Lifeboat Foundation

This is what 3D-printed living skin looks like.

MICROSOFT WILL BUILD computers even more sleek and beautiful than Apple’s. Robots will 3D-print cool shoes that are personalized just for you. (And you’ll get them in just a few short days.) Neural networks will take over medical diagnostics, and Snapchat will try to take over the entire world. The women and men in these pages are the technical, creative, idealistic visionaries who are bringing the future to your doorstep. You might not recognize their names—they’re too busy working to court the spotlight—but you’ll soon hear about them a lot. They represent the best of what’s next.

You might not recognize their names—they’re too busy working to court the spotlight—but you’ll soon hear about them a lot. They represent what’s next.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have created a double-armed, laser-guided robot that can basically 3D print a 50-foot-wide house in less than 14 hours with almost no human intervention. The Digital Construction Platform, described today in Science Robotics, consists of a large hydraulic arm mounted on a platform with motorized treads, plus a smaller electric-powered arm for finer movements. The MIT team programmed the solar-powered machine to spray out foam construction material, layer by layer, to form a 12-foot-high, igloo-like structure big enough to house a family. The researchers hope such robots could someday be sent to the moon, Mars or Antarctica to build “print-in-place” habitats from the materials at hand … or at manipulator.

3D printing is inspiring new materials at JPL.

3D-printed parts could save aircraft manufacturers billions of dollars.

In aerospace, parts are complicated, and manufacturing them can be very expensive and time consuming. When rocket engine parts can take up to a year to make, it is very difficult to start a new rocket company and for aerospace companies to be cost effective, innovative and nimble.

These barriers to entry are why you don’t see many start-up space companies and why the industry has relied on the same basic engine designs as those built during the Apollo program.

3D printing is changing all that. At Virgin Orbit, we are building a rocket system that will send small satellites into orbit. We aim to open access to space for small satellites to improve life on earth through services such as internet connectivity to the under connected and data for planning, production, disaster mitigation etc.

Continue reading “How 3D printing is changing the future of the space industry” »

The first 3D printer from Made In Space was installed aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in November 2014. The idea sounds cool, but many ordinary earthlings have yet to feel its impact.

The start-up, based at NASA Ames Research Center in California, has since installed a second 3D printer on the ISS. The Additive Manufacturing Facility (AMF) is the first commercial 3D printer in space. Brought to the ISS in 2016, the AMF is already printing orders for commercial customers, including the first 3D-printed advertisement in space, a crowdsourced sculpture and projects for educational programs, such as Enterprise In Space.

With the AMF, the implications are starting to become clear. 3D printing in space isn’t just meant to be a novelty, but a technology that enables humanity’s proliferation throughout the cosmos. Now, it’s possible for customers with a small wad of cash to 3D print plastic objects on the ISS, but, if Made In Space’s plans pan out, we may see a future in which those customers can head to space themselves.

Continue reading “The Future of NewSpace” »

Science fiction has always provided an outlet where we can let our imaginations run wild about the possibilities of technological advances. Not long ago, science fiction concepts like self-aware robots, autonomous cars, or 3D printers may have been unimaginable, but we’re watching many of these things come to life before our eyes in the digital age.

Deep learning was previously a technology that seemed straight from the plot of the latest blockbuster, yet these days it’s no longer fiction and is proliferating across real-life applications. Deep learning, which falls under the umbrella of technologies known as artificial intelligence (AI), teaches machines to mimic the thought and decision-making processes of the human brain. Computers are trained using extremely large historical datasets to help them adapt and learn from prior experience, identify anomalous patterns in large datasets, and improve predictive analysis.

These techniques are becoming so popular that Gartner recently named AI and Advanced Machine Learning (which includes technologies such as deep learning) their #1 Strategic Technology Trend for 2017. The firm went on to predict that these technologies will begin to increasingly augment and extend virtually every technology-enabled service, thing, or application, and therefore will become the primary battleground for technology vendors through at least 2020.

Continue reading “Deep Learning Technologies Breaking Through to the Enterprise” »

Divergent 3D has shown off the Blade Supercar, the first-ever 3D-printed sports car capable of reaching 97 km (60 mph) in 2.2 seconds. The car is made from a more sustainable approach to materials that, if widely adopted, could help alleviate the carbon footprint of automakers.