3-D printing

MIT researchers have developed a method to grow artificial muscle tissue that twitches and flexes in multiple, coordinated directions, and could be useful for building “biohybrid” robots, reports Andrew Corselli for Tech Briefs. Prof. Ritu Raman explains that her lab is focused on creating “artificial muscle tissues that can be used to understand and treat muscle diseases that impact healthy human mobility,” and making “safe muscle-powered robots that can perform complex tasks in dangerous environments that are not suitable for humans.”

MIT researchers have developed a new method to grow artificial muscles for soft robots that can move in multiple directions, mimicking the iris of an eye, reports Mrigakshi Dixit for Interesting Engineering. The researchers developed a new technique called “stamping” to create “an artificial iris-like structure,” Dixit explains. “For this, they 3D-printed a tiny stamp, patterned with microscopic grooves. This stamp is then pressed into a soft hydrogel to create a blueprint for muscle growth.”

Researchers at MIT have demonstrated “fully 3D-printed semiconductor-free resettable fuses,” reports Jesse Allen for Semiconductor Engineering. “The researchers plan to further develop the technology to print fully functional electronics and aim to fabricate a working magnetic motor using only extrusion 3D printing,” writes Allen. 

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed a 3D printing method that allows “precise control over color, shade, texture, all with just a single material,” reports Vanesa Listek for 3Dprint.com. This technique “promises a faster and more sustainable solution than traditional approaches relying on multiple materials and nozzle changes,” explains Listek.

Researchers at MIT and elsewhere have developed “a new method of 3D printing that uses heat-responsive materials to print multi-color and multi-textured objects in one step,” reports Laura Griffiths for TCT Magazine. “The method has so far been tested using three heat-responsive filaments including a foaming polymer with particles that expand as they are heated, and wood and cork fiber-filled filaments,” explains Griffiths.  

MIT researchers have developed “a new type of reconfigurable masonry using 3D-printed recycled glass,” reports Srishti Gupta for Interesting Engineering. “The team has developed robust, multilayered glass bricks shaped like figure eights,” explains Gupta. “These bricks are designed to interlock seamlessly, similar to LEGO pieces, making them versatile and easy to assemble.” 

Designboom reporter Matthew Burgos spotlights how MIT engineers “3D printed recycled glass and produced robust LEGO-like bricks for buildings and facades.” The researchers found that “in mechanical testing, a single 3D printed recycled glass brick can withstand pressures similar to those of a concrete block,” Burgos explains. “This means that the material can be just as robust as concrete, making it ideal for construction.”

Researchers at MIT have developed “3D-printed glass blocks shaped like a figure eight that snap together like LEGOs,” reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. “The team points to glass’ optical properties and its ‘infinite recyclability’ as reasons for turning to the material,” writes Heater. 

MIT researchers have developed a 3D printer that can use “unrecognizable printing materials in real-time to create more eco-friendly products,” reports Andrew Paul for Popular Science. The engineers “detailed a newly designed mathematical function that allows off-the-shelf 3D-printer’s extruder software to use multiple materials—including bio-based polymers, plant-derived resins, or other recyclables,” explains Paul.

Prof. Skylar Tibbits speaks with Tech Briefs reporter Andrew Corselli about his team’s work developing a new “additive manufacturing technique that can print rapidly with liquid metal, producing large-scale parts like table legs and chair frames in a matter of minutes.” Of his advice for engineers aiming to bring their ideas to fruition, Tibbits emphasizes: “Work hard, fail a lot, keep trying, don’t give up, and have amazing people around you. We're a research lab, so our whole goal is to go from impossible to possible. So, we're allowed to fail; we're not limited by profitability or customer demand or economy.”

BostInno reporter Isabel Tehan spotlights how MIT researchers have developed a model to predict how different shoes will impact different individual runners. “The model takes into account runner height, weight and other body dimensions, and the properties of the shoes — including stiffness or springiness — and can predict how that individual would run in a particular pair of shoes,” writes Tehan. “Ideally, we could make a shoe that's right for you and the way you run,” explains postdoc Sarah Fay.

Researchers from MIT have developed liquid metal printing, a new technique that can be used to quickly 3D print large-scale objects such as furniture, reports Designboom. The researchers say this technique can enable 3D printing, “ten times faster than a comparable metal additive manufacturing process, and the process of melting the metal may be more efficient than some other methods, given that metal is also more accessible with the abundance of scraps that can be recycled,” writes Designboom.

MIT researchers have developed a 3D printing technique called liquid metal printing (LMP) that capable of printing large aluminum parts at least 10 times faster than a comparable metal additive manufacturing process, reports Brian Heater for TechCrunch. LMP “utilizes a bed of 100-micron glass beads to create a structure into which molten aluminum is deposited — a process not entirely dissimilar from injection molding,” explains Heater. “The beads are capable of standing up to the intense temperature, while allowing the heat to quickly dissipate as the metal solidifies.”

Javier Ramos '12, SM '14, co-founder of InkBit, and his colleagues have developed a, “3D inkjet printer that uses contact-free computer vision feedback to print hybrid objects with a broad range of new functional chemistries,” reports Ed Brown for Tech Briefs. “Our vision for Inkbit is to reshape how the world thinks about production, from design to execution and make our technology readily available,” says Ramos. “The big opportunity with 3D printing is how to disrupt the world of manufacturing — that’s what we're focused on.”

Researchers from MIT and elsewhere have developed a new 3D printing process that “allows users to create more elastic materials along with rigid ones using slow-curing polymers,” reports Tony Ho Tran for the Daily Beast. The researchers used the system to create a, “3D printed hand complete with bones, ligaments, and tendons. The new process also utilizes a laser sensor array developed by researchers at MIT that allows the printer to actually ‘see’ what it’s creating as it creates it.”