Lifeboat Foundation

Although today’s rocket engines are advanced and powerful, they tend to rely on traditional — and naturally volatile — fuels. Firehawk Aerospace has a safer and more stable new solid fuel, new engines, and millions in new funding to take it through the next round of tests to its first in-atmosphere demonstration launch.

Firehawk appeared on the scene two years ago with a fresh take on hybrid engines; the breakthrough made by CEO Will Edwards and chief scientist Ron Jones was to give that fuel a structure and 3D print it in a specially engineered matrix.

The structured, solid fuel grain is more stable and easier to transport than other fuels, and burns in a very predictable way. The company designed engines around this concept and tested them at smaller scales, though they have also been working on the kind of engine you might actually use if you were going to space. But the company has said that one of the strengths of the system is its adaptability.

Continue reading “Firehawk’s rocket engines and 3D-printed fuel hit testing milestones ahead of first launch” »

For airliners, cargo ships, nuclear power plants and other critical technologies, strength and durability are essential. This is why many contain a remarkably strong and corrosion-resistant alloy called 17–4 precipitation hardening (PH) stainless steel. Now, for the first time ever, 17–4 PH steel can be consistently 3D-printed while retaining its favorable characteristics.

A team of researchers.

Researchers were successful in printing models of well-known structures from several nations.

The developments in the field of additive manufacturing continue unabated. This time, Stanford University’s new burst will bring further innovation to the industry.

Published in Science Advances on September 28, the results demonstrate that the novel process is much faster than the quickest high-resolution printing method currently available.

Continue reading “Stanford’s new 3D printing tech is up to 10 times faster than the quickest printer” »

Advancements in 3D printing have made it easier for designers and engineers to customize projects, create physical prototypes at different scales, and produce structures that can’t be made with more traditional manufacturing techniques. But the technology still faces limitations—the process is slow and requires specific materials which, for the most part, must be used one at a time.

Researchers at Stanford have developed a method of 3D printing that promises to create prints faster, using multiple types of resin in a single object. Their design, published recently in Science Advances, is 5 to 10 times faster than the quickest high-resolution printing method currently available and could potentially allow researchers to use thicker resins with better mechanical and electrical properties.

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Daegu Gyeongbuk Institute of Science & Technology (DGIST, President Yang Kook) Professor Hongsoo Choi’s team of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering collaborated with Professor Sung-Won Kim’s team at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Catholic University of Korea, and Professor Bradley J. Nelson’s team at ETH Zurich to develop a technology that produces more than 100 microrobots per minute that can be disintegrated in the body.

Microrobots aiming at minimal invasive targeted precision therapy can be manufactured in various ways. Among them, ultra-fine 3D printing technology called two-photon polymerization method, a method that triggers polymerization by intersecting two lasers in synthetic resin, is the most used. This technology can produce a structure with nanometer-level precision. However, a disadvantage exists in that producing one microrobot is time consuming because voxels, the pixels realized by 3D printing, must be cured successively. In addition, the magnetic nanoparticles contained in the robot can block the light path during the two-photon polymerization process. This process result may not be uniform when using magnetic nanoparticles with high concentration.

To overcome the limitations of the existing microrobot manufacturing method, DGIST Professor Hongsoo Choi’s research team developed a method to create microrobots at a high speed of 100 per minute by flowing a mixture of magnetic nanoparticles and gelatin methacrylate, which is biodegradable and can be cured by light, into the microfluidic chip. This is more than 10,000 times faster than using the existing two-photon polymerization method to manufacture microrobots.

Have you ever been watching a sci-fi show like Star Trek or Stargate, and someone mentions neutronium? Ever wonder what neutronium even is? I this video I give a quick run down of the interesting properties and meanings of this very strange, and very dangerous hypothetical element.

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The technology, which has been tested in the lab, could ultimately be used for manufacturing and building in difficult-to-access or dangerous locations such as tall buildings or help with post-disaster relief construction, say the researchers.

3D printing is gaining momentum in the construction industry. Both on-site and in the factory, static and mobile robots print materials for use in construction projects, such as steel and concrete structures.

Continue reading “3D-printed drones work like bees to build and repair structures while flying” »

The drones will help the construction industry in hard-to-reach and dangerous places.

Consider the drone bees. These bees, which probably gave their name to today’s drones, are also may have inspired by their physical features. Let’s learn how.

Continue reading “Animal-inspired flying robots are going to 3D build mid-flight” »

The world has experienced a technological leap in the last decade. Innovations such as smartphones and tablets, 3D printing, artificial intelligence, and blockchain are coming with us. As is well known, these technologies have become indispensable, not only causing hype in one or the other but also permanently changing our daily lives and ways of working. Will this development slow down? I do not think so, the exact opposite. In the next 10 years, you can expect even more breakthroughs than you can imagine today.