Disney Research Lab Creates 3D Printed Robots that Emulate Animated Characters

All of the segments were 3D printed using a Stratasys’ Objet260 Connex. The robot was then constructed fully by assembling the segments, aluminum frames, and actuators.

The research and design team has much more latitude these days, afforded by streamlined digital design and 3D printing of the robotic joints–meaning when they make an edit, it’s easy to re-print pieces on conceptual whim or editing requirements. And there are still some changes to be instituted in the design, according to the team.

As annual passholders to Disney, my family and I spend many weekends there getting more than our money’s worth of fun–as well as deep inspiration. While I lumber in the familiar heat, carrying our well-worn family backpack that weighs as much as a baby Chewbacca, I am peppered with lively, enthusiastic questions and comments from my mini-entrepreneurs and wannabe inventors as to how they do all that stuff.

My family often surmises as to what Disney would think if he could come back today and see how we’ve progressed–with the subject, not surprisingly, often turning to the amazing innovations we see now thanks to digital design and 3D printing. The general consensus is that even Disney would be incredulous. Read More >>

Delivering High Quantities of Prototypes Fast

Objective3D Direct Manufacturing produces parts using a range of additive and conventional manufacturing technologies. We offer tailored solutions for your project’s needs. If your project requires larger quantities of small parts – fast, Laser Sintering is the best technological solution for you. Per-part pricing is reduced as quantities increase, but there are more advantages to using Laser Sintering for small prototypes than price alone. Laser Sintering (LS) provides strong, versatile and geometrically intricate components made from filled and un-filled nylon materials that are ideal for fit and form verification and functional testing. Prototypes made with LS are created quickly and offer robust solutions for your project. FAST Delivery Laser Sintering can provide sturdy, functional prototypes as little as 24 hours. Multi-component designs can be incorporated into single structures, allowing engineers to produce complex features and geometries in one print, and elim...

How Artec Space Spider helps measure the shape-shifting of birds in response to climate change.

Challenge: In the past century, researchers have been studying a variety of birds in Australia to see how their bodies have changed as a result of global warming in order to determine how to adjust. In order to document the exact dimensions of thousands of beaks of 86 different species of birds in museums in a fast, accurate, and convenient manner, they needed a fast, accurate, and convenient method. Solution: Artec Space Spider, Artec Studio Results: By using the handheld 3D scanner Artec Space Spider, each bird can be scanned in submillimeter colour 3D in approximately two minutes. This makes it easy to scan anywhere from 30-50 birds in one museum visit. Scan processing takes just under six minutes for each bird. PhD candidate Sara Ryding 3D scanning an Australian galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) with Artec Space Spider (image credit: Sara Ryding) One of the most startling impacts of global warming has taken place for decades now: multiple species of birds around the world have b...

3D scanning and reverse engineering streamline original furniture design and production

MU Form Furniture Design is an Oakland-based company that designs, manufactures and distributes furniture products for the modern home and business. The company is never short of orders since good and original design is sought after by architects and interior designers. The main material MU Form works with is high-quality bent ply, which is one of the most widely used materials in this industry due to its ability to create a variety of shapes for chairs, stools, and tables. The company’s specialists seek to create great designs that pose a challenge for other manufacturers to copy or replicate. The V Dining Chair in red and grey, designed by MU Form’s Po Shun Leong. “Our designers are tasked to develop furniture designs that require a significant amount of trial and error by developing physical prototypes of chairs and stools,” says Mark Leong, CEO of MU Form. To produce a new original piece of furniture, MU Form would normally ship a physical prototype model to a factory ...

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