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Wednesday, July 22, 2020

3D Latex Printing

Nteo the use use of an embedded 3D printing system,another example of added sensor applications.   Potential healthcare applications.

Innovations Lead to 3D-Printed Latex Rubber Breakthrough
Virginia Tech News
July 13, 2020

Researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) have created a process to three-dimensionally (3D) print latex rubber, which could pave the way for printing elastic materials in complex geometric shapes for applications such as soft robotics, medical devices, and shock absorbers. The researchers chemically modified liquid latexes to make them printable, and built a custom 3D printer with an embedded computer vision system. Because liquid latex is extremely fragile and difficult to alter, the researchers built a scaffold around the latex particles to keep the structure in place, allowing for the addition of photoinitiators and other compounds to enable 3D printing with ultraviolet (UV) light. A camera embedded in the printer allows the machine to see the interaction of UV light on the latex resin surface and automatically adjusts printing parameters to reduce resin scattering. ... " 

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