19Oct/12Off
Think 3D Printing Is Wild? Try This Method On For Size (UV-cured resin)
One robotic arm supports a souped-up version of a digital projector at a stable height, while a second holds a vat of resin. (This resin has honey-like consistency, not unlike the stuff your dentist might use to make a mold of your teeth.) The second arm moves the resin vat into the projector’s beam of light, and the designer tells the computer where and when to expose that vat to the projector’s UV rays. This, amazingly enough, instantly hardens a specific portion of the resin.
And if that’s not mind-blowing enough, consider this: As the robotic arm moves lower, the rest of the liquid resin drops away as the arm moves it lower, which makes it appear as though the clear model is being “pulled” out of the vat of liquid.