Titanium 3D printing, 'Iron Man' holographic modeling, what next!?

[Captain Sierra]

Just watch.

P.S. if anyone knows how to get that vid to embed, please tell me.

[hawkinator]

[noparse]

[/noparse] is how you do it.

[Cesrate]

“what nextâ€Â

Next we will have 3D-printed AK-47 and RPG. In any country.

[magnemoe]

“what nextâ€Â

Next we will have 3D-printed AK-47 and RPG. In any country.

How will this change anything except hurt Chinese export?

Note that anybody with an machine shop can make an AK-47.

[lajoswinkler]

This has nothing to do with holographs.

And don't be fooled by the metal 3D printing. The quality of cast metal is always superior to the quality of sintered metal dust.

3D printing technology is awesome, but it's not allmighty.

[Captain Sierra]

This has nothing to do with holographs.

And don't be fooled by the metal 3D printing. The quality of cast metal is always superior to the quality of sintered metal dust.

3D printing technology is awesome, but it's not allmighty.

But laser fused titanium printed rocket engines is pretty damn awesome, you have to admit.

[NGTOne]

We, at some point, started living in the future.

[lajoswinkler]

It is awesome, but I doubt it would pass the tests. Casting creates interlocked crystals. This is sintering.

[Jackissimus]

It is awesome, but I doubt it would pass the tests. Casting creates interlocked crystals. This is sintering.

This right here.

Actually I wonder if this whole thing has any use. The 3D printing could be useful only for rapid prototyping, not actual production and the 3d hand gestures could be useful only for playing after work, not real design. Being a fan of Elon (ehm ... look to the left), I really think this was just a cheap publicity stunt. But everybody makes mistakes sometimes.

[Captain Sierra]

It is awesome, but I doubt it would pass the tests. Casting creates interlocked crystals. This is sintering.

We'd have to see. I don't know enough about how the laser fusing works to comment knowledgeably. It certainly appears solid but that doesn't mean it can stand up to the high pressures and low temperatures of cryogenic turbopumps.

[KOCOUR]

@Jackisimus

As an designer i beg to differ. If i could do my work in 3D holographic enviroment, it would make my work both easier, and more interesting. And also more intuitive and accurate.

But i agree that using it for just playing after work would be also interesting.

[Awaras]

The printer is used for rapid prototyping of parts. Basically to let engineers see and feel the physical object, make mockups and suchlike. Once they settle on the final design, then the actual parts can be made through more traditional techniques.

[Jackissimus]

@Jackisimus As an designer i beg to differ. If i could do my work in 3D holographic enviroment, it would make my work both easier, and more interesting. And also more intuitive and accurate. But i agree that using it for just playing after work would be also interesting.

Except he isn't using holographs, only hand gestures for 3D manipulation of essentially a 2D image. I am no expert obviously, but I can't see how this would be more precise (or faster) than regular mouse clicking. Care to elaborate?

[rkman]

Maybe next it goes from hype to reality. Note that in spite of the talk, nothing is actually shown to be modeled with that holographic Iron Man thing (nor is it actually a holograph), they only change the view of the model on screen.

[tom1499]

I think we have been able to do this for quite a while, just nobody has taken any notice. But I gotta say, I know its an early prototype, and with more accuracy it would be much better, but it doesnt seem to make stuff easier for him.

[hawkinator]

A video about a technology that will make mice obsolete and the first thing I notice is the fact that the mouse he's using is the same as mine.

[Scotius]

Elon seems hell-bent on pushing humanity into XXI century What will be next? A flying car of course Or jetpack.

[SargeRho]

As for 3d printing vs casting metal: NASA tested a few 3d-printed rocket engines recently.

[Britpoint]

Except he isn't using holographs, only hand gestures for 3D manipulation of essentially a 2D image. I am no expert obviously, but I can't see how this would be more precise (or faster) than regular mouse clicking. Care to elaborate?

Well once they put the Oculus Rift on it becomes, for all intents and purposes, holographic as you can move yourself around it in 3D space. At that point it's less like an image on a screen and more like putty in your hands.

[lajoswinkler]

Except he isn't using holographs, only hand gestures for 3D manipulation of essentially a 2D image. I am no expert obviously, but I can't see how this would be more precise (or faster) than regular mouse clicking. Care to elaborate?

I agree, mouse still seems to be more precise.

[Helix935]

Elon seems hell-bent on pushing humanity into XXI century What will be next? A flying car of course Or jetpack.

uhh no offense but those has been around for a while.....

http://moller.com/dev/index.php/sky-car/m400-specs

http://martinjetpack.com/

and besides if i were him i would start working on either the implementation of new virtual reality technology like 3 dimensional holograms that do not use mirrors or fog or he can try developing designs for the usage of 3D printing in future orbital factories since they are already sending a 3D printer to the ISS next year so yeah

[KOCOUR]

Except he isn't using holographs, only hand gestures for 3D manipulation of essentially a 2D image. I am no expert obviously, but I can't see how this would be more precise (or faster) than regular mouse clicking. Care to elaborate?

Well i ofcourse presume that they will use it on holograms or VR and not clasic 2D screen.

But even used on classic 2D screen this can be used to pan, zoom and rotate the object.And with cooperation with touchscreen this would be really good thing.

Now iam using device called spacemouse (something like little 6axis joystick) for panning zooming and rotating my designs on the screen, and clasical mouse and keyboard for other things. And i can assure you that the difference betveen working with combination of clasical mouse and the 3D spacemouse against using only clasical mouse is huge in terms of intuitivity and speed of the work.

Hand gesture would be another evolution step of the spacemouse.

Edited September 12, 2013 by KOCOUR

[Seret]

“what nextâ€Â

Next we will have 3D-printed AK-47 and RPG. In any country.

Weapons like the AK-47 aren't particularly high tech. Most parts in it are either machined or stamped/folded. That's technology that every country in the world has already. Any half way competent general engineering shop could fabricate a decent copy. The only vaguely techy bit would be forging the barrel, which is not a biggy if you've got the machine. Or you could just go old school and turn it. Nasty, but doable and super low-tech.

3D printing isn't all that. Compared to machining it lacks strength, dimensional accuracy, surface finish, and is more expensive. Compared to stamping and folding it's immensely more expensive, slower, and offers no advantage at all. Additive manufacturing is a very useful addition to the fabrication tool box, but it doesn't simply replace the current range of processes such as machining, casting, forming, etc.

While we're on the topic of 3D printed firearms I would strongly advise people to not under any circumstances download and print one of the "Liberator" weapons that were in the press recently. I was an armourer in the military and I can tell you those are not safe, functional or reliable firearms. They're dangerous toys. You WILL hurt yourself if you fire one., and they aren't capable of putting lead downrange in an effective way. Don't be tempted to play about with one, and certainly don't rely on it in an emergency.

Edited September 14, 2013 by Seret
typo

[KOCOUR]

While we're on the topic of 3D printed firearms I would strongly advise people to not under any circumstances download and print one of the "Liberator" weapons that were in the press recently. I was an armourer in the military and I can tell you those are not safe, functional or reliable firearms. They're dangerous toys. You WILL hurt yourself if you fire one., and they aren't capable of putting lead downrange in an effective way. Don't be tempted to play about with one, and certainly don't rely on it in an emergency.

àsecond that, there is no dumber way to loose fingers, eyes, or other body parts, than blow them out with selfmade amateur gun. Knew a guy who lost 3 fingers due to selfmade pistol, and that guy was educated in metalworks, so he knew how to work with materials.