Self-assembly: If structures could autonomously assemble themselves at a specific time and place without intervention, from either human or electro-mechanical systems, then structures or even buildings could be constructed in difficult to reach or hazardous places. His ongoing vision focuses on three fundamental functionalities of 4D printed objects: self-assembly, self-adaptability and self-repair. Although many labs were simultaneously exploring this combination, Tibbits and his group at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) founded the self-assembly lab in 2014. The development of smart materials – materials that contain functional or reactive components designed mathematically to respond to specific external environmental stimuli – and the availability of 3D printing set the stage for 4D printing.Įnter architect and computer scientist Skylar Tibbits who coined the term, 4D printing, in 2013. 02 This 3D printed robot arm was printed in four days and weighed 50 percent less than the original. Here, 3D printing applied to Generative Design Customization, saved time and cut costs by increasing productivity and reducing material waste – important for tailored robotic applications →02. Intelligent algorithms determined the optimal printing strategy and toolpath direction for each geometric feature.
A special 3D printing technique, Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, allowed the complex organic geometries to be printed upright. In 2019, a robot arm was 3D printed by MX3D, a Dutch company, to customize and optimize an arm of a robot supplied by ABB. Nowadays, mathematical modeling and machine learning algorithms are increasingly applied to boost design, material development, and to control printing. Although not yet mainstream, 3D printing is widely used, eg, in robotics, biomedicine, and aerospace science, because it enables the fabrication of unique and customized 3D structures. Invented in the 1980s, additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, is unlike traditional manufacturing techniques, in which parts are cast, molded, or milled material is deposited in successive layers to build up the desired object. Initially a 2D flat layer, the objects self-assemble into a 3D object. 01 4D printing of octagonal forms developed at MIT’s self- assembly lab. The future applications of such structures in the building, transportation, textiles, health-care, defense, and aerospace industries are vast. 4D printed components that change shape or move without engines, wires or active power sources, would behave in much the same way that biological organisms behave, autonomously →01. Such technology could enable analog autonomous products or agents to evolve without the need for computerized power at the device.
The level of structural autonomy achieved is unprecedented. With this knowledge, institutions and corporations are investing in barrier-breaking technologies and 4D printing is one with radical potential.īy combining the 3D printing process, intelligent materials, mathematical modeling, and machine-learning algorithms, researchers are creating 3D objects that react to external stimuli by transforming over time, thereby adding a fourth dimension. With the Fourth Industrial Revolution well underway, industries that take advantage of its unprecedented possibilities will undoubtedly have an economic advantage. Researchers in top institutions and laboratories worldwide are combining advances in 3D printing of complex structures with new smart responsive materials to create 4D printed structures that do just that. This seemingly outlandish idea is no longer relegated to the realm of science fiction. The implications for society and business would be revolutionary. Chau Hon Ho ABB Future Labs Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland, if non-living engineered complex-shaped objects could behave like living organisms by sensing external stimuli and responding by adapting to their environment? And, what if they could revert back to their original condition once that stimulus is removed or another is activated? By changing a fundamental property such as shape, over time, without the need for electro- mechanical or computerized control systems in place, structures could self-assemble, self-adapt, and even self-repair.
0 kommentar(er)
