Free Republic

The Cartesian Co. printer EX¹ transforms electronics and prototyping in the same way that 3D printing has made things possible that were inconceivable even 5 years ago. The EX¹ printer is not designed to create any 3D object like normal 3D printers. It’s been crafted and designed for one key purpose, to allow you to 3D print circuit boards, layering silver nano particles onto paper or any suitable surface to rapidly create a circuit board. In 2011, an article in Wired said that within two years 3D printers could print electronic circuits. Two years to the day, we’re announcing the...

An unmanned aircraft made from "printed" parts rather than traditional machine-tooled components has been unveiled at the Farnborough Air Show, UK. Developed at Lockheed Martin's top-secret "Skunk Works" research facility in Palmdale, California, US, the Polecat unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) is a 28-metre flying wing, weighing four tonnes. It was designed in part to test cheaper manufacturing technologies. The Skunk Works is no stranger to advanced technology: its successful designs include the ultra-high-altitude U2 spyplane, the SR71 Blackbird - a spyplane which can travel at more than three times the speed of sound - and the radar-invisible F117 stealth fighter....