Next Frontier in Piracy: Downloading Physical Objects to Your 3D Printer

Exciting times, friends. While we’ve been cleaning up the proverbial ticker tape left behind by jubilant celebration over the recently-stalled antipiracy bills, the Pirate Bay – arguably the premier resource for pirating digital content – has already moved on to the next big thing.

The site has announced a new category called “Physibles” that houses digital files that can be downloaded and used in conjunction with 3D printers to print out actual, physical objects:

We believe that the next step in copying will be made from digital form into physical form. It will be physical objects. Or as we decided to call them: Physibles. Data objects that are able (and feasible) to become physical. We believe that things like three dimensional printers, scanners and such are just the first step. We believe that in the nearby future you will print your spare parts for your vehicles. You will download your sneakers within 20 years.

As of right now, the Physibles section of the Pirate Bay has only a few odds and ends – a 3D model of a camera lens, a model 1970 Chevelle hot rod and a whistle, to name a few.


Read more: http://techland.time.com/2012/01/24/nex ... z1kT23sDln

I had the notion that this capability would manifest itself as a mega-Company, the Faxel Corporation, which would supply the microscopic assembly pieces, like snap-together Legos, to be assembled, or disassembled, into patterned objects.

The advantage being disassembly, of course. Once the novelty had worn off a new construction, it could be reduced to the "powder" of its separate components, and made into something else.

The equivalent of "apps" would be a popular pastime, as physical hackers would get into "making" downloadable physical objects. And the company would ship out fifty pounds of "powder", or smaller quantities of specilized components, for such assemblies.

The magic would be in the multi-capable microscopic assembly components, having very miniaturized electronic circuitry, and enough physical strength and programmability to make a variety of sturdy but temporary devices.

They would all be put together or taken apart by something similar to a computer printer, laying down layer after layer, in the patterns needed, of the various components.

My version would probably never have worked out. But I don't see how what's coming together would quite duplicate some of its characteristics.

I do see some fascinating possibilities, though. I worried about such things as camera lenses. How could I make them out of discrete components?

One thing to consider too, the larger the device, the more time it takes to fabricate it.

With the potential that this new technology, or its application, provides, I think I'd want a fabrication assembly area about the size of a two-car garage bay. Now what could I make in that volume of space?

read later

read later

Damn!

Too late.

Material properties are the one big drawback to 3D printing. If you need to make parts, they need to be made form the right materials and to the right tolerances. 3D printing doesn't have, yet, the micron level resolution for precision parts. And desired properties are not available in the choice of materials for 3D printing. Only if you get into CNC cutting and polishing will you get into the realm of real possibilities.

We have looked at 3D printing for lens manufacturing. The polymers don't have the clarity and the surfaces are too rough and are not within our needed optical tolerances. And that does not even get into how they fail our mechanical durability tests. But that is 3D printing. There is precision CNC type grinding of complex optical curves and edging of lenses for frames. All that data is digital but requires specialized grinding lathes and skill in operation.

I would worry more about corporate 3D data being stolen and exploited by either other businesses or counterfeiters. I don't see this as a realm for arm chair hackers in mom's basement. At least with today's technology.

Material properties are the one big drawback to 3D printing. If you need to make parts, they need to be made form the right materials and to the right tolerances. 3D printing doesn't have, yet, the micron level resolution for precision parts. And desired properties are not available in the choice of materials for 3D printing. Only if you get into CNC cutting and polishing will you get into the realm of real possibilities.

We have looked at 3D printing for lens manufacturing. The polymers don't have the clarity and the surfaces are too rough and are not within our needed optical tolerances. And that does not even get into how they fail our mechanical durability tests. But that is 3D printing. There is precision CNC type grinding of complex optical curves and edging of lenses for frames. All that data is digital but requires specialized grinding lathes and skill in operation.

I would worry more about corporate 3D data being stolen and exploited by either other businesses or counterfeiters. I don't see this as a realm for arm chair hackers in mom's basement. At least with today's technology.

All good information. But the arm chair hackers can come up with some nifty gadgets that nobody else is working on. I'm looking to see someone meld two cheap cell phones into a 3-d virtual helmet with computer overlays on the real-world scene. That doesn't require CNC grinding and polishing.

If you knew how, you could fabricate a nifty robot with cell phones, cameras, and portable variable-speed drills. Even if all you do is operate it remotely, that would be a cool app.

I don't see this as a realm for arm chair hackers in mom's basement. At least with today's technology.

My current hobby is flying radio controlled model sailplanes. At the bleeding edge of these models (world level competition), they have to be fabricated to precise specifications that are way beyond practical hand work. Since the demand for such models is limited (there are probably only a few thousand people engaged in this sport, worldwide), true mass production does not exist, and those models available from the few companies that build them are prohibitively expensive.

Several individuals have personally acquired CNC machines (in the $15k range) and are turning out precision components for building these models. Selling the components (or the finished models) is currently a sustainable business for these individuals, but not yet practical for an individual who just wants to create his own designs.

But it won't be long...

If the price of CNC machines comes down to where you can buy a small one at Home Depot, look out!

Material properties are the one big drawback to 3D printing. If you need to make parts, they need to be made form the right materials and to the right tolerances. 3D printing doesn't have, yet, the micron level resolution for precision parts. And desired properties are not available in the choice of materials for 3D printing. Only if you get into CNC cutting and polishing will you get into the realm of real possibilities.

We have looked at 3D printing for lens manufacturing. The polymers don't have the clarity and the surfaces are too rough and are not within our needed optical tolerances. And that does not even get into how they fail our mechanical durability tests. But that is 3D printing. There is precision CNC type grinding of complex optical curves and edging of lenses for frames. All that data is digital but requires specialized grinding lathes and skill in operation.

I would worry more about corporate 3D data being stolen and exploited by either other businesses or counterfeiters. I don't see this as a realm for arm chair hackers in mom's basement. At least with today's technology.

I keep thinking that a fusion of CNC stereolithography, powdered metallurgy, ultrasonic sintering, and either laser welding or inductance heating will allow for rapid prototyping of near-finished high-density parts.

Getting ready to print out your order, sir - one Russian female, age 22, 5'6", 110 lbs, blonde, agreeable, with strong hands and childbearing hips...

Getting ready to print out your order, sir - one Russian female, age 22, 5'6", 110 lbs, blonde, agreeable, with strong hands and childbearing hips...

We can rule out Mr Sulu as the source of that order.

I keep thinking that a fusion of CNC stereolithography, powdered metallurgy, ultrasonic sintering, and either laser welding or inductance heating will allow for rapid prototyping of near-finished high-density parts.

A machine that successfully integrates all that technology would be impressive. But do not forget that you will still be restricted to the material properties of the substances the machine can work with. Such a combo-machine can greatly expand custom fabrication, but it still has limits. Some parts that require specialized forming and fabrication technology would have a very high hurdle to combo-machine fabrication. There are real world limitations imposed by chemistry and physics.

I keep thinking that a fusion of CNC stereolithography, powdered metallurgy, ultrasonic sintering, and either laser welding or inductance heating will allow for rapid prototyping of near-finished high-density parts.

A machine that successfully integrates all that technology would be impressive. But do not forget that you will still be restricted to the material properties of the substances the machine can work with. Such a combo-machine can greatly expand custom fabrication, but it still has limits. Some parts that require specialized forming and fabrication technology would have a very high hurdle to combo-machine fabrication. There are real world limitations imposed by chemistry and physics.

true. It might require multi-stage production.
print the molds for the powdered-metallurgy side, then do the cold-cast and density enhancement in the mold (current tech).

It also depends on the application of the material. One additive package is good form one application, but it needs to be different for another. Blending additive packages is not something done at the production end. It is typically done at the raw material manufacturing end. But again, it depends on the material properties. And it adds complexity unless a known, good formulation for your application is available. But this technology wound be great for parts needed from readily available, suitable materials.

It also depends on the application of the material. One additive package is good form one application, but it needs to be different for another. Blending additive packages is not something done at the production end. It is typically done at the raw material manufacturing end. But again, it depends on the material properties. And it adds complexity unless a known, good formulation for your application is available. But this technology wound be great for parts needed from readily available, suitable materials.

Say, on the Moon?

Getting ready to print out your order, sir - one Russian female, age 22, 5'6", 110 lbs, blonde, agreeable, with strong hands and childbearing hips...

We can rule out Mr Sulu as the source of that order.

um. Takei is gay. Sulu did not appear to be.

Getting ready to print out your order, sir - one Russian female, age 22, 5'6", 110 lbs, blonde, agreeable, with strong hands and childbearing hips...

We can rule out Mr Sulu as the source of that order.

um. Takei is gay. Sulu did not appear to be.

They were beards.

Getting ready to print out your order, sir - one Russian female, age 22, 5'6", 110 lbs, blonde, agreeable, with strong hands and childbearing hips...

We can rule out Mr Sulu as the source of that order.

um. Takei is gay. Sulu did not appear to be.

They were beards.

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