And while other multi-material printers work via “extrusion” technologies that squirt out melted materials that then harden to build an object layer-by-layer, MultiFab mixes microscopic droplets of photopolymers together that are then sent through inkjet printheads similar to those in office printers.
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MIT researchers announced that they had designed the first 3-D printer that can print up to 10 materials at once.
Using 3D-scanning techniques, the MultiFab can self-calibrate and self-correct. The team also plans to experiment with embedding motors and actuators, making it possible to 3D print more advanced electronics, like robots. “We use machine vision techniques to enhance or amplify the capabilities of current multi-material printing technology”. However, a team of researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have debuted a novel solution that allows users to create more complex items in a fraction of the time and cost by printing up to ten different materials simultaneously. It can print up to 10 materials at a time and only costs $7,000.
So, 3D printing has now been around for a few years but there is still much to be learned from it and still much that it can evolve into.
More information on the project, which is being spearheaded by MIT engineers Pitchaya Sitthi-Amorn, Javier E. Ramos, Yuwang Wang, Joyce Kwan, Justin Lan, Wenshou Wang and Wojciech Matusik, can be found by following the link below in our source section. For example, you can put an iPhone right into the printer, and program the system to print a perfectly-sized case that is directly affixed onto the phone.
The new printer is also equipped with cutting edge 3-D scanning technology that can scan the items to be printed at a high resolution (about 40 microns, which is less than half the width of a human hair) and produce “correction masks” whenever the printer “senses” that the scanning process was not accurate.
Moreover, the printer allows users to embed already made components to printed materials so it can create really complex materials in a single move. Check out MIT’s MultiFab in operation in the video showcasing all its possibilities, work and actual object design and creation as well.
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Ramos also goes on to say, “Picture someone who sells electric wine-openers, but doesn’t have $7,000 to buy a printer like this. For me, a practical use like that would be the ultimate dream”, he said.
