Choc Creator makes tasty 3D prints.
Choc Edge is offering “the world’s first chocolate 3D printer” for sale. The first ten Choc Creators were offered on eBay, and the next 90 are currently available for pre-order at a discounted price.
The technology for the Choc Creator was developed by a team of researchers at the University of Exeter.
Via Laughing Squid
The new $1.4 billion dollar company.
The recent merger of Objet and Stratasys makes the combined company the largest 3D printing company in the world with a $1.4 billion dollar equity value.
3D Systems has been acquiring 3D printing-related companies at an impressive rate in recent years, including ZCorp and Freedom of Creation, but this merger eclipses them. As 3D printing technology becomes cheaper and more accessible, the industry is also becoming more competitive and, potentially, highly lucrative. A battle is now being fought over who will have the right patents, the best distribution networks, and the right people.
Via solidsmack
3D printing on the runway.
A collection of 3D printed hats and acessories were shown on the runway as part of the Materialise World Conference in Leuven, Belgium. Well known designers Elvis Pompilio, Daniel Widrig, Niccolo Casas showed pieces in addition to the top 20 entries in Materialise’s recent “Hats Off to 3D Printing Challenge.”
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Designer nori for a tsunami-affected company.
Japanese ad agency I&SBBDO was approached by a company that made nori, the sheets of seaweed used for sushi, who wanted revitalize their business. The tsunami damaged their distribution channels, and they were struggling. The result was beautiful, delicate laser cut nori in a variety of traditional patterns.
Via Jeannie Jeannie
An accessible and low-cost way to make precision tools.
When you want to make precision tools like a CNC mill or a lathe, it’s generally because, obviously, you don’t have one. The problem is, how do you make precision tools without using precision tools? It’s getting easier and easier to find a place to use one, but sometimes that is not a practical option. One possible solution being explored is the use of cast concrete.
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Gears, gears, and more gears.
Brent Thorne, a San Francisco-based computer scientist and kinetic artist, is working on a mechanical computer with laser cut gears. It “computes continuous self-similar fractals.” I would be lying if I said I have clear idea how it works, but it impressive nonetheless. Apparently the image above is a half-scale prototype of one of three sub-units that will each measure two meters tall (roughly 6′6″) when the computer is finished.
The artist posted a brief explanation of the theory behind the computer for those who may be interested. If you are more inclined to learning how to make mechanisms our recent tutorials on making Gears and Joints with SketchUp (part 1 and part 2) would be a good place to start.
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A simple principle with a beautiful result.
Christophe Guberan, a student at Ecole Cantonale d’art de Lausanne (ECAL), has made the project Hydro-Fold using a modified inkjet printer. It produces paper objects that automatically fold themselves into specific forms. The ink has been replaced with a specific mixture of ink and water. When paper is printed with a folding pattern, it bends along the wet lines.
One of the major disadvantages of inkjet printers is their tendency to over-saturate the paper with ink and cause bends, distortions, and wrinkles. This project charmingly takes advantage of this principle and puts it to good use. The result is clearly more experimental than functional, but its not hard to imagine the potential of this idea with a bit more technology applied to it.
Watch the video on Dezeen and see some examples after the jump.
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Show the world what you can make.
We have seen people make amazing things with Ponoko. If you have made something incredible, something brilliant, or something that improves people’s lives, this is an opportunity to share it with the world. You could even get some much-deserved recognition for your work.
Fast Company’s yearly Innovation by Design competition recently began accepting entries. They are asking for submissions for nine different categories, including one just for students. The finalists will be featured in the October 2012 issue. The magazine has 2.9 million readers and the website has another 1.5 million; you won’t find a much bigger audience.
The competition closes June 1st, 2012, so you have plenty of time to prepare your submission.
Making Arduino look beautiful.
Many amazing projects have been made with Arduino, but “beautiful” is usually not the first word that springs to mind. Even when electronics are used in a fashion-specific context, the aesthetics tends towards a high-tech Star Trek kind of feel, so it particularly impressive to see someone achieve a completely different, more traditionally feminine, aesthetic.
The Crystal Necklace by Sylvia Yang uses a LilyPad Arduino, which is specifically designed for integration with textiles, along with LEDs and a variety of traditional jewelry components.
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An Arduino-controlled puppet with moving eyes and mouth.
Jeff Kessler originally made TJ* to use in a short movie he was making before deciding to develop it for the public. TJ* is an animatronic puppet head with eyes the move up, down, left, and right as well as a moving mouth.
It is intended as both a toy for children that they can continue to improve as they grow up and as a development platform for makers and artists.
The complete system is still available for pre-order on Kickstarter for $120, but if already have an Arduino you can pre-order just the head and servo motors for $50.
Via designboom
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