[Tech] 3D프린터로 인한 미래의 변화들
뉴스페퍼민트에 3D프린터 기사가 올라왔기에 한번 옮겨본다
3D 프린팅 기술이 상용화되기 시작하면서 제조업에서 큰 변화의 바람이 불고 있습니다. 플라스틱 주조물에서 벗어나 금속까지 입체 인쇄가 가능해지면서 가히 ‘2차 산업 혁명’ 이라고 불릴 만한 기술의 발전과 새로운 시장의 형성이 이루어지고 있는 것이죠. 이처럼 놀랍게 발전하는 3D 프린팅 기술이 우리 생활에 불러일으킬 4가지 큰 변화들을 소개합니다.
Manufacturing is undergoing a shift as 3D printing reaches the British high street and can produce anything from guns to cars, metal or even food.
Some key recent developments have furthered the "second industrial revolution", making 3D printing more useful, expanding its possibilities way beyond simple plastic trinkets and putting it within the grasp of anyone with an interest.
1. 가정에서도 곧 금속 3D 프린터기를 사용할 수 있을 것입니다.
금속 3D 프린터기는 금속 가루에 아주 강력한 레이저빔을 쏘아 녹인 뒤 형체를 잡아나아가는 복제 기기입니다. 금속은 플라스틱과는 비교조차 할 수 없을 정도로 녹는점이 높기 때문에 금속 3D 프린터기는 열과 모양을 제어하는 것이 훨씬 까다로울 뿐만 아니라 기기 생산비용도 높다고 합니다. 현재 대부분의 제조회사들이 시장에 내놓은 금속 3D 프린터기는 아직 시제품 단계에 머무르고 있어 가격을 가늠하기가 쉽지 않은 것이 사실이지만, 미시간 기술 대학(Michigan Technological University)에서 내놓은 한 금속 3D 프린터기의 가격이 $1,500(약 160만원)보다 낮게 책정되면서 성공적인 상용화에 대한 기대감이 고조되고 있습니다.
Contrary to common perception, 3D printing using metal has been possible for some time - but the price has limited its availability to industry rather than hobbyists.
One of the techniques, direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), fuses metal powder into a solid part by melting it with a powerful focused laser beam. It is an expensive industrial 3D printing process often used to make prototype metal parts for the aerospace industry, but was recently used to produce a 3D printed metal gun capable of firing 50 shots.
Now an affordable, open-source metal 3D printer costing less than $1,500 in parts is in the works at Michigan Technological University. The printer, which has successfully printed steel objects including sprockets, uses a gas-metal arc welder to lay down thin layers of steel which can be built up into complex geometric objects.
The project, led by Joshua Pearce, is still in the prototype stage but rapid progress is expected now that the details of the machine have been publicly released as open-source to the 3D printing community. “Within a month, somebody will make one that’s better than ours, I guarantee it,” said Pearce.
2. 3D 프린터기를 이용한 총기 생산은 더 강력하게 규제될 것입니다.
금속 3D 프린터기의 발명으로 대두되고 있는 가장 큰 위협은 3D 프린터기를 이용한 불법적인 총기 생산입니다. 이미 총기 생산은 라이선스를 보유한 소수의 제작사에게만 허락되어 있는 것이 사실이지만, 금속 3D 프린터기가 가정에 대중적으로 보급된다면 현실적으로 불법적인 총기 생산을 완벽히 통제할 수단이 없는 것이 사실입니다. 하지만 확실한 것은 정부가 더욱 강력한 규제와 처벌 수단을 동원하여 불법적인 총기 생산을 통제하려 들 것이란 점입니다.
One of the more disturbing proof of concept developments of 3D printing has been the rise of 3D printed guns like the Liberator plastic handgun.
Now the Home Office has updated the rules around 1968 Firearms Act, which already bans the weapons themselves, to prohibit the manufacture, sale, purchase and possession of complete guns or components unless licensed.
“There is no evidence that they are in widespread circulation, but the coalition government has reviewed existing firearms legislation and made it absolutely clear that it is an offence to own or manufacture a 3D printed gun without a license,” said crime prevention minister Norman Baker talking to Reuters.
3. 자기 복제가 가능한 3D 프린터기가 등장할 것입니다.
현재까지 3D 프린터기는 제3의 객체(object) 형상을 스캔하여 이를 복제할 수는 있었지만 자기 복제까지는 할 수 없었습니다. 3D 프린팅 기술의 핵심이자 가장 복잡한 부품인 센서(sensor)와 칩(chip)을 현재 기술로 복제할 방법이 없었기 때문입니다. 하지만, 지속적으로 이루어지는 기술의 발전 속도를 고려해 볼때, 자기 복제가 가능한 3D 프린터의 출현도 얼마남지 않은 것으로 예상됩니다.
3D printers can make almost anything, including themselves. The RepRap project is “humanity’s first general-purpose self-replicating manufacturing machine”, which can print the components needed to build a fully-fledged 3D printer.
The initial printing machine can be made from commonly-available components, building a basic machine capable of printing the more complex parts needed to build the full 3D printer.
A few bespoke components, mainly the sensors and chips required to make the printer work, still need to be bought separately but the end goal is to produce an open design that can replicate itself at low cost.
4. 3D 프린터로 음식이 생산될지도 모릅니다.
금속 3D 프린터가 금속 가루를 이용하여 물체를 복제하듯, 맛과 향취를 지닌 영양 가루를 이용하여 음식을 입체 출력하려는 연구가 나사(NASA)에서 진행중입니다. 우주비행사들을 위한 이 연구가 성공하면, 인터넷에 떠돌아다니는 ‘디지털 조리법’을 다운로드받아 가정에서 피자를 직접 찍어내게 될지도 모르겠습니다. (the Guardian)
Producing objects is just one of the possibilities opened up by 3D printing. Nasa is currently exploring options for producing food using a 3D printer.
A $125,000 grant has been issued to Texas-based Systems and Materials Research develop a 3D printer design capable of creating "nutritious and flavourful" food for astronauts.
The printers will combine powders to produce food that has the structure and texture of normal food, including smell, using "digital recipes", sounding like something straight out of Star Trek.
A pizza was chosen as one of the project’s first goals, demonstrating the printer’s ability to mix nutrients, flavours and textures.
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3D printers on the high street
No longer restricted to the internet, or bespoke shops in the US, 3D printers are already available on the British high street in stores like Maplin Electronics.
Similar to Ikea furniture, the 3D printers like the £700 Velleman K8200come flat packed and require construction before they can be used, with 1kg of the plastic printing material costing £30.
Assembly takes around an hour or two, while printing something the size of a smartphone case takes around 30 minutes, putting 3D printing within the grasp of many more people.
Affordable 3D scanning
Now that more affordable 3D printers are making their way into homes, the next important step in the second industrial revolution is the creation of content.
3D scanners are traditionally expensive, however projects like the Rubicon 3D scanner are attempting to change that with kits costing around £200 or less, using a combination of bespoke parts and common computer components.
The Rubicon 3D uses an off-the-shelf webcam coupled to a 3D-printed turntable and two lasers to scan almost any small object, producing high-resolution 3D models ready for printing or manipulation on a computer.
3D printing as a service
The 3D printing revolution isn’t limited to do-it-at-home hobbyists. Asda,among other retailers, has begun offering 3D printing and scanning services in-store.
Shoppers can walk into the 3D scanning booth in Asda’s York store and replicate just about anything bigger than a shoe, including people and pets.
The object is scanned within minutes in-store. The model is then sent to a specialist 3D printing company, which produces a ceramic print in up to 6m different colours at various sizes for as little as £40 within a few days shipping it back to the store, ready to pick up with your next week's shopping.