If your GIF appreciation hasn’t already been saturated by your social media contacts, we daresay you might enjoy Peeqo, a 3D printed robot that communicates using only GIFs. The small robot, developed by New York-based Abhishek Singh, could be a perfect (not to mention cute) desk companion for anyone looking for a bit of topical fun.
System from Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab 3-D prints hydraulically-powered robot bodies, with no assembly required.
One reason we don’t yet have robot personal assistants buzzing around doing our chores is because making them is hard. Assembling robots by hand is time-consuming, while automation — robots building other robots — is not yet fine-tuned enough to make robots that can do complex tasks.
Last year, around this time, I posted a blog entry comparing a FabLab in Sicily to a modern version of the mythological forge that the Roman God of Hell had deep inside the Mt. Etna Volcano, where he manufactured metal components and weapons for Jupiter and the other Gods. I am now back in Sicily and that myth is presenting itself even more clearly, as I ventured up to the volcano, to a small town called Aci San Antonio, lost among wild vegetation and spent craters. Here, a company called Mt Ortho is taking the myth of Volcano into the future, with two Arcam Q10 electron beam melting (EBM) 3D printers manufacturing state-of-the-art, titanium prosthetic implants.
Faith Lennox lost part of her left arm when she was just nine months old. Her body’s position at the time of birth restricted the flow of blood to her arm, causing irreversible damage.
Mina Khan was born with a broken heart. Specifically, she had a large hole between her ventricles. This defect prevented the normal circulation of blood through her heart chambers and lungs, leaving the little girl constantly exhausted. Mina could not put on weight, and her hair would not grow. She needed a miracle, and the challenge to save her life was accepted by an innovative team of surgeons at St. Thomas Hospital in London, and a 3D printer.
Let it be known that a physical disability has never prevented the determined musician from pursuing their passion. My preferred example is history’s greatest guitarist, Django Reinhardt, who, after a fire paralyzed the third and fourth fingers on his left hand, used only his index and middle fingers to be one of the fastest, yet most elegant jazz guitarist the world has ever known.
Until now, several different groups of researchers have developed small masses of tissue as implants, but now they are trying to create a clear path to their actual use. In Japan, scientists have made progress towards using a 3D printer to fabricate custom-made skin, bones, and joints.
As reports of surgeons using 3D printed models to prepare for surgeries become more of common news stories in our industry, we should take a moment to celebrate what appears to be the emergence of a new standard of care, and an amazing teaching tool.
Three Austrians have replaced injured hands with bionic ones that they can control using nerves and muscles transplanted into their arms from their legs.
We may await the day that 3D bioprinting is ubiquitous practice, but MakerBot and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have proven that we may not have to wait that long. Using ordinary MakerBot PLA filament, the Feinstein researchers were able to create custom scaffolding on which living cells were cultured for a tracheal implant. The results of the research were presented at the the 51st Annual Meeting of The Society of Thoracic Surgeons in San Diego by Feinstein investigator Todd Goldstein.
The BIOFABRIS is a National Institute of S&T in Biomanufacturing of multidisciplinary,
located at the Chemical Engineering Campus of UNICAMP, character that aims to integrate computational tools, synthesis and development of new biomaterials and application of engineering techniques to obtain biomedical devices (prostheses and orthopedic orthoses) and substitutes for live biological tissues or defective or missing human organs.