Engineering Newswire 29: 3D printers in vending machines
Today on Engineering Newswire, brought to you by PTC delivering technology solutions that transform the way you create and service your products, we're kick starting low-cost robotics, using a 3D printing vending machine, and having a cup of coffee, in the sky.
• Since November 2010 Annika O'Brien, the founder of the L.A. Robotics Club, has worked with enthusiasts interested in amateur robotics. Annika wanted to create a low cost platform for building small robots that was flexible enough to work with different form factors, but powerful enough to drive sensors, motors, and relays. She turned to Kickstarter.com for funding and received tremendous support.
• A group of Berkeley students found it difficult to get quick delivery of 3D-printed creations from online vendors, so they developed the concept of creating a network of local, automated 3D-printing vending machines named Dreambox.
• As 3D printing makes itself more available to the world, new materials and uses continue to emerge. OsteoFab is one of the most profound materials that you hope to never use. This new polyketone developed by Oxford Performance Materials can be used by 3D printers to repair large sections of a damaged skull, and it has been recently cleared by the FDA.
• UK scientists have developed a new kind of stress test that can determine a person's stress level by analyzing their breath. They found that the chemical content of breath samples changed during both stressful and easy going activities.
• If you're skiing at the Pitzal Glacier, and you need a moment to get a cup of coffee to help get warm, you're going to have to make a stop at Austria's highest coffee destination, that sits high atop the glacier at 11,000 feet.
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