The 3D printers of today are already capable of creating so many things that not only serve to entertain and inspire us, but also contribute massively to the world in general. Besides bringing interesting computer-generated designs to life, 3D printers with precision motion components are also able to produce essential products that prove vital in numerous industries and applications. Just by these facts alone, we can safely say that 3D printing could be one of the most important technological developments in recent years.
That said, it’s hard not to look to the future in terms of what the 3D printers of tomorrow will be capable of producing. After all, technology as a whole is advancing at a very rapid pace, which means that the day will come when there will be a 3D printer capable of printing something that’s completely extraordinary, something that has the potential to change the world as we know it.
What will that printed thing be? What kind of remarkable objects will future 3D printers be capable of making? While we will never quite know for sure, we can look towards what’s being developed now and make some educated predictions. The following is a list of what we believe 3D printers will be capable of printing soon enough.
Donor organs and body parts
We’ve all heard about how 3D printers are making customized limb prosthetics easier and cheaper to produce. But what about actual living human tissues and even organs? As it turns out, this is in fact highly feasible, with actual progress already being made on making it a reality. A small San Francisco-based startup named Prellis Biologics have reported that they have finally come up with a way to reliably and efficiently 3D-print capillary structures. Capillaries are the tiny blood vessels in our bodies that push oxygen and nutrients to every part of our body. Without the ability to create capillaries, 3D-printed organs would be impossible.
What was the breakthrough? Apparently, most of it involved using an entirely new 3D printing process, named holographic printing. Unlike traditional 3D printing, wherein the object is created layer at a time, holographic printing creates a three-dimensional copy of the desired object by a light-induced chemical reaction. Simply put, by exposing the biological printing material into specially crafted and timed blasts of infrared light, the desired organ—in this case, the capillaries—will be sculpted from the material. This process is very quick, taking up only five milliseconds to complete.
With 3D-printed capillaries now being possible, the founders of Prellis Biologics believe that printed kidneys, lungs, and other organs will take only years to perfect. In fact, they predict that they’ll be able to successfully print a kidney in two and a half years, and get it to testing. It’s a bit too early to celebrate, however, as this kidney will only be the size of a quarter, and is meant for transplantation in rats. However, the fact remains that if they do come through, then they have the potential of solving the ever-present crisis of donor organ shortage.
Vehicles
3D-printed car components are nothing new. In fact, car and 3D printing enthusiasts have been printing replacement auto parts for years. However, it seems like the entire car itself will one day be printable, allowing motorized transportation to be within reach of everyone in the world. Such a concept has already been pioneered and spearheaded by the Kor Brothers, who have designed and 3D-printed a working two-seater car named the Urbee. Shaped like an aerodynamic jellybean on three wheels, more than half of the vehicle is 3D-printed out of ABS, making its manufacture quite environmentally friendly. Also, thanks to its aerodynamic design, it is highly fuel-efficient at 300 miles per gallon.
Of course, it’s not planned for mass production yet, as the Kor brothers are still busy at work creating the next iteration, the Urbee 2. Just like its predecessor, it will be majorly 3D printed and will be able to reach speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. It will also be a hybrid car, powered by both a single 7-horsepower engine and two network batteries driving two electric motors. For safety purposes, the chassis and framing will be made of chrome-moly steel tubing, allowing it to meet road-worthy safety standards. After it’s completed, the Urbee 2 will be driven by its creators across the US in hopes of raising awareness of their latest breakthrough.
Time will soon tell if the Kor brothers will have any plans for mass production, but from their eagerness about developing a car that can be manufactured cheaply and without adding to the environment’s strain, we’re quite hopeful.
Bridges and structures
3D printing today usually brings to mind 3D-printed objects that are small and can be carried with one hand. But what about an entire bridge, or a building? This may not be as far off as we think. In 2018, Netherlands-based robotics and 3D-printing company MX3D unveiled their ambition to 3D print an entire pedestrian bridge—all 40 feet of it! The project itself was four years in the making, but according to the company itself, the actual printing, assembling, and installation of the bridge can be completed in six months. The structure itself is slated to be installed in Amsterdam this year.
The very fact alone that this is possible means that essential buildings and structures may one day be completed in a shorter amount of time. This again bodes well for the environment, as many elements in building construction do add massively to pollution. 3D printing major building components will definitely lessen the construction processes’ environmental impact to manageable levels.
Homes
We can’t talk about 3D-printed bridges without bringing up the possibility of 3D-printed homes. Thanks to a US-based startup named Icon, such a thing may soon be reality.
Icon claimed in March last year that they will be able to 3D-print an entire home in 12 to 24 hours. While the startup hasn’t quite proven that such a feat can be done, the question of whether they can actually 3D-print a house at all was answered soundly when they unveiled their 3D-printed dwelling during last year’s SXSW conference held in Austin, Texas. Soon after that, Icon also announced that they will be expanding their printing projects in the hopes of tackling the world’s most difficult housing challenges.
Affordable and quickly constructible homes will be a great boon, not just to the impoverished and destitute but also to remote cities and towns that have been recently devastated by natural disasters. This technology will be able to help those heavily affected by calamities to be able to get back to a normal life much more quickly, rather than languish in relief centers or shelters.
3D printing: creating the impossible out of nothing
3D printing still seems like something out of a science-fiction novel, but the technology itself is real and the benefits it can give us are tangible. Thanks to hardworking technological visionaries, the remarkable creations listed above aren’t just hopeful plans or ambitions, but actual products that will soon be made accessible to the rest of us. We can only hope that we won’t have to wait too long for them.
