The project of Russian designer Alexey Medvedev won the joint competition of Airbus and Local Motors for designing a cargo drone of the future. According to the terms of the competition, the drone must have a carrying capacity of up to 5 kg and a range of up to 100 km. The main purpose of the drones is to quickly deliver medicines to hard-to-reach places, although in essence drones should be universal. Project Alexei, called " ", Involves the use of four lifting and one main engine in 3D-printed design, reinforced with carbon fiber inserts.
Screwdriver Racing
German technical university students hold annual racing competitions on self-made race cars driven by screwdrivers. Typically, the design of racing cars depends almost entirely on the imagination of the designers, provided that only one cordless drill driver should be used as a drive. This year, the competition organizers decided to complicate the task a bit, demanding that each car be partially made using additive technologies. Eleven participating teams coped with the task without difficulty, integrating 3D printed components into self-propelled strollers and electric skateboards, right down to the elements of supporting structures. The high speeds shown by the participants did not allow to do without accidents, but serious injuries in an exciting I didn’t even get a surprisingly lively crash test dummy.
Invisible hat no longer seems fantastic
Scientists at Queen Mary University of London are working on technologies that can bring to life the idea . The concept is to mask objects using 3D-printed metamaterials with variable negative refraction of electromagnetic waves. Thanks to the original application of transformational optics, waves surround an experimental design without scattering. Unfortunately, the effect of invisibility has so far been achieved only in a narrow segment of the microwave range, but as the resolution of 3D printing increases and the realization of additive production of complex nanometer structures increases, masking in the visible range of light can also become possible.
Sapper drone will help clear the world of mines
Afghan refugee brothers Massoud and Mahmoud Hassani set about clearing the world of mines. The problem of unmarked minefields exists not only in Afghanistan, but throughout the world: according to UN estimates, the number of active explosive devices reaches 100 million, and up to ten people become their victims every day. The new project of the Hassani brothers is in 3D-printing of automated drone sappers " "Equipped with min detectors. Drones are maps of minefields and carry out the elimination using small discharged detonators. According to the head of the 3Dtoday portal Sergey Pushkin, such projects are a clear demonstration of not only the general availability of 3D printing, but also the ability of additive technologies to serve the good of humanity.
Millions of people will give jobs to robots
Although additive technologies and automation help to increase production efficiency, without proper adaptation by industry, rapid technological progress can lead to serious economic and social shocks. According to the International Labor Organization (MOT), the ASEAN countries are the most vulnerable, along with China, taking on the role of a “global factory”. According to the MOT forecast, changes in production models could lead to the loss of almost 80 million jobs over the next twenty years, and this is only in the countries of Southeast Asia. As an example, automated shoe factories using additive technologies for the production of customized products are given. A similar threat hangs over workers in the textile and automotive industries. According to experts Serious social problems can be avoided only through the timely training of labor force skills demanded in high-tech industries.
Fifteen policemen on the iPhone of the dead man
The US police after the FBI took on the main task in modern forensics - by all means hack the unfortunate iPhone. This time, the law enforcement officers did not persuade the stubborn manufacturer, but sought the help of a fingerprint specialist from the University of Michigan - Professor Anmila Jaina. The scientist was tasked with creating 3D-printed replicas of the victims of the murder victim, so that investigators could search for clues in the victim’s smartphone locked with the Touch ID system. The very idea and excitement around such application of additive technologies led the 3Dtoday experts to be perplexed, because besides the dactyloscopic protection, the password will also have to be cracked, but even if successful, the information found will not be allowed to be considered in court. And the Touch ID system itself was successful. back in 2013 using silicone replicas and conventional laser printing.
3D printing will help uncover the Kremlin’s cultural secrets.
Kremlin sights are becoming more accessible for the visually impaired. By the end of the year, reduced copies of the Tsar Cannon, Tsar Bell, cathedrals and the Ivan the Great Bell Tower will appear on the territory of the Kremlin. Layouts will be cast from a bronze alloy on 3D-printed forms, obtained on the basis of scans of real objects, and then installed on separate pedestals next to these attractions. For the convenience of the visually impaired and blind new will be equipped with braille signs, and compact dimensions will allow visitors to evaluate the sights by touch. “Helping the visually impaired is a noble cause, and 3D printing demonstrates its ability to help people with disabilities. Braille books, tactile exhibits - all this helps people with disabilities to feel like full-fledged members of our society, ”says Sergey Pushkin, head of the 3Dtoday portal.
3D printed snail-biorobot
Scientists from Case Western Reserve University created a unique biorobot with a design made from 3D-printed elements and living tissues of the gastropod mollusk - aplysia, or "sea rabbit". Aplysias resemble giant snails, but individual individuals reach a mass of 7 kg, and the record belongs to the fourteen-kilogram specimen of Aplysia vaccaria. Surprisingly, the nervous system of "sea hares" consists of only 20,000 neurons, and the ganglia reach 1 mm in diameter, which makes them very attractive for experiments and research. In our case, the scientists transplanted the nerve nodes along with muscle tissue. As a result, the biorobot is driven by nerve signals and even has certain abilities for self-learning and improvement of motor functions, according to the researchers. Creeps slowly, as befits a snail, covering four millimeters per minute, but it has a high resistance to environmental pollution due to the natural simplicity of donors. In the future, scientists hope to use such cyborgs for underwater exploration and monitoring of the ecological situation.
Watch out for the 3D printer
British security company G4S apologizes for the inability to ensure the safety of commercial cargo entrusted to it and blames the high technical competence of port thieves. As the company representatives explain, attackers are increasingly sealing the containers again using immediately after the theft. Fakes are indistinguishable in appearance from the real seals, and therefore do not arouse suspicion of the patrol guard. As a rule, the loss of goods becomes apparent only after the container has been delivered to its destination, and by that time there is no sense in searching for criminals. How to be? The guards recommend to keep transport operations secret, to suspect everyone and everything, to equip containers with internal security cameras and not to forget about insurance.
Tomsk nanopowders are sent to Israel
The Israeli company XJet, which develops 3D printers for printing with metals without using expensive laser systems, buys consumables from Tomsk's Advanced Powder Technologies company. The printing method, developed by Israeli experts, is based on the use of special nano-ink - colloidal solutions of various metals and alloys. Ink manufacturing requires microdispersed powders with even smaller particles than those used in laser sintering and fusing technologies. The Tomsk manufacturer has already shipped 300 kg of labor-intensive materials, and the batch production intends to start next year, simultaneously with the release of the first commercial models of 3D printers to the market. .
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