3D Printing

3D printing is a form of additive manufacturing technology where a three dimensional object is created by laying down successive layers of material.[1] 3D printers are generally faster, more affordable and easier to use than other additive manufacturing technologies. 3D printers offer product developers the ability to print parts and assemblies made of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties in a single build process. Advanced 3D printing technologies yield models that can serve as product prototypes.

Resolution
Resolution is given in layer thickness and X-Y resolution in dots per inch. Typical layer thickness is around 100 micrometres (0.1 mm), although some machines such as the Objet Connex can print layers as thin as 16 micrometres.[9] X-Y resolution is comparable to that of laser printers. The particles (3D dots) are around 50 to 100 micrometres (0.05-0.1 mm) in diameter.

RepRap project
The RepRap project is an initiative to develop a 3D printer (RepRap, short for "replicating rapid prototyper") that can print most of its own components. As an open design, all of the designs produced by the project are released under a free software license, the GNU General Public License. RepRap uses a variant of fused deposition modeling, an additive manufacturing technique.

 To date, the RepRap project has released two 3D printing machines: "Darwin", released in March 2007, and "Mendel", released in October 2009. Developers have named each after famous biologists, as "the point of RepRap is replication and evolution".[1] Due to the self-replicating ability of the machine, authors envision the possibility to cheaply distribute RepRap units to people and communities, enabling them to create (or download from the internet) complex products without the need for expensive industrial infrastructure.[2] They intend for the RepRap to demonstrate evolution in this process as well as for it to increase in number exponentially

 13 October 2009: RepRap 2.0 "Mendel" is completed.[8] 27 January 2010: The Foresight Institute announced the "Kartik M. Gada Humanitarian Innovation Prize" for the design and construction of an improved RepRap. There are two prizes, one of US$20,000, and another of $80,000.[9] The administration of the prize was later transferred to Humanity+.[10] 31 August 2010: The third generation design, "Huxley", is officially named. Development is based on a miniaturized version of the Mendel hardware with 30% of the original print volume.[11]