Post by jeffolie on Dec 26, 2012 14:02:11 GMT -6
3-D manufacturing aka Star Trek Replicators/Transportors
The Star Trek series featured manufacturing by replicators plus Transportors beaming .... the 3 D Manufacturing appears to be headed in that Star Trek conceptual direction featured in The Fly (1964)
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UC Irvine's RapidTech is helping revolutionize manufacturing
The nonprofit RapidTech at UC Irvine offers low-cost, cutting-edge 3-D manufacturing technology for businesses needing to quickly design and refine prototypes.
Ben Dolan, director of design and engineering research projects at UC Irvine's RapidTech, operates a three-dimensional printer. The more than 20 3-D digital printers and other equipment at Rapid Tech have become increasingly refined and sophisticated, and as a result these so-called desktop factories are being referred to as the third manufacturing revolution. RapidTech is located in the UC Irvine Engineering building and has been funded by Saddleback College and grants from the National Science Foundation.
December 26, 2012
What does a business do if the vintage aircraft part a customer needs hasn't been made in decades?
For a solution, Airflow Systems of Capistrano Beach turned to RapidTech at UC Irvine. Through the use of RapidTech's cutting-edge 3-D manufacturing technology, the aircraft parts manufacturer got what it needed in exchange for the cost of the materials required to do the work.
"I believe that small entrepreneurial businesses like ours will be the backbone of manufacturing innovation in the U.S.," said Bill Genevro, president of Airflow Systems. "But we can only do this with the help of entities like RapidTech."
RapidTech is in the UC Irvine Engineering building and has been funded by Saddleback College and grants from the National Science Foundation. The nonprofit's primary function is teaching students advanced manufacturing techniques, but it also provides low-cost help for businesses.
"We do hundreds of projects each year, dozens of outreach and training events," said Ben Dolan, director of design and engineering research projects at RapidTech.
RapidTech's specialty is a form of modeling in which a printer uses digital input from a computer to create three-dimensional solid objects, thin layer by thin layer. The printer head extrudes a small amount of plastic or other material, making several passes before the form begins to take a recognizable shape.
The process enables users to quickly design and refine prototypes without resorting to the more costly and time-consuming process of having a metal part forged and repeating that procedure to correct imperfections.
Each of the projects uses one of the more than 20 3-D digital printers and other equipment at RapidTech. Because they have become increasingly refined and sophisticated, these so-called desktop factories are being referred to as the third manufacturing revolution.
"After the digital revolution, this type of engineering work was considered lowbrow," said UC Irvine mechanical engineering professor Marc Madou. "Now we're helping to create the supply chain of the future."
But the process demands considerable computing power, so much so that when Dolan needed new desktops, the only kind that came ready to use, without extensive upgrades, were some of the world's fastest boutique game computers, such as those made by Alienware. The best 3-D printers cost $50,000 to $1 million.
This is what puts the technology out of reach of many small- to medium-sized businesses and even some of the larger and more established ones.
Genevro's Airflow Systems is a small firm that has been designing, building and selling FAA-certified aircraft equipment, such as engine intercoolers, since 1987. Genevro says he has used Rapid Tech's help to save weeks and sometimes months of production time.
One of the more esoteric projects involved re-creating parts for a 1938 Japanese Zero fighter plane, using only the pitted, corroded and incomplete original parts. This was for a restoration project for the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Ore.
With RapidTech's help, Genevro was able to scan each part, correct the defects, and then reproduce a 3-D representation of parts that hadn't been manufactured in nearly 70 years. The technology is just as useful in designing new and improved parts for machines currently in production.
"If Southern California is going to regain its competitive stature in manufacturing, we have to be leaders in adopting this kind of technology," Genevro said.
For the well-known watersports equipment brand Hobie Designs Inc. in San Juan Capistrano, Rapid Tech helped develop a carbon fiber paddle based on a partial design that the lab was able to extend across the entire item.
"The 3-D scanning, computer-assisted design and prototyping process helped us deliver this new concept as fast as we could conceive it," said Hobie Designs President Jeff Alter, "and now customers get to reap the rewards."
Tom Hester, who runs Hester Studios in North Hollywood, has a film, video and animation character design resume that includes work on the "Shrek" movies, "Harry and the Hendersons" and the Michael Jackson video "Thriller."
He has worked with RapidTech to create digital sculptures and stays in regular contact with its experts, including Rapid Tech's director, Ed Tackett. Hester says he does that to keep abreast of the latest techniques in a highly competitive field.
"We talk pretty frequently, every three or four months. I have gone to them on projects eight times or more," Hester said. "I do it to have a fighting chance of keeping up with competitors. Staying in touch helps me keep up with what is going on."
The Obama administration has proposed the development of as many as 15 regional hubs or Institutes of Manufacturing Innovation. Part of their function would be to help U.S. manufacturers use advanced manufacturing techniques that would give them a competitive edge.
RapidTech officials say they are already doing that, but they caution that they don't take on just any project that a Southern California business might be interested in developing.
"We decide on a case-by-case basis," Tackett said. "If someone wants us to make a box, probably not. We don't make boxes. We ask ourselves, 'Is there intellectual merit to the project? Will it help train students? Will it help other companies?' That's what we are looking for."
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uci-manufacturing-20121226,0,4408255.story
==================================
In Star Trek a replicator is a machine capable of creating (and recycling) objects. Replicators were originally seen used to synthesize meals on demand, but in later series they took on many other uses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicator_(Star_Trek)
Transporter (Star Trek) First appearance Star Trek: The Original Series
Created by Gene Roddenberry
Function Allows near instantaneous transport between two fixed points
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern (a process called dematerialization), then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter (rematerialization). The term transporter accident is a catch-all term for when a person or object does not rematerialize correctly.
According to The Making of Star Trek, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's original plan did not include transporters, instead calling for characters to land the starship itself. However, this would have required unfeasible and unaffordable sets and model filming, as well as episode running time spent while landing, taking off, etc. The shuttlecraft was the next idea, but when filming began, the full-sized shooting model was not ready. Transporters were devised as a less expensive alternative, achieved by a simple fade-out/fade-in of the subject. Transporters first appear in the original pilot episode "The Cage". The transporter special effect, before being done using computer animation, was created by turning a slow-motion camera upside down and photographing some backlit shiny grains of aluminium powder that were dropped between the camera and a black background. ... Gene Roddenberry in 1964 had not seen The Fly upon his first draft of "The Cage", but it was brought to his attention, and this is how the transporter was considered en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporter_(Star_Trek)
The Star Trek series featured manufacturing by replicators plus Transportors beaming .... the 3 D Manufacturing appears to be headed in that Star Trek conceptual direction featured in The Fly (1964)
==================================
UC Irvine's RapidTech is helping revolutionize manufacturing
The nonprofit RapidTech at UC Irvine offers low-cost, cutting-edge 3-D manufacturing technology for businesses needing to quickly design and refine prototypes.
Ben Dolan, director of design and engineering research projects at UC Irvine's RapidTech, operates a three-dimensional printer. The more than 20 3-D digital printers and other equipment at Rapid Tech have become increasingly refined and sophisticated, and as a result these so-called desktop factories are being referred to as the third manufacturing revolution. RapidTech is located in the UC Irvine Engineering building and has been funded by Saddleback College and grants from the National Science Foundation.
December 26, 2012
What does a business do if the vintage aircraft part a customer needs hasn't been made in decades?
For a solution, Airflow Systems of Capistrano Beach turned to RapidTech at UC Irvine. Through the use of RapidTech's cutting-edge 3-D manufacturing technology, the aircraft parts manufacturer got what it needed in exchange for the cost of the materials required to do the work.
"I believe that small entrepreneurial businesses like ours will be the backbone of manufacturing innovation in the U.S.," said Bill Genevro, president of Airflow Systems. "But we can only do this with the help of entities like RapidTech."
RapidTech is in the UC Irvine Engineering building and has been funded by Saddleback College and grants from the National Science Foundation. The nonprofit's primary function is teaching students advanced manufacturing techniques, but it also provides low-cost help for businesses.
"We do hundreds of projects each year, dozens of outreach and training events," said Ben Dolan, director of design and engineering research projects at RapidTech.
RapidTech's specialty is a form of modeling in which a printer uses digital input from a computer to create three-dimensional solid objects, thin layer by thin layer. The printer head extrudes a small amount of plastic or other material, making several passes before the form begins to take a recognizable shape.
The process enables users to quickly design and refine prototypes without resorting to the more costly and time-consuming process of having a metal part forged and repeating that procedure to correct imperfections.
Each of the projects uses one of the more than 20 3-D digital printers and other equipment at RapidTech. Because they have become increasingly refined and sophisticated, these so-called desktop factories are being referred to as the third manufacturing revolution.
"After the digital revolution, this type of engineering work was considered lowbrow," said UC Irvine mechanical engineering professor Marc Madou. "Now we're helping to create the supply chain of the future."
But the process demands considerable computing power, so much so that when Dolan needed new desktops, the only kind that came ready to use, without extensive upgrades, were some of the world's fastest boutique game computers, such as those made by Alienware. The best 3-D printers cost $50,000 to $1 million.
This is what puts the technology out of reach of many small- to medium-sized businesses and even some of the larger and more established ones.
Genevro's Airflow Systems is a small firm that has been designing, building and selling FAA-certified aircraft equipment, such as engine intercoolers, since 1987. Genevro says he has used Rapid Tech's help to save weeks and sometimes months of production time.
One of the more esoteric projects involved re-creating parts for a 1938 Japanese Zero fighter plane, using only the pitted, corroded and incomplete original parts. This was for a restoration project for the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Ore.
With RapidTech's help, Genevro was able to scan each part, correct the defects, and then reproduce a 3-D representation of parts that hadn't been manufactured in nearly 70 years. The technology is just as useful in designing new and improved parts for machines currently in production.
"If Southern California is going to regain its competitive stature in manufacturing, we have to be leaders in adopting this kind of technology," Genevro said.
For the well-known watersports equipment brand Hobie Designs Inc. in San Juan Capistrano, Rapid Tech helped develop a carbon fiber paddle based on a partial design that the lab was able to extend across the entire item.
"The 3-D scanning, computer-assisted design and prototyping process helped us deliver this new concept as fast as we could conceive it," said Hobie Designs President Jeff Alter, "and now customers get to reap the rewards."
Tom Hester, who runs Hester Studios in North Hollywood, has a film, video and animation character design resume that includes work on the "Shrek" movies, "Harry and the Hendersons" and the Michael Jackson video "Thriller."
He has worked with RapidTech to create digital sculptures and stays in regular contact with its experts, including Rapid Tech's director, Ed Tackett. Hester says he does that to keep abreast of the latest techniques in a highly competitive field.
"We talk pretty frequently, every three or four months. I have gone to them on projects eight times or more," Hester said. "I do it to have a fighting chance of keeping up with competitors. Staying in touch helps me keep up with what is going on."
The Obama administration has proposed the development of as many as 15 regional hubs or Institutes of Manufacturing Innovation. Part of their function would be to help U.S. manufacturers use advanced manufacturing techniques that would give them a competitive edge.
RapidTech officials say they are already doing that, but they caution that they don't take on just any project that a Southern California business might be interested in developing.
"We decide on a case-by-case basis," Tackett said. "If someone wants us to make a box, probably not. We don't make boxes. We ask ourselves, 'Is there intellectual merit to the project? Will it help train students? Will it help other companies?' That's what we are looking for."
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uci-manufacturing-20121226,0,4408255.story
==================================
In Star Trek a replicator is a machine capable of creating (and recycling) objects. Replicators were originally seen used to synthesize meals on demand, but in later series they took on many other uses. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicator_(Star_Trek)
Transporter (Star Trek) First appearance Star Trek: The Original Series
Created by Gene Roddenberry
Function Allows near instantaneous transport between two fixed points
A transporter is a fictional teleportation machine used in the Star Trek universe. Transporters convert a person or object into an energy pattern (a process called dematerialization), then "beam" it to a target, where it is reconverted into matter (rematerialization). The term transporter accident is a catch-all term for when a person or object does not rematerialize correctly.
According to The Making of Star Trek, Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry's original plan did not include transporters, instead calling for characters to land the starship itself. However, this would have required unfeasible and unaffordable sets and model filming, as well as episode running time spent while landing, taking off, etc. The shuttlecraft was the next idea, but when filming began, the full-sized shooting model was not ready. Transporters were devised as a less expensive alternative, achieved by a simple fade-out/fade-in of the subject. Transporters first appear in the original pilot episode "The Cage". The transporter special effect, before being done using computer animation, was created by turning a slow-motion camera upside down and photographing some backlit shiny grains of aluminium powder that were dropped between the camera and a black background. ... Gene Roddenberry in 1964 had not seen The Fly upon his first draft of "The Cage", but it was brought to his attention, and this is how the transporter was considered en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporter_(Star_Trek)