New 3D-printer uses light rays to turn goo into solid, 3D objects

Researchers have built a next generation 3D printer that makes use of light to build 3D objects from goo within minutes.

Researchers from the University of California have manufactured a 3D printer named ‘the replicator’, which makes use of light to create solid 3D objects from a yellow light-sensitive gelatinous solution.

The printer uses a re-purposed digital video projector as a source of light in order to craft objects that are smoother, more complex and more flexible as compared to a traditional 3D printer.

“Basically, you’ve got an off-the-shelf video projector, which I literally brought in from home, and then you plug it into a laptop and use it to project a series of computed images, while a motor turns a cylinder that has a 3D-printing resin in it," said researcher Hayden Taylor.

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CNET reported, the projector is equipped with a series of 3D-computed models that it beams out as a series of light patterns at a gelatinous resin contained within a jar. The resin is composed of light-sensitive molecules and dissolved oxygen, and is slowly spun in place as the light is beamed at it.

As the lights hits the liquid, the oxygen is depleted, hence allowing the molecules within the resin to form cross-links. The links are the key to the transformation, turning the liquid into a solid. The replicator does not even produce any water and the goo can be reused in subsequent prints. For now, the printer is limited to print object within a diameter of 4-inches.

Video Courtesy: UC Berkeley

Until now, the team has successfully created several objects with the help of the printer including a replica of Rodin’s Thinker statue, a smooth and really flexible doughnut, and a model of the lower jaw. Taylor believes that this technique can even prove beneficial to astronauts in space, wrote Inverse.

“I think this is a route to being able to mass-customize objects even more, whether they are prosthetics or running shoes,” said Taylor, publishing the research in the journal Science.