Researchers from MIT, the MIT spinout Inkbit, and ETH Zurich have unveiled a cutting-edge 3D inkjet printing system that expands the range of materials available and boasts an astonishing speed advantage over traditional systems.
Traditional systems use nozzles to deposit tiny drops of resin, smoothed over with a scraper or roller and then curved with UV light. However, this smoothing limits the materials that could be used since slow-curing resins could be squished or smeared.
The new technology addresses this concern by eliminating the need for mechanical smoothing components.
The heart of this innovation lies in the printer's ability to utilize computer vision, transforming it into a contactless system. Unlike its predecessors, the new technology scans the 3D printing surface in real-time. It adjusts the amount of resin each nozzle deposits dynamically, ensuring that each area gets exactly the right amount of resin.
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