3D printing holds great promise to improve lives, but access to advanced manufacturing technologies and training can be almost impossible to come by in the world’s poorest communities.
A group of engineering students from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) is trying to change that. For a senior multidisciplinary design course, six electrical, industrial and mechanical engineering students created a versatile 3D printer power system that can seamlessly switch between power sources. The group collaborated remotely with students at the Universidad Autónoma de Occidente in Cali, Colombia, who were tasked with simultaneously developing a way to use recycled plastic bottles as reinforcement in the 3D printing filament.
The goal of the project is to have a 3D printer, which requires a continuous electricity flow to work, operating reliably in an environment where the electricity supply is unstable, such as in Cali. The students attached solar panels to the printer to make sure there is uninterrupted power during the device’s functioning. "The system the students developed here at RIT is a system that would automatically sense when solar power is available [or] grid power is available,” said Marcos Esterman, associate professor in RIT’s Kate Gleason College of Engineering, “and depending on which of those two sources are available would charge a battery.
“Having those backup power sources like the solar panels or the battery, or also being able to plug into the grid, are all things that will keep this printer up and running in the community,” said Josh Cohen, a fifth-year student who worked on the project.
The printer can create objects such as jewelry and plastic toys.
The students chose Cali because it is a poor area where gang violence is prevalent among young people. Giving these students the chance to develop advanced manufacturing skills in their own community may help them to discover better options for their future and avoid falling into gang activity.
3D printing is changing lives in developing countries around the world. New Story, a housing charity in California, and construction technology company ICON are collaborating to design a 3D printer for building homes in regions of the world like El Salvador and Haiti that lack the economic resources to build housing for poor residents. And technology company Not Impossible established a 3D printing facility to create prosthetics in war-torn Sudan to help victims of the violence in that region.
Find out more about how 3D printing is changing lives in underdeveloped regions by downloading our eBook:3D Printing for Good.