In this video, Mashable spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a new system that can 3-D print objects without human intervention. “The system works thanks to a software toolkit that lets you design custom blueprints,” Mashable explains.
CSAIL researchers have developed a new system, dubbed LaserFactory, that can print custom devices and robots without human intervention, reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. “The system is comprised of a software kit and hardware platform designed to create structures and assemble circuitry and sensors for the machine,” Heater writes.
Graduate student Benjamin Jenett speaks with Tech Briefs about his work developing a new kind of airplane wing that can adapt in the air to changing conditions. "If you can have an aircraft that can actively change its shape, then you can optimize its performance," says Jenett.
MIT researchers have developed a new way to optimize how soft robots perform certain tasks. It "shrinks drastically the amount of computational overhead required to get good movement results out of soft robots,” writes Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch, “which is a key ingredient in helping make them partial to actually use in real-life applications.”
Gizmodo reporter Andrew Liszewski writes that CSAIL researchers have developed “a new spray-on ink that can infinitely change colors, designs, and patterns when blasted with different wavelengths of light.”
New tools developed by CSAIL researchers allow users to design a pattern that can be used to 3D print knitted garments, reports Elizabeth Segran for Fast Company. “We’re exciting about how this can be used by everyday, nonexpert knitters,” says graduate student Alexandre Kaspar. “This lets anybody become a designer.”
7 News spotlights how CSAIL researchers have developed two new software systems that are aimed at allowing anyone to customize and design their own knitted design patterns. “The researchers tested the software by having people with no knitting experience design gloves and hats,” explains 7 News reporter Keke Vencill.
Graduate student Alexandre Kaspar speaks with BBC Click about two new systems that ease the process of designing and making knitted clothing items. Kaspar explains that the systems allow users to “create building blocks of parts that are being knit.”
TechCrunch reporter Catherine Shu writes that CSAIL researchers have developed two new systems that enable users to design and customize their own knitted items, no knitting experience required. Shu explains that the researchers want “to make designing and making machine-knitted garments as accessible as 3D printing is now.”
MIT researchers have created an ambulatory motor that can “walk” back and forth or make the gears of another machine move. “On its own, this little moving microbe is impressive enough,” writes Darrell Etherington for TechCrunch, “but its real potential lies in what could happen were it to be assembled with others of its ilk, and with other building-block robotics components made up of simple parts.”
MIT researchers have developed a new system to 3-D print scaffolding for biological cultures, making it possible to grow uniform cells with specific functions, reports The Economist. “This discovery could help those trying to find ways of encouraging stem cells to generate tissue and organs for transplant.”
Fast Company reporter DJ Pangburn spotlights how researchers in the Mediated Matter Group have created polymers derived from organic materials that are designed to decompose. Pangburn explains that “the group’s biopolymers are designed to decompose upon reaching the end of its product life cycle, returning to the earth instead of being destined for a dump.”
Fast Company reporter Mark Wilson spotlights Prof. Neri Oxman’s work developing 3-D printed sculptures filled with melanin, the pigment that colors our skin and hair. Wilson writes that Oxman’s work shows how melanin could potentially be used in buildings to protect inhabitants for the elements, generate energy or absorb unwanted environmental materials.
TechCrunch reporter Brian Heater highlights how MIT spinoff Formlabs has unveiled two new 3-D printers that offer more form and accuracy than earlier models. “Along with increased accuracy, the new machines feature real-time health updates, remote printing and modular designs, so users can swap out parts to keep them going,” Heater explains.
TechCrunch reporter John Biggs writes that MIT researchers have developed a new system that allows users to reverse-engineer complex items by deconstructing objects and turning them into 3-D models. Biggs writes that the system is a “surprisingly cool way to begin hacking hardware in order to understand it’s shape, volume and stability.”