Author

James Metts

Benefits of getting a 3D printer for yourself

by James Metts April 16, 2020

The days of limiting the use of innovative developments like 3D printing to large businesses are essentially behind us. Thanks to more affordable and consumer-friendly models being produced, anyone can now get a 3D printer for themselves.

Granted, big industries use this equipment for grand things like making aircraft parts or creating human organs from scratch. All good stuff, but there are many ways in which regular users can also benefit from having one within reach.

From recreational purposes to more inspiring reasons like making money, the following are some of the top reasons why you might need a 3D printer.

It gets your creative juice flowing

Having a 3D printer brings out the artist in you. With possibilities limited only by your level of imagination, you can create several works of art from the comfort of your home. If you are a beginner still trying to get the hang of things, you don’t have to start with the big stuff. With the help of the internet and willingness to learn, you’d be making your own unique items in no time.

Helps children learn

The creativity boost that 3D printing offers isn’t only limited to adults. Teachers and parents who homeschool will agree that printing educational models can spark kids’ interest more than the alternative. Children are curious, so having this machine around would naturally draw them to want to learn.

Critical thinking, problem-solving, and design are some relevant life skills 3D printing could integrate into your kids.

Create and replace your own accessories.

Getting things off the counter is great, but why settle for that when you can make and personalize yours? Creating your own accessories and gift items have a personal touch to it that you can’t get from mass-produced stuff. From broken home appliances to everyday things like phone cases and Keyholder, having a 3D printer helps you make these things on your own terms.

You can take charge of your print quality

In all fairness, you don’t have to get your printer to create even personalized items. There are several businesses online that offer that service, simply send them your design, and they do the printing. While this is great in that they do the work for you, you can’t always count on the quality of print you get. If you have fallen victim to this before, you might want to consider getting your 3D printer.

An extra source of income

If you could use an additional source of income, you should consider investing in a 3D printer. Here are some of the ways in which you can earn money with one.

Running printing gigs for those who need it
Renting out your 3D printer for a fee
Designing and printing exclusive items for sale, and the list goes on.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the price of printers, as we know it, serves as a deterrent to many without even checking. However, this does not always have to be so. There are low-priced printers out there which may not meet industry-grade sophistication but are good enough for consumer standard. If you are a beginner looking to buy, you may find the best budget 3D printer here.

April 16, 2020 0 comment

Business

How to Design Custom Food and Beverage Packaging

by James Metts April 14, 2020

Custom food packaging (know more) plays a major role in how food and beverage products are perceived by customers. These days, customers have become more demanding about what they expect to see with wholesale beverage packaging.

Because of this, entrepreneurs in the food and beverage sector need to know how to design custom package efficiently. In this post, we share a few nuggets that will help you design your packaging better.

Guidelines for designing food and beverage packaging

It is clear that these days, vision is a key determinant of whether people will buy a product or not. This means people are more likely to purchase a product because of how attractive the packaging looks. There are so many products on the market that have the same features and capabilities as yours.

Because of this, you must be able to woo the customers and prospects with your custom food packaging. Brands all over the world are beginning to pay more attention to tempting customers with their packaging. Therefore, a beverage company like yours cannot afford to treat wholesale beverage packaging with levity.

Where most businesses get it wrong is that they fail to plan towards the design of custom packaging. To design custom package, you need to plan and follow certain guidelines. If you don’t, it will end up as an effort in futility and a waste of investment.

There are certain factors you need to consider when preparing your packaging for food and beverage. We will discuss some of the remaining part of this post.

Appeal to the visual senses

Unlike many years ago, there is almost no monopoly of the market in food and drink. Take a walk into any retail store, grocery store, or supermarket and look at the shelves. Take note of the different products in each section.

You will notice that many products are made from the same ingredients and are close substitutes. Probably, the only difference maybe a few dollars or cents. Here’s a question for you to answer. Why were you drawn to certain products and you weren’t to others?

The answer to this is simple, the ones that attracted you appealed to your visual senses better. Since there are lots of options on the shelves, your products should be able to call out to customers.

There is a little addition to this. You shouldn’t go off the point with your packaging just because you want to make it attractive. The whole idea of packaging is building brand recognition. This means that your custom food packaging should synchronize with what your product stands for.

If it doesn’t, even if it grabs customers initially, it is very that you will not convert that impression to a sale. Why spend on wholesale beverage packaging if you won’t make conversions?

Clarity in design

By clarity, we mean that the packaging must be able to convey a clear message about the product. The first step is attracting potential customers by appealing to their visual senses. Your next line of action should be telling them about the product using the design of your package.

The customers are not going to be eating or using the design for anything. What they need is the product. This is why when you design custom package, you must make the message clear. The message should be easy to read through within the shortest possible time.

If your message is not clear, you will be frustrating your customers as they try to read. Remember they came to shop not to prepare for an exam. They have only a few seconds to browse through your package so you should make them count.

Integrity

One of the key functions of packaging is to maintain the integrity of the product it carries. It does this by keeping it safe from dust, dirt, air, etc. Even if your product package is attractive and your message is clear, it is still possible to lose customers.

Sure, they are likely to buy the first time of asking. However, your product integrity will determine whether they will return to buy more or not. If you have read reviews about certain products, you must have come across complaints about inconsistency.

There are certain products that look different from how they are portrayed on the custom food packaging. For integrity sake, never put what is different from your product on your wholesale beverage packaging. Editing the original image of your product is far better than changing it altogether.

Consistency

Like we stated earlier, one of the functions of product packaging is improving brand recognition. One of the mistakes brands make is that their packaging is different from what their brand stands for. When you design custom package, one of your aims should be consistency.

If you have three products on the market, for example, something about the design must cut across all three. Most times, it is the colors of the brand and other elements like the logo and even the font used. These may all seem inconsequential to a novice but a marketing expert knows how important they are.

It is this consistency that separates you from other existing brands. The colors you choose should be consistent with the contents of the pack as well as your brand.

Versatility

One of the best ways to create impressions is through the use of versatile packaging. Your packaging should be able to carry out several functions. This means that even after the container is empty, the customer can use it for other purposes.

How does this affect your brand? Very simple. The more a customer makes use of your product packaging, the more they remember your brand. Some potential customers will purchase your product, not just for what they will consume, but after use.

Shelf impact

As you design custom package for your products, always consider their impact on the shelves. There are so many products in the same class and at first glance, customers cannot see product information. This means that you must do everything for your product to be placed in a vantage position to attract attention.

Conclusion

In this post, we have taught you what custom food packaging entails. Wholesale beverage packaging is very important to how your product is perceived and how well it thrives. Consider these nuggets when next you want to design packaging for your products. If you have any demand for custom packaging, visit Zigpac.

April 14, 2020 0 comment

Industrial

Choosing the right resin 3D printer

by James Metts March 7, 2020

What is resin 3D printing?

In simple terms, resin 3D printing technology enables the curing of liquid polymers one layer at a time until they turn into solid objects. The resin 3D printing machines work specifically with resin components. Photopolymerization is applied to convert raw material into finished objects. A digital model is uploaded to a computer that converts it into a code. The resin materials are called light-activated resins (photopolymers). During the process, the material components are kept inside a vat or resin tank. Under the correct light wavelength, the resin turns to solid. The light sources that are viable for use in producing resin 3D prints are LCD panels, projectors, and lasers.

First, the resin material is added manually. The machine then adjusts the build platform up or down, creating a thin layer resin in contact with the build plate. A light source can then draw a pattern of a single layer in the resin. This makes it solidify. This goes on until the final object is formed. So which is the best resin 3D printer?

The makeup of a resin printer

A modern resin 3D printer is made up of a build platform, a light source, a resin tank, and mirrors. The residual object is formed upright or upside down. The formation depends on how the constituent parts are positioned in the printer. Desktop machines work well with upside-down orientation due to the associated ease of operation and fabrication. Quality can also be maintained.

Best 3D resin printers

Sparkmaker – one of the most affordable resin 3D printers available today. It generates very high-resolution prints, as opposed to the prints obtained from DLP 3D printers. It comes with an LED light to show the status of the print job. It also enables offline resin 3D print jobs. It comes fully assembled, with a level bed manual, SD connectivity, and weighing in at 4.4 pounds. It runs silently, is easy to use, and has built-in slicer software. It also allows the machinist to use resins that are non-proprietary. Pricing starts at $219.

Formlabs Form 2 – currently holds the largest market share. From a Kickstarter campaign, this resin 3D printer has evolved into a million-dollar project. It has a straightforward interface compared to other printers and is suitable for beginners. The resin system is fully automated, combined with a touch screen that enables WiFi connections. It is capable of producing very high-quality objects at incredible resolutions. It runs on SLA technology and weighs 28.66 pounds. It also allows large print jobs for the hardworking machinist. The customer support team is amicable, and a wide variety of resin parts are available for use with the machine. It is, however, more expensive compared to the other resin 3D print machines.

Peopoly Moai – This is a cheap resin 3D printing machine. It offers versatile performance and comes with an inbuilt DIY kit. The reason it is cheaper is that the users have to assemble it themselves. The machine features a simple and open design. It has settings that you can adjust to set the laser power strength and the exposure time for the resin.

Conclusion

Resin 3D prints are here to stay. The printer you pick will affect your build time, resolution, and quality of resin print that you can produce. While it is good to go for an affordable machine, it is also good to consider one with excellent customer support and is easy to use.

March 7, 2020 0 comment

Industrial

This new 3D printing method might make fiber optics less costly

by James Metts March 3, 2020

A new 3D printing process established by scientists at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia can considerably reduce the price of manufacturing glass optical fibers. Not just would this lead to set you back decreases in making the notoriously expensive fiber optic cables for telecommunications networks, it could also bring about brand-new styles as well as applications.

The present fabrication process calls for spinning tubes on a lathe with fiber cores that are specifically centered, which is labor-intensive, claimed John Canning who led the study group.

The new process loosens up several of the geometry requirements, which is one of the most intricate parts of the process.

” With additive manufacturing, there’s no need for the fiber geometry to be centered,” Canning stated in a press statement. “This gets rid of among the best limitations in fiber style and greatly lowers the expense of fiber production.”

The group released a paper on their operate in the journal Optics Letters.

A development in manufacture

The scientists said their creation was notified by earlier research study in which they fabricated fiber using a polymer material from a 3D-printed preform. Formerly, it had been profoundly testing to use silica in this kind of printing process as a result of the heats (more than 1900 degrees Celsius) required to print glass.

” Thanks to a novel combination of products and nanoparticle combination, we have shown it’s feasible to 3D print a silica preform,” Canning said in journalism statement.

To produce silica glass, Canning and his team made use of a direct-light projection (DLP) 3D printer, which is readily available and also generally made use of to create polymer things. For this sort of fabrication, the printer utilizes a digital light projector to polymerize photo-reactive monomers.

Producing a silica things called for customizing the procedure along with the materials utilized. On the products side, the researchers included silica nanoparticles right into the monomer at quantities of 50 percent or greater by weight.

They then developed a 3D-printed cylindrical things that contained an opening for a core, and placed the material mix of polymer and nanoparticles right into the hole. This time, nonetheless, they changed the formula a bit, including germanosilicate to the silica nanoparticles. This developed a greater refractive index to allow for the integration of a variety of dopants, the scientists stated.

The next step in the procedure called for an unique home heating process called debinding, which removed the polymer from the materials blend to leave only silica nanoparticles bound by intermolecular pressures behind.

By raising the temperature level further, the researchers merged the nanoparticles right into a solid framework that might be put into a draw tower, where they when again heated as well as also drew the object to create the optical fiber.

The path to commercialization

To validate their process, the researchers fabricated a preform matching of a conventional germanosilicate fiber that could be made use of to develop multi- or single-mode fibers, Canning stated.

They did face a limitation in their work when they observed high light losses in the very first fiber optics they printed, they acknowledged. However, Canning stated they have considering that identified the concern and are functioning to fix it.

“With additional improvements to limit the light losses, this new strategy might possibly change the standard lathe-based method of making silica fiber optics,” he claimed in a press statement.

Using this process in place of current manufacturing would decrease expenses across the board– not simply in fabrication and also material expenses however likewise in regards to labor, since it also minimizes training and also the threat aspect production workers deal with, Canning said.

The team is presently seeking to companion with a mainstream commercial fiber construction company to enhance and also advertise the innovation. The researchers likewise wish to speed up study and also drive new manufacturing methods in this area.

March 3, 2020 0 comment

Technology

Antimony can replace silicon in next-gen cpus

by James Metts March 2, 2020

With cpus getting smaller as well as smaller while requiring even more handling power, silicon is getting to the limits of its capability to satisfy the demands of future chips.

Researchers have been browsing for new materials that can replace silicon while still packing a lot of processing power right into a small strike. Assistant teacher Yuanyue Liu and also a study team at The University of Texas at Austin (UT) Cockrell School of Engineering have located an option in an existing semi-metal: antimony.

The group, which also includes UT postdoctoral fellow Long Cheng and also college student Chenmu Zhang, released a paper on their work in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Liu, an assistant teacher of mechanical design, claimed, in its 2D kind, antimony programs assure as a semiconducting product for smaller chips. For one, antimony is only a number of atomic layers thick while still having a high fee mobility, or rate with which a cost moves through the material when being pulled by an electrical field. 2D antimony also has a dramatically greater fee mobility than silicon, claimed Liu. This gives it strong potential as a foundation for next-generation cpus.

Antimony has already shown its well worth in electronics for some semiconductor gadgets, such as infrared detectors. The UT scientists think this usage can be encompassed future tools also.

Much 2D antimony’s semiconducting possibility has just been verified through academic calculation. The group’s following step is to check the properties of the material with physical antimony examples.

The group’s job has broader ramifications; considering that researchers have actually seen antimony’s practicality as a semiconductor for future gadgets, they additionally understand why the material carries fee so promptly. “We have uncovered the physical origins of why antimony has a high mobility,” Liu said in a press statement. “These searchings for could be made use of to potentially discover also better products.”

March 2, 2020 0 comment

Technology

A climate-change remedy: remove co2 from the air

by James Metts March 2, 2020

Scientists at MIT have made a specialized battery that can eliminate co2 also at little focus from air, a gadget they believe could be utilized as a tool to eliminate environment modification.

Chemical engineers, including Saha Voskian– an MIT postdoc that established the job as part of his PhD study– developed the strategy, which is based upon passing air through a pile of charge electrochemical plates.

The system can process co2 at any kind of concentration level, also down to the about 400 parts per million presently found in the environment. This is different from most present approaches of getting rid of co2 from air. Other methods call for a higher focus of the CO2 airborne, such as what’s present in the flue emissions from fossil fuel-based nuclear power plant.

There are a couple of options that can work with reduced concentrations, however the brand-new device that Voskian as well as his partner, T. Alan Hatton, the Ralph Landau Professor of Chemical Engineering, have actually designed is less expensive as well as energy-intensive. “Our system depends solely on electric energy input as well as does not call for as well as thermal or stress swing,” Voskian told Design News. “It runs at ambient conditions.”

Soaking up carbon from the air

The tool is basically a huge battery that absorbs co2 from the air, or an additional gas stream, overlooking its electrodes as it is being charged up. As it is being released, it releases the gas it collected.

In operation, the gadget would merely alternating in between charging and also discharging, with fresh air or feed gas being blown via the system during the billing cycle, and then the pure, concentrated carbon dioxide being burnt out during the discharging. “The tool includes a pile of electrochemical cells with gas flow channels in between,” stated Voskian. “The cells have permeable electrodes which are coated with a composite of electro-active polymer and conductive material. The polymer replies to electrical stimuli and also is activated or de-activated based upon the polarity of the applied potential.”

That electro-active polymer as well as conductive material is a compound called polyanthraquinone, which is composited with carbon nanotubes. This offers the electrodes an all-natural affinity for carbon dioxide so they can readily react with its molecules in the airstream or feed gas, even when it is present at extremely reduced concentrations “The electrodes either have strong fondness to carbon in their electrochemically turned on mode, or have no fondness whatsoever,” claimed Voskian.

Binding gas particles also in reduced focus.

This binary nature of the interaction with carbon dioxide provides the system its special residential properties, giving it the capability to bind to the gas molecules from really low to extremely high concentrations.

The reverse response takes place when the battery is discharged, ejecting a stream of pure carbon dioxide. Throughout this process, the gadget can supply part of the power required for the entire system, which runs at space temperature and also typical air pressure.

March 2, 2020 0 comment

Software

Larry Tesler’s Copy-Paste A Mixed Blessing For The Software Application Globe

by James Metts March 2, 2020

It’s difficult to think of now, however there was a time prior to the presence of the computer system “computer mouse” and also word processor. Back in these ancient times called the 1970s, users accessed their computer systems through a command line to write text, code software application, concern commands and sight results. If a customer desired a copy of what was showing up on the computer system terminal, after that they just redirected the character stream to a file (fprintf) or postscript printer (printf or sprintf). Obviously, such tasks required a basic understanding of the Unix os to provide the appropriate command in the appropriate type, for example:

int printf( const char * str, …);.

Came Larry Tesler and also his work with Tim Mott to create a word processor called Gypsy which coined the terms of “cut,” “duplicate,” as well as “paste.” This work was done under the auspices of the popular Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), where the mouse-driven icon (GUI) was established. Many of the productions that came out of PARC discovered their means into Steve Jobs very early Apple Macintosh computer. Regretfully, Tesler died on February 17, 2020, however his legacy lives on.

Today, everybody that makes use of a computer takes the ability to reduce, copy and also paste for provided. These easy functions have actually allowed computer workers to be incredibly effective. Sadly, plagiarists have the same advantage. For software program programmers, there is a darker side to the copy-paste attribute, particularly, the threats of replicate (potentially bad) code.

” A young and even seasoned software program developer … working in a large firm … may not know if various other programmers are creating similar code in parallel,” explained Cristian Amitroaie, CEO of AMIQ. “So, they develop the very same code over again although maybe a little various. Currently you have code replication in the overall code base.”.

Duplicate code is not the only issue with copy-paste activities.

March 2, 2020 0 comment

Industrial

New Process Enables 4D-Printed Objects to Return To Initial Shape

by James Metts March 2, 2020

With 3D printing in what may be considered the very early their adult years stage of its development, researchers currently are transforming interest to evolving 4D printing, which gives 3D-printed things the ability to alter shape autonomously.

A group at Singapore University of Technology as well as Design (SUTD) has actually gone also a step further as well as created a brand-new relatively easy to fix 4D printing modern technology. In this brand-new process, not only can a 3D-printed item modification form either in response to warm or water, it can also revert back to its initial shape without human intervention.

Researchers at SUTD teamed up with scientists Nanyang Technological University on the brand-new procedure, which takes a various tack than some formerly effective reversible 4D-printing strategies.

Until now, researchers generally utilized a hydrogel product to produce a 4D-printed reversibility without the need for human treatment. In these techniques, the things resumes its original shape utilizing a hydrogel as a stimulus.

This strategy has its restrictions due to the absence of mechanical strength in this kind of product. For applications that involve load bearing, a hydrogel is not an optimal choice, researchers said. Additionally, research study using various layers of product as a choice to a hydrogel permit reversible 4D printing, but in a clunky way that is not really mechanically reliable.

Two-Material Approach

Instead of making use of a hydrogel, the SUTD team used 2 products suitable for printing in a 3D polyjet printer that showed a capacity to maintain their mechanical toughness during and also after the procedure– the transition product VeroWhitePlus as well as the elastomer TangoBlackPlus.

In the process, researchers made use of ethanol to trigger the elastomer to swell, which– like the hydrogel in various other similar processes– produces stress and anxiety on the shift product, they said. After that, when heated up, the transition product alters its form to a second form.

The procedure than needs drying the ethanol out of the elastomer and heating the change product again, which enables it to revert to its original shape, scientists stated. At the exact same time, the elastomer draws the shift material back because of flexible energy stored in it after drying out.

Scientist acknowledged they have a long roadway ahead to make the procedure practical for business printing. However, SUTD Professor Chua Chee Kai, lead researcher on the project, claimed the process his group developed has possibility for use in future applications when more devices and also more products become available for this sort of printing.

“While relatively easy to fix 4D printing in itself is a wonderful development, being able to utilize a much more robust product while ensuring a more precise reversal during form change is revolutionary, as it permits us to produce intricate frameworks that can not quickly be attained via standard manufacture,” he claimed.

March 2, 2020 0 comment