http://en.wikipedia....iki/3D_printing
http://www.zcorp.com...ters/spage.aspx
http://isnblog.ethz....wnload-a-weapon Gee, who didn't see this coming?
http://arstechnica.c...omes-of-age.ars
My favorite example - uses sand and sunlight!
Essentially, you have a printer that instead of dropping ink on a page, drops layers of a 3D object. It repeats this for each layer until you have a real life version of a 3D object you defined (or downloaded). Thus it is called a '3D printer' or 'rapid prototyping' system. There are variations that don't use simple layers just like there are plotters in addition to dot-matrix (most impact/inkjet/laser) printers. For example, you can program some lathes to make custom furniture pieces.
http://www.zcorp.com...ters/spage.aspx
http://isnblog.ethz....wnload-a-weapon Gee, who didn't see this coming?
http://arstechnica.c...omes-of-age.ars
My favorite example - uses sand and sunlight!
Essentially, you have a printer that instead of dropping ink on a page, drops layers of a 3D object. It repeats this for each layer until you have a real life version of a 3D object you defined (or downloaded). Thus it is called a '3D printer' or 'rapid prototyping' system. There are variations that don't use simple layers just like there are plotters in addition to dot-matrix (most impact/inkjet/laser) printers. For example, you can program some lathes to make custom furniture pieces.