Researchers develop 3D Printing Technology to create Terminator-Like Robot

Inspired from T-1000 robot from the second 'Terminator' film, researchers have invented technology capable of harnessing powers of light and oxygen in a printer to bring designed objects quickly into existence from small reservoirs of elastic material with sophisticated properties. Chemist Joseph DeSimone unveiled a 3D printer that allows researchers to create a robot from pools of molten liquid in a way the robot in the movie 'Terminator 2' rose from liquid silver.

DeSimone and co-inventors have named the technology 'Continuous Liquid Interface Production' (CLIP). The technology is promising to bring revolution in 3D printing.

DeSimone said that they have a reservoir that holds the puddle like the T-1000. Parts of desired objects were successfully developed by printing at speeds comparable to that of current manufacturing processes, which is a game changer. The problem with current 3D printers is that they spray layer upon layer, resulting in slow build-up of objects. As they take hours, it is not possible to use resins that change chemically before the printing is finished. However, the breakthrough technology CLIP is 25 to 100 times faster than traditional 3D printers.

Moreover, it puts synthetic resins with strong mechanical properties into use to make the finished parts, said DeSimone, adding that technology has taken a giant leap in transforming manufacturing from cars, planes, and turbines to dental or surgical implants.

"If 3D printing hopes to break out of the prototyping niche it has been trapped in for decades, we need to find a disruptive technology that attacks the problem from a fresh perspective and addresses 3D printing's fundamental weaknesses", said Jim Goetz, a Carbon3D board member and Sequoia partner, in a statement.

Goetz said they started believing that 3D printing would never be the same as soon as they saw the technology in action.