that exact trip was made by an unconscious 23-year-old called Mohammed, a farmer from Deraa – a hotbed of any Assad-protests. While his identity has purposefully been kept hidden – not many Syrians will approve of someone being helped by the Israeli’s – he arrived in Haifa with a terrible injury: a projectile from a Syrian jet fighter had completely shattered his jaw, leaving his face a bloody mixture of destroyed tissue.

Unable to eat or drink, he was brought to Israel in November 2014. Fortunately for him, one of the hospital’s maxillofacial surgeons, Dr Yoav Leiser, had just returned from a fellowship in Germany, where he studied Patient Specific Implants (PSIs) for eye sockets, jaws, and cheek bones, relying on titanium manufacturing and 3D printing. Leiser set to work on Mohammed’s horrible disfigurement, and developed a 3D printed jaw replacement that quickly put the young man on a road to recovery.

US 3-D car printing factory and showroom

Ever wish you could design your own car and make it with a 3-D printer? 

The developers at National Harbor say they will offer you that chance.

Builders of the 350-acre waterfront complex announced Monday they will open a laboratory, micro-factory, showroom and sales room for Local Motors, a Phoenix company that produced the world’s first functional 3-D printed car.

Founded in 2007, Local Motors is trying to revolutionize the auto industry by crowdsourcing designs and then building and selling the cars locally.

The company invites the public to propose designs for cars, trucks, motorcycles and other vehicles, then provides the facilities needed to build them locally out of carbon-infused plastic via 3-D printers.

Earlier Monday at the Detroit Auto Show, the company debuted a miniaturized version of its Strati roadster, the world’s first functional 3-D printed car. The company’s model of designing by different people and building through the 3-D printer has already produced a race car (“The Rally Fighter”) and a motorcycle (“The Racer”).

The vehicles generally are built using pre-packaged engines from established auto makers like General Motors, which reduces the need for new regulatory approvals. The engines are dropped into the newly designed plastic bodies.

“Local Motors is changing the way you experience motor vehicles,” Jay Rogers, Local Motors chief executive and co-founder said in a statement. “From design to build to purchase to service, our micro-factories are a central hub for engaging both online and physical communities, advancing technology, and creating a first-of-its-kind experiential retail concept.” 

Local Motors already has locations in Phoenix and Las Vegas. The company said in a statement that National Harbor would be the first place in the world to print, refine and assemble a fleet of cars built by 3-D printer. Cars would be available as soon as later this year. 

At National Harbor, Local Motors will join a changing mix of attractions that beginning next year will be headlined by a $925 million MGM resort and casino.

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