Home » Misc » 3D printing nature

3D printing nature


High-resolution 3D printing in seconds

  • NEWS AND VIEWS

A 3D-printing technique has been developed that can produce millimetre- to centimetre-scale objects with micrometre-scale features. It relies on chemical reactions triggered by the intersection of two light beams.

  • Cameron Darkes-Burkey0 &
  • Robert F. Shepherd1
  1. Cameron Darkes-Burkey

    1. Cameron Darkes-Burkey is in the Organic Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Robert F. Shepherd

    1. Robert F. Shepherd is in the Organic Robotics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

In the Star Trek universe, devices called replicators can manifest solid matter in seconds. Thanks to advances in materials science, these science-fiction devices might be closer to reality than we think. A type of 3D printing called volumetric additive manufacturing (VAM) uses light to rapidly solidify an object in a volume of a liquid precursor. Writing in Nature, Regehly et al.1 report an advance in VAM that allows solid objects to be printed with a feature resolution of up to 25 micrometres and a solidification rate of up to 55 cubic millimetres per second. The authors call this process xolography because it uses two crossing (x) light beams of different wavelengths to solidify a whole object (holos is the Greek word for whole).

Access options

Subscribe to Journal

Get full journal access for 1 year

199,00 €

only 3,90 € per issue

Subscribe

Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Nature 588, 594-595 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03543-3

References

  1. Regehly, M. et al. Nature 588, 620–624 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Tumbleston, J. R. et al. Science 347, 1349–1352 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Baldacchini, T. (ed.) Three-Dimensional Microfabrication Using Two-Photon Polymerisation: Fundamentals, Technology and Applications (Elsevier, 2019).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Geng, Q., Wang, D., Chen, P. & Chen, S.-C. Nature Commun. 10, 2179 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Loterie, D., Delrot, P. & Moser, C. Nature Commun. 11, 852 (2020).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Kelly, B. E. et al. Science 363, 1075–1079 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

  • Read the paper: Xolography for linear volumetric 3D printing

  • How to print multi-material devices in one go

  • Designer alloy enables 3D printing of fine-grained metals

  • See all News & Views

Subjects

  • Materials science
  • Chemistry

Latest on:

Jobs

  • Scientific Research Manager – Sloan Kettering Institute, Developmental Biology and Computational and Systems Biology Programs

    Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC)

    New York, NY, United States

  • Senior Assistant Editor

    Elsevier Inc.

    London, Greater London, United Kingdom

  • Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology - Health, Nursing or Biomedical

    Brooklyn College of City University of New York (CUNY Brooklyn College)

    Brooklyn, NY, United States

  • Immunology/Cancer Immunology Research Fellow

    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI)

    Boston, MA, United States

The Agile & Iterative Nature of 3D Printing - Articles

As manufacturers begin to think more like tech companies, adopting a software-first approach, they shift from significant and costly improvements, instead opting for continual small changes and rapid and adaptive responses to change, gaining greater efficiencies and reducing expenses. 3D printing is a part of this change and should be on every manufacturer's radar. The agile and iterative nature of 3D printing solves supply chain issues by allowing a move back toward localized industry as opposed to global production.

Additive manufacturing, also known as industrial 3D printing, is revolutionizing the way manufacturers create products. While other Industry 4.0 technologies assist with logistics and product design, 3D printing is the technology that gets things built. With the ability to print parts on-demand, manufacturers are no longer tied to large minimum order quantities and long lead times. Instead, they can produce what they need when they need it.

Manufacturing companies are experiencing a paradigm shift. In the past, manufacturers designed products and built a prototype. After testing, they decided if they should mass produce the product. Industry 4.0 follows a similar process. But the process isn’t so linear. For example, testing may be continuous throughout the product lifecycle using digital twins. Why wait for a part to be shipped in from 10,000 miles away when you can print the part onsite?  

Today, the raw materials used in additive manufacturing go far beyond plastics and polymers. 3D printers can use steel, titanium, gold, ceramics, and more. That jet you flew in recently — it may have had a 3D printed fuel nozzle. 3D printers can even print multiple parts as one part.  

Manufacturers are also seeing the great value in the agility of 3D printers. By simply changing the design on a computer, a 3D printer can produce a different iteration of a product. In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic shook the world. There were shortages of critical equipment like ventilators. Doctors had to make difficult decisions over which patients could have a ventilator and which could not. 3D printing had the agility necessary to turn on a dime. They could switch from producing consumer or industrial products to medical products within hours, not days or weeks. And when the Ukrainian war zone needed life-saving tourniquet parts, Automation Alley’s very own Project DIAMOnD 3D printing network stepped up to the challenge.  

Other Advantages of 3D Printers  

With traditional manufacturing, the raw materials do not come in the exact size needed to create the products. Subtracting what’s left over leaves waste. The manufacturer can’t convert this waste into revenues. It’s a cost of doing business.  

With 3D printing, there’s virtually no waste. By adding to the product, layer by layer, 3D printing uses only the raw materials necessary for the product. This eliminates the cost of waste. This is one way 3D printing lowers barriers to entry.

The cost to set up 3D printing is low compared to the set-up costs for a mass production factory. With 3D printing, you’re looking at set-up costs of thousands to hundreds of thousands. With traditional manufacturing, your set-up costs are in the millions to billions. Smaller manufacturers can compete with much larger companies. More competition means lower prices.  

The costs of running a mass production facility require large production runs. Low volume manufacturing can’t cover the costs of such a facility. 3D printing can produce a profit for more customized items because of its agile nature.

Some experts believe just-in-time (JIT) inventories are a thing of the past. JIT worked great in the stable geopolitical environment of the 1990s and 2000s. But the world economy has destabilized over the past few years. Trade disputes, pandemics, and wars have taken their toll.  

With 3D printing, we can store virtual inventories in “warehouses” in the cloud. If you need a part, you download it to your computer network. The 3D printer produces the part for you. Think of it as virtual JIT. It’s much cheaper to store inventory in a data cloud than a physical warehouse.

Why Every Manufacturer Should Have 3D Printing on Its Radar

For mass production facilities, 3D printing can be a lifesaver for producing speciality parts for assembly line tools. For small manufacturers producing low-volume customized parts, 3D printing can replace traditional manufacturing.

With low barriers to entry, 3D printing creates huge opportunities for entrepreneurs to break into low-volume manufacturing. If you’re an existing low-volume manufacturing company, you must adapt. If not, these entrepreneurs using 3D printing will take market share from you. It’s imperative that you understand what 3D printing can and can not do for your business.

Conclusion

3D printing is one of the most important Industry 4.0 technologies. When paired with other digital technologies, it’s a game changer. The agile and iterative nature of 3D printing solves supply chain issues by allowing a move back toward localized industry as opposed to global production.

McKenzie estimates that the pandemic, over just a few months, sped up the adoption of digital technologies by several years. Every manufacturer must seriously consider what 3D printing technology can do for them. Otherwise, they risk being left behind by those who use this technology.

Eco-friendly use of 3D printers in the home and industry

Vegetarianism, electric cars, green energy. Increasingly, people are beginning to think about the destructive impact of humanity and production on nature.

Global warming (this is especially noticeable in the last decade), pollution of the world's oceans, garbage dumps, the extinction of some animal species or even entire ecosystems. If you do not start to fight this today, then in a hundred years, hardly anything will remain of the former natural greatness.

3D printing, due to its versatility, helps many scientists and enthusiasts in various fields in solving large and global problems, for the conservation and ecosystems of our still green planet.

Sustainable production

First of all, 3D printers help to make production more environmentally friendly. Using 3D printing instead of traditional manufacturing methods helps reduce waste and greenhouse gas emissions.

Air Emission Reduction

Smoke, garbage, gases, toxic fumes are frequent "companions" of traditional production methods. However, they can be significantly reduced or completely eliminated if a 3D printer is working in the workplace or at home.

Mass production vs. 3D printing

At first glance, it seems that mass production is less harmful to nature than piece-by-piece production on a 3D printer. But it turned out that this is not entirely true. Joshua Pierce and colleagues traced the life cycle of three household items - an orange juicer, parts from a children's designer and a drainpipe segment.


Joshua Pierce, Michigan Technological University Scientist USA

It turned out that the production of, at first glance, such ordinary household items consumes a huge amount of resources - the extraction of raw materials and their processing, production, storage and delivery to the final consumer. In mass production, stamping or casting is usually used, after which plastic scraps are sure to remain.

3D printing can significantly reduce the production chain, and consequently, energy costs (by about 40-60%). After all, 3D printing (provided that the client has his own printer) does not require delivery - it is enough to send a digital 3D model. Printing can be more accurate and leave less plastic waste behind. A 3D printer can even produce hollow or lattice parts that are technically impossible to mass-produce by injection molding or moulding.

Reduced fuel consumption

In the world, more and more manufacturers of cars and motorcycles are beginning to develop the direction of electric motors. There are new and more affordable electric vehicles, the infrastructure for the maintenance of electrical engineering is developing. Many countries set themselves the goal of reducing the use of fossil fuels as much as possible in the near future.


Strati 3D printed electric car

But unfortunately, abandoning fossil fuels in the next few decades is a utopia. But 3D printing is already helping to at least reduce the amount of fuel consumed. This is achieved due to the maximum lightening of the weight of both the machine itself and the mechanical components of the internal combustion engine (internal combustion engine).

Engine hood hinge, 3D printed on the left and sheet metal on the right

Sustainable production

3D printing helps not only to reduce industrial emissions into the atmosphere, but also helps to find and implement new ideas. After all, each owner of a 3D printer can himself model and manufacture a device or object that, in his opinion, will help to resist climate change.

Eco glasses

Disposable plastic cups are a headache for environmentalists around the world. According to statistics, the average person uses a plastic cup for 15 minutes, and it will take from 400 to 450 years to decompose in the garbage.

Plastic, due to its properties, is difficult to replace, especially in the food industry, but some enthusiasts are trying to do it. Jun Aizaki thinks he can solve this problem with pumpkins.


HyO-Cups or natural cups

Even prehistoric people adapted to use bottle gourds as reservoirs for water. Thanks to the 3D printed shapes, you can give almost any shape to a growing pumpkin.


gourd in the form of a jug

Animal rescue

3D printers are actively helping our smaller brothers. In addition to medical uses such as prosthetics, 3D printing helps preserve and restore entire ecosystems.

Animal prostheses

The biggest challenge in animal prosthetics is the creation of an often miniaturized but lightweight and precise prosthesis. Manually or by other methods, this is sometimes impossible. In this case, the only way out is 3D printing.

Curano Cat

Curano the cat lived a full life for 9 years, delighting his owners, until he got cancer. Curano's owners did everything possible to save their pet and although the cancer receded, Curano's back left leg was badly damaged. Amputation of the leg could create new problems and it was decided to try to replace the patella with an implant.


The miniature implant was 3D printed from a cobalt-chromium alloy using DMLS (Direct Laser Sintering) technology. It was impossible to manufacture by any other means, because the implant must not only be miniature and durable, but also completely repeat the complex relief for high-quality integration into the bone.

Holly horse

Holly is a ten year old mare who suffered from laminitis.

Laminitis is a disease of artiodactyls resulting from poor circulation of the hoof plates. Due to laminitis, Holly experienced severe pain in her legs, not only when walking, but also when standing.

Veterinarian Luke Wells-Smith heard of successful attempts to make custom titanium horseshoes for racing horses.

3D printed titanium horseshoes

The guys from the Australian National Science Center were imbued with Holly's misfortune and decided to help. In collaboration with a equine orthopedist, special horseshoes were created for Holly. They made it possible to lighten the hoof and more evenly distribute the load on the legs.

Holly's hoof scan

The new shoes helped Holly start not only walking without pain, but also running.

Akut sea turtle

The collision with the propeller of the boat was unfortunate for the Akut-3 sea turtle. Most of the upper and lower jaws were missing. This meant almost guaranteed slow death for the tortoise, but she was lucky.

The Tortoise Research and Rehabilitation Research and Rehabilitation Center, where the turtle ended up, turned to the Turkish company Btech, which specializes in medical 3D printing. Btech was able to scan and fabricate the missing part of the Akut jaw from titanium.


3D model of the prosthesis for Akut on the left and the finished prosthesis on the right

The surgeons succeeded in implanting the turtle's titanium jaw, and after a successful rehabilitation, it can be released into the wild.

Turtle with prosthesis

Cleopatra tortoise

Nicola Novelli picked up and left a small land tortoise. But due to malnutrition, the shell of the turtle, Nicola called her Cleopatra, was deformed (had the shape of a pyramid) and thinned. If the shell had cracked, then Cleopatra could have died from an infection.


Cleopatra's deformed, pyramidal shell

Nicola approached Colorado Tech University with a request to make a prosthesis for Cleopatra. Specialists from the university and a 3D printing company in Denver scanned and made a shell overlay from polylactide, a biodegradable, biocompatible polymer. Due to the complex relief of the shell, the model had to be printed in parts.


Cleopatra with escutcheon

Since Cleopatra is still a teenager and will continue to grow with age, the “prosthesis” will have to be changed periodically.

Hermit crab houses

In the wild, it's bad to be small and weak. But hermit crabs were able to adapt and use empty shells of gastropod mollusks as a reliable shelter.


Hermit crabs

Due to the pollution of the beaches, many hermit crabs, in search of a new "house", fell into deadly traps from plastic bags, bottles, canisters and died. And natural shelters are becoming less and less. Hermit crabs have to use plastic garbage, which is not at all suitable for this.


Hermit crabs use rubbish as a home

Some enthusiasts are trying to help the unfortunate crustaceans and are trying to make them a worthy replacement house.

For example, MakerBot employees created the project "Shelter", where they offer anyone who wants to design a 3D model of a shelter for a hermit crab. The best works will be 3D printed and tested by crayfish.


From concept to implementation of 3D printed crayfish houses

But the Japanese artist Aki Yamomata, inspired by the idea of ​​a peaceful exchange of land between countries, implemented a project of printed transparent houses for hermit crabs in the form of small towns.

Cancer in a new home made with photopolymer printer

To make sure the new inhabitants liked the houses, they were based on tomographic images of shells, finalized in a 3D editor. Finished models are made of transparent resin on a photopolymer printer.

Conservation and support of ecosystems

In addition to prosthetics, 3D printing helps, although not to avoid some environmental disasters, but at least to slow them down. And this can give scientists more time to figure out the reasons and reach out to people.

Great Barrier Reef

It is the largest and oldest coral reef in the world. It is so huge that it can be seen from space (the area of ​​the Great Barrier Reef is about 344,400 square kilometers). In addition, corals are home to many species of fish and other marine life.


Great Barrier Reef from space

But despite its gigantic size, it is endangered. Due to rising water temperatures, pollution of the world's oceans and climate change, the endosymbiotic algae that give corals their bright color are slowly dying out.

Scientists from the University of Sydney are using 3D scanning and 3D printing to save the Great Barrier Reef. Using 3D scanning, a detailed map of the reef was built. With it, you can track and predict the most vulnerable places.

Using a 3D printer, scientists are making a variety of structures that can support the Great Barrier Reef. For example, sections are printed that serve as a home for algae-eating fish that kill corals. Previously, special blocks or prepared, sunken ships were used for this purpose, but 3D printing makes it possible to imitate the natural structure of the reef much more accurately.

Sandcrete mix artificial reef

Restoring dead ecosystems

Scientists plan to use this technology not only to maintain existing ecosystems, but also to restore those that have disappeared. After all, to date, about a third of the world's coral reefs have been destroyed.

Thanks to 3D printing, there is a chance to at least slightly improve the situation. Using the new Modular Artificial Reef Structures (MARS for short) technology, scientists are trying to introduce 3D printed structures that can become a home for reefs.


Artificial “reef” on the left - recently installed, on the right - after some time

The advantage of such block structures is the ease of installation. Indeed, for their immersion and installation, cranes or other equipment are not required. Several divers can deliver them to the bottom in separate blocks. Each block has hollow sections that are filled with rebar and special concrete for durability.

Modular system installed

One of the largest 3D printed "coral reefs" has already been placed in the Maldives.

Waste reduction

In addition to restoring ecosystems, it is necessary to reduce household waste emissions. And here 3D printing becomes a valuable assistant.

Cora Ball

Cora Ball is a development of the Rozalia Project. The Cora Ball is a small plastic ball that picks up the microfibers that spill from our clothes during the wash. This way, dirt and fibers that may have entered waterways and oceans will remain in the bin. After all, these microparticles can be eaten by fish and other animals.

Prototype Cora Ball

Although mass production was planned to be done by molding, the first batches and prototypes of Cora Ball were made on a 3D printer.

The second life of broken things

Any mechanism wears out and fails over time. Often, to restore the working capacity of the mechanism, it is enough to make a small plastic part. So thanks to 3D printing, many things do not end up in a landfill, further polluting our planet, but get a second life.

RU machine

Radio-controlled cars have long become not only children's toys. Many adults do not mind remembering their childhood and racing on an impromptu track.


RU machine

The weak point of all RC machines is the plastic suspension. For expensive replica models, you can almost always find spare parts, but for rare or Chinese models, they are not.

Instead of throwing away an almost working toy, you can make a broken element on a 3D printer. When modeling, you can even increase the strength of the part by adding stiffeners in weak places.

Rear hub of 1/18 scale car

Some enthusiasts 3D print the entire chassis. This makes it easy to replace broken elements and quickly refine and correct design flaws.


3D printed RC car chassis

The second life of the meat grinder

Even such seemingly eternal things as a metal meat grinder can break. The most annoying thing is that a part that does not have a strong load has broken.

Clamping nut for a meat grinder, made on a 3D printer

A variety of materials allows you to print on a 3D printer a replacement for almost any plastic part. It can be a gear for a blender, a plastic handle for a washing machine and much more.

In some situations, when the model is rare and old, there are no even original used spare parts. 3D printing allows you to give your favorite home appliance many more years of life, instead of rotting in a landfill.

Vehicle seal

Sometimes a small, cheap piece breaks in an important knot. But the manufacturer sells the necessary spare part only in the collection. Because of this, you have to not only overpay for the necessary part, but also throw away the unnecessary, albeit almost working, mechanism.


Washer nozzle for Toyota Avensis - 3D printed on the left, original on the right

A 3D printer becomes a “lifesaver” if you need to make a spare part that is already difficult or impossible to get. For example, this part is no longer produced, but the BU option could not be found, or delivery will cost more than the part itself.

Green Energy

The transition to green energy is an important step in reducing emissions of greenhouse (and not only) gases into the atmosphere.

Wind energy

Wind energy is a renewable and “clean” energy source. Despite some disadvantages (variability of wind power and therefore uneven power generation), it is promising for some countries. For example, in Denmark, in 2019, windmills generated 48% of the electricity consumed.

There are several options for wind turbines - with a vertical and horizontal axis of rotation.

Main types of wind turbines

Vertical-axial wind turbines have a lower efficiency compared to horizontal-axial ones, but their use requires that the wind speed be more than 6 m/s. In Russia, the average annual wind speed does not exceed 5 m/s, so wind turbines with a vertical axis are more often used.

Home wind generator

In Russia, "clean" energy sources are not very popular because of their high price. 3D printing helps enthusiasts design and build low-cost models of wind turbines.


3D printed home wind turbine

In an apartment building, there is hardly a place where a wind generator will be effective, but for example, in a country house, it can be a good helper in case of a power outage.

Wind turbine production optimization

An industrial wind generator is a complex mechanism of gigantic size.


Industrial wind turbine blade

Using only 3D modeling techniques, it can be difficult to correctly calculate all parameters. Thanks to 3D printers, it is possible to create a miniature copy of a wind turbine and test it in a wind tunnel. This helps to optimize and refine the design of wind generators, making them more efficient.


Prototype wind turbine being tested in wind tunnel

And some companies offer to print towers for wind turbines on a 3D printer. GE Renewable Energy, 3D printing specialists COBOD and LafargeHolcim (a manufacturer of cement and other building materials) have teamed up to develop the world's tallest wind turbine towers. This will reduce the cost of installing wind turbines and make them higher (200 meters instead of 100) than from other materials.


3D printed wind turbine tower

After all, the higher the wind generator, the more electricity it can generate in a year. For example, a 5 MW turbine at a height of 80 meters will generate approximately 15.1 GWh per year. The same turbine at a height of 160 meters - 20.2 GWh per year, which is 30% more.

Solar energy

Solar energy is obtained using special panels, consisting of photovoltaic cells, in which a series of physical and chemical processes take place under the influence of sunlight. There are several types of solar cells - monocrystalline, polycrystalline, amorphous (flexible, film).


In Russia, solar batteries are not very common due to the unprofitability of their use in high latitudes.

Currently, developments are underway for the production of panels on a 3D printer, but the main use of 3D printing in solar energy is to print prototypes and accessories for panels.

Accessories for solar panels

South Dakota-based Peppermint Energy created FORTY2. FORTY2 is a portable solar panel with enough power to run a laptop, lighting, etc.


For the production of a prototype case, 3D printing was used on an industrial Stratasys printer. Thanks to 3D printing, it was possible to quickly produce several functional prototypes of the case and remove all the flaws.


For example, the first version of FORTY was too bulky and inconvenient to transport. The original design was greatly simplified. The use of a 3D printer has reduced production costs by about $250,000.

Hydropower

Most renewable energy sources (solar, wind) are fickle. Electricity obtained in this way must be “stabilized” - stored in batteries.

Water in this regard is more predictable. Industrial hydroelectric power plants have a number of disadvantages. For example, flood risk, desertification, human migration, etc. Small hydro-generators, in general, are devoid of the shortcomings of their industrial counterparts and do not have such a devastating effect on the environment.

Vortex turbine

The Belgian startup team Turbulent is trying to create a compact hydroelectric generator that is enough to provide electricity to 1-2 private houses. This will help people who are far from the power grid to provide their homes with electricity using the energy of streams or small rivers.


Hydro generator prototype from Turbulent

To make the turbine more accessible and cheaper, 3D printing has been chosen as a manufacturing method. According to statistics, 1.3 billion people do not have access to electricity networks, even more residents have constant power outages and are forced to use other, not environmentally friendly, energy sources (for example, gasoline / diesel generators).

River turbine

Ted Christopher spent several years developing a prototype river turbine capable of generating electricity without impacting the environment. The result of his developments was the Volturn system, named after the god of the river in Greek mythology.

The Volturn has a horizontal design that generates power and deflects river debris such as rocks, plants or logs.

The prototype was 3D printed and tested in local rivers. 5 turbines combined into a single system will be able to provide electricity to about 40 houses.

Plastic recycling

Plastic. Its properties, for the modern world, become both a salvation and a curse for the environment. On the one hand, plastic products are light and durable, you do not need to spend a lot of time on their manufacture. At the same time, not all types of plastic can be recycled. On average, a plastic product can decompose from 400 to 700 years, and unfortunately plastic rots not only in landfills, but also pollutes nature and the oceans.

Filament recycling

During 3D printing, plastic debris is inevitably left behind. These can be model supports or broken products, during the printing of which something went wrong.


3D printing failed

But used plastic can be shredded, mixed with fresh pellets, and reused (as long as the plastic is not biodegradable). In this case, 3D printing becomes almost waste-free.

On the Internet, you can find many options for home machines for the production of plastic thread. It can be a self-assembly machine, partially printed on a 3D printer.


Home self-assembly filament machine

Or a finished machine made at the factory. Pellets for plastic production can be easily ordered online.


Home filament machine

Plastic bottle filament

In addition to recycling used filament, enthusiasts have learned to print even from plastic bottles.


Homemade machine for making plastic thread from plastic bottles

Every day, around 100 million plastic bottles are used and thrown away around the world, and only 20% of them are recycled or reused. A plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to decompose! The use of plastic bottles as a material for a 3D printer will give them a new life in the form of useful things for the home.


Bottle printed spool


3D printed bottle gear

From one bottle, from 15 to 30 grams of plastic filament is obtained.

Totals

3D printers still have a long way to go to become truly sustainable, but even now, despite the imperfection of the technology, they can help reduce environmental pollution.

Already now, thanks to 3D printing, many good deeds are being done - it is possible to improve production technologies, even if only a little, to reduce the amount of emissions into the atmosphere and, of course, to try to restore the fragile natural balance.

It is important to remember that a 3D printer is just a tool and it depends only on the consciousness of a person whether it will be useful or continue to replenish landfills with unnecessary plastic waste.

3D printing helps to restore the population of white cranes

News

Follow author

Subscribe

Don't want

7

Employees of the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) feed the Siberian Cranes with artificial beaks printed on a 3D printer, protecting the chicks from dangerous attachment to humans.

White cranes are endangered and listed in the Red Book. In the most difficult situation was the population of Siberian Cranes, where the number of remaining birds is in the tens. Work on the restoration of the species is being carried out in the Oksky Reserve, which for a quarter of a century has included a nursery of rare species of cranes. Employees of the Russian branch of the World Wildlife Fund help to feed young birds with the help of special 3D-printed dummies that mimic the beaks of adults. Such tricks, coupled with obligatory baggy suits, are necessary so that the growing Siberian Cranes do not get used to people.

“In order for the chicks released into the wild to be able to adapt to free life as easily as possible, including avoiding dangerous proximity to humans, it is extremely important to raise them in minimal visual contact with humans. Employees of the nursery, dressed in special costumes that hide the outlines of human figures, use artificial beaks to teach cranes to feed on their own in nature, avoid dangers and prepare for a long thousand-kilometer flight to wintering grounds, ”says Vladimir Krever, scientific director of the WWF Russia Biodiversity Conservation Program .

Apparently, the beak models were made on 3D printers manufactured by the Polish company Zortrax, since Z-ULTRAT, a proprietary version of ABS plastic, was used as a consumable. Each beak takes about a week to complete, including thirty-six hours of 3D printing and two to three days of artwork. According to the WWF press service, the artificial beaks were created by the SIU System company, which donated six models.

“We believe that 3D is the future. We are happy that even today they find such a noble use as helping to save a disappearing bird. Cooperation with WWF Russia has brought us great moral satisfaction and I hope that we have many more interesting projects ahead of us,” commented Ashkhen Hovsepyan, CEO of SIU System.

Do you have any interesting news? Share your developments with us, and we will tell the whole world about them! We are waiting for your ideas at [email protected].

Follow the author

Follow

Don't want

7

Even more interesting articles

eight

Subscribe to the author

Subscribe

Don't want

The project is experiential and symbolic: the structure was erected by 3D4Art to celebrate.

Learn more