3-D printing: The Force that will bring Second Industrial Revolution

Need a jug? A toothbrush? A chess piece? A chocolate or A pair of shoes? It’s as easy as pressing the print button on your computer keyboard.

Yes, Science is at the forefront of what may be the next manufacturing revolution. “3-D printing", the popular name for additive manufacturing, has been identified as one of the technologies which can start the second industrial revolution. Using the 3-D printing techniques, regular people can now make goods traditionally produced in huge volumes in factories.

How it Works?

3-D printing builds objects by piling up successive layers of material, sometimes only microns thick—in three dimensions. Designers start by designing the product on a computer screen with drafting software. That design then goes through a program that cuts it up in slices, translating it into a stack of two-dimensional layers with very little thickness. The printer constructs the object by depositing the first layer of material, such as molten plastic that hardens, and then another and another, gradually creating the desired shape. As the printer head moves back and forth, the 3-D design becomes a reality.

3-D Printing: How it Works? 

                                   
Visualizing what exactly 3-D printers will deliver in future is difficult. In some respects it is like trying to picture back in the 1970's the role computers would play in our lives today. If you had asked anyone then what was so extraordinary about computers, you would possibly hear about how fast they are with the mathematical calculations. Their universal role today, not just in huge calculations but in banking, manufacturing, communication, entertainment and more would have been hard for most to foresee. Same is the case with 3-D Printing.

A Vision Realised 

                          
The negative side of 3-D printing

Someone in our class mentioned about its negative effects too. So yes when the technology becomes full proof, it will become very easy to make weapons, reproduce keys and do other such things with the help of 3-D printing. Such type of advances could make life easier for illicit drug manufacturers, terrorists or others with evil intent. But as the famous William G.T. Shedd once said - "A ship is safe in harbor, but that's not what ships are for". So lets first develop this still underdeveloped technology to the fullest to reap its true benefits, then we will also handle the evils associated with the technology.

Have a look at the video for understanding the true potential of the 3-D printing technology:

                               

Being seen and worked on a Rapid Prototyping Machine during my graduation days at BITS-Pilani, I see the 3-D Printing technology a future changing and very fascinating one to work on. Prof Mandi, during one of the discussions in the class, not only reopened my eyes again to this upcoming technology but also inspired me to read and write about it.