Futuristic 3D Printer Could Be the End of Molds, Warehouses

[Sherman A1]

The shape of product distribution and warehousing is about to undergo some serious changes.

Researchers from Northwestern University have created a new 3D printer that could be the "future of manufacturing."

The HARP (High-Area Rapid Printing) can print objects the size of an adult human in a matter of hours. Typically, large format printers sacrifice speed and resolution for size. Just look at one of the first 3D printed cars. They called it "the Strati" for a reason.

HARP promises to make no such compromises.

The prototype printer is 13 feet tall and has a 2.5 square-foot print bed. It can print about 1.5 feet in an hour. So, if we're printing adult humans, my replica would take about six hours.



https://www.thomasnet.com/insights/futuristic-3d-printer-could-be-the-end-of-molds-warehouses/

[Prosper]

1. 3D printing is at the High School Valedictorian College Freshman

home for Thanksgiving Dinner. Lavished with praise and every smile, gesture or word cheered like the winning point. In the case of 3D printers probably most of 3D printer accolades are false. It can’t print a car. It can print certain components. It can’t print an electric motor for a car, it can print certain simple parts of an electric motor. Nit picking? Not really because the public is being educated to expect impossible capabilities of 3D printers.

“You read it right, we can now build cars using 3D printing”.

https://www.sculpteo.com/blog/2017/12/27/3d-printed-car-the-future-of-the-automotive-industry/

The main components, such as the rotor and stator can be printed with a common FDM-printer. All magnets, copper wire, and ball-bearings used are ordinary components.

https://www.rs-online.com/designspark/building-and-testing-a-3d-printed-brushless-motor-until-it-explodes

[Sherman A1]

2. At this point you are correct

A year or two from now......

[Prosper]

6. 3D printed objects strength limited by layer construction.

3D printed parts are not as strong as traditionally-manufactured parts. Their layer-by-layer technique of manufacturing is both their biggest strength and their greatest weakness. ... All of the strongest plastic materials, including G-10/FR4 (45,000 PSI) and FRP (30,000 PSI), cannot be manufactured using 3D printing.
Craftech Industries › can-3d-printin...
Can 3D Printing Overtake Traditional Manufacturing Processes? - Craftech Industries

https://www.craftechind.com/can-3d-printing-overtake-traditional-manufacturing-processes/

[jmowreader]

3. Let's see if I have this right

This printer can produce one truck frame in...oh, let’s say 12 hours.

A bank of hydro-forming machines or stamping presses and industrial robots can make the same truck frame in 30 minutes.

The same metal-forming machines plus two human welders can make the frame in about an hour.

So, my choices are: 24 frames in 12 hours in a completely automated plant, 12 of them in a partially automated one or one in a 3D printing plant.

3D printing is for prototyping, not manufacturing.

[eppur_se_muova]

4. Injection molding can turn out thousands of articles per hour. Not outmoded yet.

3D printing is great for one-off prototypes. Probably the least efficient approach for any scale of mass production.

It's amazing technology, but it's not magic. Nor will it be.

[Cyrano]

5. A prototype of a Star Trek replicator once the software catches up