3D Printer with a diffrent approach
What we think of as 3D printing, says Joseph DeSimone, is really just 2D printing over and over ... slowly. Onstage at TED2015, he unveils a bold new technique — inspired, yes, by Terminator 2 — that's 25 to 100 times faster, and creates smooth, strong parts. Could it finally help to fulfill the tremendous promise of 3D printing?
http://www.selfassemblylab.net/4DPrinting.php
The ability to create shape-memory effects like folding, curling, stretching or twisting—based on the orientation and location of particular fibers within composite materials—opens up huge possibilities for product design. It may also be possible this shape-altering technology can be adapted to metals and other materials.
Industries that can especially benefit from the use of adaptive, composite materials include manufacturing, packaging, and biomedical. A possible aerospace application is using 3D printers to build solar panels that would power space satellites. The panels could be built flat and stored compactly during launch, and then transformed to 4D dimensions in space.
As 3D printing technology continues to evolve with more complex, printable materials and higher resolutions at larger scales, it is very likely that 4D printing will provide new ways to create highly functional, complex surfaces that could revolutionize engineering.
