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Feb.11, 2012

A group of young students between 12 and 18 years at the XIOS College in Diepenbeek, Belgium have printed out their own head using 3D printers, in collaboration with college Ghent.

First of all the face of each participant was scanned and processed with the IFace 3D app on iPhone or iPad, then with a simple press the result was sent to the server in France and in 5 minutes a 3D image was sent back.

There were several ways for them to experiment the 3D printing. They started with a Zcorp 3D printer which is able to print multiple colors. The print head adds binder and color and places the powder layer by layer building up the heads. For a 4cm "head" you need to build up 220 layers, that is approximately 1 hour for spraying and another hour for drying. Afterwards the statue is taken out and white powder is cleaned up - a copy of your head is finished.

College Gent sent totally 9 3D printers to XIOS College. Students Joris, Jorge and Tom together with other young guys used a low-cost RepRap to 3D printing the heads. This is a "self-made" 3D printer - nuts and bolts were ordered online and the other parts were printed out by another RepRap 3D printer.

This experiment allows every student bring home with their own 3D printed head in the pocket. What do they think of 3D printing?

Is 3D printing sustainable and environmentally friendly? "It should be able to print with recycled materials as much as possible. And if you can print small parts at home, less transportation is needed. "(Stijn)

"You can save a lot on transportation. Instead of making cheap parts in China, you can assign a distributor in every region to provide components of a brand. These pieces can be printed. Or you can place a 3D printer in the library that everyone can use. "(Maurizio)

The future? "The scanning is difficult to be very precise and the software scans for editing is also very expensive. It will therefore take some time before it is affordable. "(Stijn)

"Many current jobs will disappear and new jobs will be created. People who work with their hands will be replaced by 3D printers. There will be more engineers and IT professionals needed. "(Catherine)

Are 3D printers an ideal teaching tool to develop the designers, architects and engineers of tomorrow? Yes, 3D printing can stimulate a student's mechanical-spatial awareness and help them learn in very real and visual ways.

Images credit: Maks & hbvl

Via Maks

Posted in 3D Printing Applications

 

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