14 DAY TRIAL // 3D printing technology has been on the slow burner for years, but now it is finally taking off, and we have the toy and car industries to thank for that, although 3D printed houses weren't a bad showing either. US President Barack Obama is now stepping on the stage.
The president appeared on 3DPI.com (the 3DPI.TV channel which, though young, is already quite active) to announce the creation of the D3digital Lab for Manufacturing.
He also said that a facility dedicated exclusively to developing lightweight and modern metals would be created, although he did not say where or when.
The president also neglected to mention how much money would be invested in the latter venture. It did speak at length about the former though.
The D3digital Lab for Manufacturing will be built by Chicago-based UI Labs using a $250 million / €180 million grant from industry, academia, government and community partners.
The Department of Defense has awarded $70 million / €50 million of its own. Thus, the total funds are of $320 million / €230 million.
The Digital Lab will share some characteristics with America Makes institute, and some partners as well: General Electric, Microsoft, Boeing, Autodesk, 3D Systems, Rolls Royce, and Dow Chemical.
The most important thing here is that The Digital Lab is introducing the Digital Manufacturing Commons (DMC) concept.
Essentially, it is an open source, online software platform where you can design and collaborate with manufacturers in real time.
And that's all that was ever said on the matter. More details will surface as soon as construction actually begins. At this point, we're only talking plans.
The new digital manufacturing lab in Chicago should become a resource that everyone, from 3D printing services and professionals to everyday consumers, can use. Even if the Department of Defense is the primary benefactor, the DMC implies that resources and services will be much wider in scope, and reach. Maybe the D3digital Lab for Manufacturing will eventually become a research hub for all 3D printable items, from edible prints to machinery and homes.
Collaboration and transparency will be different across the board though. DMC is supposed to allow “users to share data during the design-make process and across the product life cycle,” but each product has a different manufacture time.
Finally, efforts are being put into reducing the time of printing for everything. As progress is made there, the less time there will be to modify design mid-production, although setting things up in steps should mitigate that well enough.