The upcoming of Rapid prototyping technologies.
CAD
The first 3D cad system was released in 1977 and was called Catia however it was only assessable through exclusive hardware, until 1981 when the IBM pc was released making computing commercial for the first time and in 1982 Autodesk and Autocad was released, being the first cad program for the pc. By 1985 3D modeling was introduced on Autocad which allowed the use of digital prototyping. Over the next couple of decades cad consistently developed new features that increased it’s use and making it more readily available for industry’s.
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3D printing
The initial concept of 3D printing was first applied in 1980 for rapid prototyping but it didn't really take off Until 1986, when the Stereolithography apparatus was invented for Rapid prototyping. The first (SLA) made was in 1987. Not long after the 3D systems Corporation was founded, and the first commercial rapid prototyping system (SLA1) was available, for an extortionate price. By this point processes of 3D printing were being experimented with such as selective laser center process and fuse definition modelling. These were both issued round the late 80s and early 90s, however none of this was Commercially available and wouldn’t be until 2009, when the MakerBot 3D printer kit was released. Based on the RepRap Project that came about in 2004, which was a project on building your ‘own’ 3D printer cost effectively. In 2007 the V-Flash 3D printer was released as a commercial product for $10,000 but didn’t prove to be very popular unlike the MakerBot kit which kicked Cost effective commercial 3D printing in to the 21st century.
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From the present day, where can we see the use of these technologies progressing towards?
For a while now we have seen CAD, 3D printing and laser cutting become a big part of industries that involve the designing and making of Products, engineering and architecture and although these technologies for rapid prototyping are progressing into the realms of being perfect for the job, the Materials we use are still imperfect. Now that we have eyes on the atomic and subatomic level our focuses on design and engineering are reaching new worlds into biodiversity through the exploration of science, and now we are starting to learn what nature could only do before. A great example of this is the Aguahoja which is an explorative architectural model created by Nari Oxman and her team at the MIT Media Lab. This project is a 5 meter tall architectural pavilion that's made from bee's natural biopolymers, using a robotic arm to 3D print individual components that contain different biopolymer properties, to achieve a specific structural integrity on an architectural scale. The idea that 3D printing machines can grow structures using biopolymers instead of plastics Is revolutionary to the change of imperfect materials and only through this 3D printing technology can we harness this change.
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image 3, 4, 5, 6 - https://www.behance.net/gallery/77900293/Aguahoja
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