All articles tagged with #3d printing
A fan has uploaded a 3D-printable model of the Macca the Gator statue from the $400 GTA 6 collector’s box, criticizing Rockstar for excluding the game and a physical disc. The box, which contains 11 merchandise items, has sparked backlash over its price and contents.
Firefly Bicycles and Josh Ogle Design have released a new titanium road bike that combines traditional rim brakes with modern 3D-printed technology and 40mm tire clearance. The build features custom Cane Creek eeBrakes, a titanium fork with a 3D-printed crown, and through-bolt dropouts, priced at $7,200 for the frame and fork.
SIU Carbondale researchers, with NASA funding, engineered yeast to convert PET plastic and agricultural waste into edible ingredients like proteins, vitamins, and flavors, producing protein-rich cookies called µBites via a 3D printer. The process uses oxidative hydrothermal dissolution to break down waste into feedstock, with potential applications in space missions and disaster zones, though formal taste tests are pending and broader production is years away.
A Bureau of Labor Statistics projection for 2025–2035 shows 12 occupations with the largest declines due to automation and 3D printing, including word processors and typists (down 34%), foundry mold/coremakers, and metal/plastic patternmakers; telemarketers and roof bolters also face shifts as marketing and mining methods evolve. Overall U.S. employment is still expected to rise about 3.5% over the decade, with growth concentrated in healthcare and social assistance.
Japan’s Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency approved a mass-production contract for Terra B1 3D-printed interceptor drones to accelerate a large unmanned fleet rollout by 2027, with production spread across multiple sites to bolster resilience; the move aims to rapidly counter one-way attack drones and adapt to evolving threats.
Researchers demonstrated a skin-like, 3D-printed layer for robots that uses surface electrodes and electrical impedance tomography to map touch, achieving fairly accurate pressure mapping with just 16 electrodes and offering a scalable path for more natural robot and prosthetic sensing.
Researchers at Southern Illinois University Carbondale used CRISPR-edited yeast to convert PET plastic and plant byproducts into edible components, which are then 3D-printed into cookies called μBites. While the approach could aid food security and long-duration space missions, it remains expensive and far from scalable as a solution to global plastic waste.
A project called Camera Things introduces a sliding, rubber-band–driven shutter for a 3D-printed half-frame camera, enabling variable exposure by partially opening the shutter; the files aren’t released yet, but skilled CAD designers could replicate the concept.
A Pokopia player (Reddit user ArcadiaCitizen_) uncovers a workaround to recruit limited-time Pokémon without altering the Switch 2’s clock. By accessing a cloud island with the Mysterious Goggles, using Pokopia’s 3D printer at Pokémon Centers, and crafting needed items (requiring Pokémetal and a Nintendo Switch Online membership), players can spawn rarer Pokémon like Jumpluff, Sableye, and Jirachi. The island code used is 6DXL PD6F. The discovery adds to ongoing debate about time-limited recruitment in Pokopia and whether these exploits were intended by developers.
A 97-year-old inventor in Rickmansworth, Malcolm Stern, has nearly completed a humanoid robot named Toby using 3D printing, but worsening eyesight prevents him from fixing its ankle; his daughter is seeking a computer engineer/robotics expert to help finish the project, which could serve as an educational tool for children.
A Maker’s Muse fire-test examines how different 3D printing filaments burn: PLA ignites readily and burns with a dirty flame, HTPLA resists ignition, PETG is hard to ignite, ABS/ASA burn with a sooty yellow flame, and TPU is the least flammable (though foam TPU can burn more aggressively). The results suggest choosing PETG and TPU to minimize fire hazards, with burn behavior largely influenced by filament additives and formulation.
Researchers report SHIFT, a new extrusion-based method that converts discrete hydrogel particles into aligned subvoxel microfibers during printing, producing highly anisotropic fibers (5–30 μm) in situ. Demonstrated with a dual-phase gelatin–poloxamer ink, SHIFT enables integration into 3D bioprinting and microfibre spinning, supporting long myotube formation in vitro and accelerated skeletal muscle regeneration in volumetric muscle loss models.
An inventor builds the Scanwheel, a handheld POV TV that uses a Raspberry Pi Pico, an A4988 motor driver, LEDs, and a small stepper motor to spin a disk with holes; by timing the LEDs, it creates a 20×20 color display in the center and two 20×20 black-and-white displays on the sides, all housed in a 3D-printed case and running at about 900 RPM, showcasing a compact persistence-of-vision display.
A community member has uploaded 3D-printable files to Printables so you can 3D print a Companion Cube-style case for the Steam Machine, offering a DIY alternative after dBrand’s unauthorized case was pulled. The design closely resembles the original with additional variants, and assembly requires magnets, screws, inserts, superglue, a soldering iron, tweezers, screwdrivers, and multiple filament colors, plus videos and instructions. It’s not as easy as buying a finished case, but provides a viable option for those who missed out.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign researchers have developed a 3D-printed, aluminum-rubber lattice cloak that guides heat around objects, effectively erasing their infrared signatures from all directions and even cloaking complex shapes like a human head, with potential applications in microchip cooling and defense; the work, published in Nature Communications, signals a new approach to omnidirectional thermal cloaking.