The humble beginnings and ambitious future of 3D printing
Consumer-focused 3D printing has been all the rage in the past several years, and while Yeezy may be apprehensive, it's putting the power of manufacturing into the hands of the people. The concept of three-dimensional reproduction isn't as new as you may think; various methods were being employed as early as the 1800s. From the 1950s until the early aughts, it's primarily been used in experimental or industrial applications due to the high costs involved. But when the RepRap project went open-source and MakerBot targeted the consumer market with more affordable machines, things began to change. This week we take a quick look at some milestones in 3D printing's development and see how it's progressing in the modern age.
![<p>Around 1968, Wyn Swainson of Denmark was working on Solid Freeform Fabrication, where a photopolymer would solidify at the point where two lasers intersected. He launched Formigraphic Engine Co., but failed to commercialize the process. </p>
<p>In the early '80s, both Hideo Kodama of Nagoya Municipal Industrial Research Institute in Japan and Alan Herbert of 3M worked on rapid prototyping methods involving photopolymers, but neither persisted with the research.</p>
<p>In 1984, Charles Hull applied for a patent for his Stereolithography (SLA) process. His method photo-hardened the polymers using UV lasers. He co-founded 3D Systems when the patent was granted in 1986 and within two years the company sold the first of its SLA-1 machines (shown here) priced at over $100,000. </p>
<p>[Image: 3D Systems]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/uyrGhhhcZWFUxXV1MJQNgQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTEyMDk-/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/lq50VSOPqv.G02cbOphlww--~B/aD0xMjAwO3c9OTUzO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/366/218/0/S3662180/slug/l/3ds-first-sla-1-1200-1.jpg)
![<p>RepRap (short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper) was the brainchild of engineer and mathematician Adrian Bowyer while an academic at the University of Bath, England in 2005. The concept was to build an affordable 3D printer, which could also reproduce itself, printing many of the parts needed for another machine. The first model, called Darwin (shown here) produced an offspring -- or at least many of its plastic components -- in 2008. The project was made open-source, so that others could build on the idea, which they certainly did.</p>
<p>[Image: RepRap Blog via Wikimedia]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/bwBdxmoe91hu6kGaqf6l_g--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTQ1NQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/9qxtQDbMEOitBlHoyRDOrA--~B/aD01Njk7dz0xMjAwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/366/211/9/S3662119/slug/l/reprap-father-son-first-rep-1200-1.jpg)
![<p>One of the more recognizable names in consumer 3D printing is Brooklyn-based MakerBot Industries, which began selling sub-$2,000 devices in 2009. (As a reference, 3D Systems released its cheapest model that year for $9,900.) MakerBot was founded that year by (from left) Adam Mayer, Zach Smith (a founding member of the RepRap Research Foundation to support 3D printing research) and Bre Pettis. The first working models (shown here), known as Cupcake, got things rolling for the company and were soon followed by the Thing-O-Matic and successive Replicator models. In 2013, Stratasys acquired MakerBot to expand into the consumer market.</p>
<p>[Image: MakerBot Industries via Wikimedia]</p>
<p></p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/mkJlLmRg8yjZeRrTl.7.PQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTU3MQ--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/jFAqfUOMPSclRDQSv6ahng--~B/aD04MzM7dz0xNDAwO2FwcGlkPXl0YWNoeW9u/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/366/214/1/S3662141/slug/l/makerbot-cupcake-protos-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>In order to expand the range of facial expressions beyond the standard stop-motion process, Laika began to experiment with 3D printing. For the 2009 release of <em>Coraline</em>, the company used a $110,000 Objet PolyJet printer to quickly create a catalog of different expressions -- although they still needed to be painted. Laika returned to that process for the 2012 film <em><a href="http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/17/how-3d-printing-changed-the-face-of-paranorman/">ParaNorman</a></em>, where they stepped things up a notch. This time they used a Z Corp 650 (now part of 3D Systems), which offered color output.</p>
<p>[Image: Laika]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/vWKoNsD0VHB0gzqAB6GZvA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTcxOA--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/1m9vE6.xptCZB.rZ2AkQ8Q--~B/aD0xMDQ3O3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/366/220/2/S3662202/slug/l/paranorman-laika-3d-1400-1.jpg)
![<p>The aerospace industry has been one of the primary supporters of 3D printing since the beginning and NASA has begun to focus on additive manufacturing of its own to save money and increase efficiency. Using methods like Selective Laser Melting (SLM), which allows the creation of robust metal parts, NASA has been able to reduce the complexity of engine parts and other components, while also reducing production time.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the International Space Station has been using a standard plastic printer in orbit. The process is <a href="http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/experiments/1115.html">being tested</a> in the zero-g environment in hopes that future mission members will make some of their own tools and parts, rather than counting on products being delivered from Earth. </p>
<p>[Image: NASA/MSFC]</p>](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/7S23sV6j2UDhBze_GEYN9A--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTg5Nw--/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/jY16.rIvw9sh5kixiVYuPg--~B/aD0xMzA4O3c9MTQwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg--/https://www.blogcdn.com/slideshows/images/slides/366/214/6/S3662146/slug/l/nasa-turbopump-1400-1.jpg)
