New compact 3D printer created

Researchers have created a new compact, affordable 3D printer based on an "additive manufacturing technology".

Currently, 3D printers are only installed in places such as universities and industrial design firms, mainly because they tend to be expensive and require a lot of space.

But the experts at the Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna) said the new device is particularly aimed at general consumers.

A team of mechanical engineers - led by Professor Jürgen Stampfl - assembled the printer, while a group of chemists, headed by Professor Robert Liska, formulated the resin required for creating objects.

Built around a layered manufacturing system, the device starts working with the help of some of the resin in a small tub. Areas of the resin become solid after being heated using high-intensity beams of LED light.

Following this, objects are created by adding together layers of the hardened resin. This leads to "high resolution" finished products that can have complex interior structures.

The prototype is currently the size of a milk carton and weighs about 1.5 kilograms (3.31 lbs.) However, the researchers are hoping to make it even smaller and lighter.

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