NASA to send 3D printer to space

[CityFarmer]

It'd be impossible to 'print' the electronics parts ie. semiconductors, display,... using a 3D printer. What can be possible would be those parts that can be made / replaced with strong 'printing paper' ie. plastics (?) and which can be easily assembled. I suppose if electronics are required, they'd have to be assembled, tested and QC'ed on earth 1st.

Theoretical, the material used for 3-D printer is not restricted to plastic. There was already show case of printing human organs with living human cells.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/20...gans-money

Assembling, testing and QC are not necessary must be done on earth. There are routine jobs which can be done by robots in space station...

[KopiKat]

It'd be impossible to 'print' the electronics parts ie. semiconductors, display,... using a 3D printer. What can be possible would be those parts that can be made / replaced with strong 'printing paper' ie. plastics (?) and which can be easily assembled. I suppose if electronics are required, they'd have to be assembled, tested and QC'ed on earth 1st.

Theoretical, the material used for 3-D printer is not restricted to plastic. There was already show case of printing human organs with living human cells.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/20...gans-money

Assembling, testing and QC are not necessary must be done on earth. There are routine jobs which can be done by robots in space station...

Ok... I hope I can live to see the day when 3-D printers are able to "print" semiconductor devices that can be used to assemble an iPhone in space... Just imagine that.. A6 SOC using 32nm printing resolution or something equivalent... Instead of ink cartridges, we'll see p & n material cartridges being used to "print" or in this case "dope" the core silicon to form the different parts of the tiny transistors, millions or even billions (?) of it... Wow!

PS. In theory, not impossible, but the size will not be that tiny and it won't be called a 3-D printer... There're likely already such prototyping machines available, but unlikely to be able to handle such complexity like A6...

[CityFarmer]

It'd be impossible to 'print' the electronics parts ie. semiconductors, display,... using a 3D printer. What can be possible would be those parts that can be made / replaced with strong 'printing paper' ie. plastics (?) and which can be easily assembled. I suppose if electronics are required, they'd have to be assembled, tested and QC'ed on earth 1st.

Theoretical, the material used for 3-D printer is not restricted to plastic. There was already show case of printing human organs with living human cells.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/20...gans-money

Assembling, testing and QC are not necessary must be done on earth. There are routine jobs which can be done by robots in space station...

Ok... I hope I can live to see the day when 3-D printers are able to "print" semiconductor devices that can be used to assemble an iPhone in space... Just imagine that.. A6 SOC using 32nm printing resolution or something equivalent... Instead of ink cartridges, we'll see p & n material cartridges being used to "print" or in this case "dope" the core silicon to form the different parts of the tiny transistors, millions or even billions (?) of it... Wow!

I will live to see it, if it ever happen, and if I can live for another 10-15 more years. FYI, the 1st 3-D printer was already up there in space station now.

Further info on what can be done now. One is using silver ink as material for IC, not in nm scale in this case, not yet...

The other one is to demo work in scale of nm range...

IS XEROX’S SILVER INK READY TO PRINT CIRCUITS?
http://singularityhub.com/2009/10/30/is-...-circuits/

3D-printer with nanoscale precision (w/video)
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=24553.php

[KopiKat]

It'd be impossible to 'print' the electronics parts ie. semiconductors, display,... using a 3D printer. What can be possible would be those parts that can be made / replaced with strong 'printing paper' ie. plastics (?) and which can be easily assembled. I suppose if electronics are required, they'd have to be assembled, tested and QC'ed on earth 1st.

Theoretical, the material used for 3-D printer is not restricted to plastic. There was already show case of printing human organs with living human cells.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/20...gans-money

Assembling, testing and QC are not necessary must be done on earth. There are routine jobs which can be done by robots in space station...

Ok... I hope I can live to see the day when 3-D printers are able to "print" semiconductor devices that can be used to assemble an iPhone in space... Just imagine that.. A6 SOC using 32nm printing resolution or something equivalent... Instead of ink cartridges, we'll see p & n material cartridges being used to "print" or in this case "dope" the core silicon to form the different parts of the tiny transistors, millions or even billions (?) of it... Wow!

I will live to see it, if it ever happen, and if I can live for another 10-15 more years. FYI, the 1st 3-D printer was already up there in space station now.

Further info on what can be done now. One is using silver ink as material for IC, not in nm scale in this case, not yet...

The other one is to demo work in scale of nm range...

IS XEROX’S SILVER INK READY TO PRINT CIRCUITS?
http://singularityhub.com/2009/10/30/is-...-circuits/

3D-printer with nanoscale precision (w/video)
http://www.nanowerk.com/news/newsid=24553.php

Thanks! In that case, I changed my dream to, I hope I get to buy one such 3-D printer in my lifetime... to print complex semicon chips at home...

From one of your links, there's another article on how it may be possible one day,

Will it be possible someday to build a 'Fab-on-a-Chip'?

[specuvestor]

I don't think this fab-on-chip is related to 3D printing.

The main crux of why I am sketptical is that at the simplest form, a chip consists of conductor and non conductor materials. Will 3D printers able to print 2 different materials at same time (color is not the issue I'm talking about ) Cost of a 8" Fab used to cost about <$2b in the past to $10b a pop for an advanced 10nm fab nowadays armed with legions of engineers, and 3D printing can replace it?

Even the bio-printer article articulated the challenges of printing bio materials.

And until 3D printers can show they can print different types of materials at the same time, it will just be printing singular parts. The material science is complex. I do not see a Doraemon device coming soon

I am not a unwitting skeptic. I have been following Tech for the past 30 years and I've seen amazing progress but it also took 20 years for a RELATIVELY simple idea of Tablet to work. A lot of people have the heuristically convenient idea that Tech can make all things possible because of the great stride in human advancements, but until you understand the complexity of manufacturing and why one cannot time travel, it is too simplistic to extrapolate events.

I think 3D printing is great, especially in NASA's case where transport is a big issue, to put it mildly But we need to be realistic on the technology and physical constraints, and not follow the hype, which I've seen many in past 30 years

[yourusualkid]

Here's a good article summing up what's being discussed.

http://www.wired.com/2013/05/an-insiders...-printing/

Some good areas where I think 3D printing can really do the trick is with small parts, bioprinting and architectural printing. We've seen houses being 3D printed in China so it might be a matter of time, but technology often doesn't move as fast as we want it to.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...-each.html

[specuvestor]

when rubber hits the road... I haven't seen a viable 3D printing solution... yet

"Depending on the 3D printer, the parts would take most of a day to complete. This is assuming the operator even has access to a precision printer. Entry-level machines can’t form parts with the tolerances and temperature control needed to produce a reliable firearm.

Even if made using today's best 3D printing, the guns still aren’t very good. Any material pliable enough to feed through a printer will have trouble surviving the pressure and temperature required to propel a bullet at thousands of feet per second. (The instructions accompanying the Liberator recommend discarding the barrel after each use.) 3D-printed firearms are a clever idea, but not a very practical one."
https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/...-good-guns

I don't think this fab-on-chip is related to 3D printing.

The main crux of why I am sketptical is that at the simplest form, a chip consists of conductor and non conductor materials. Will 3D printers able to print 2 different materials at same time (color is not the issue I'm talking about ) Cost of a 8" Fab used to cost about <$2b in the past to $10b a pop for an advanced 10nm fab nowadays armed with legions of engineers, and 3D printing can replace it?

Even the bio-printer article articulated the challenges of printing bio materials.

And until 3D printers can show they can print different types of materials at the same time, it will just be printing singular parts. The material science is complex. I do not see a Doraemon device coming soon

I am not a unwitting skeptic. I have been following Tech for the past 30 years and I've seen amazing progress but it also took 20 years for a RELATIVELY simple idea of Tablet to work. A lot of people have the heuristically convenient idea that Tech can make all things possible because of the great stride in human advancements, but until you understand the complexity of manufacturing and why one cannot time travel, it is too simplistic to extrapolate events.

I think 3D printing is great, especially in NASA's case where transport is a big issue, to put it mildly But we need to be realistic on the technology and physical constraints, and not follow the hype, which I've seen many in past 30 years