By Mike Orcutt, Technology Review
Until we have a better understanding of design constraints imposed by 3-D printers and 3-D-printed materials, the technology won’t reach its full potential in manufacturing. Drawing on artificial-intelligence capabilities, PARC researchers are developing software meant to help make manufacturing accessible to people without manufacturing expertise. In theory, 3-D printing gives consumers the ability to conceive of and make various products. But designing many objects requires specialized knowledge of geometry, materials, and manufacturing processes. Researchers at PARC are now building software tools meant to automate that kind of judgment. The goal, says PARC CEO Stephen Hoover, is to build programs that enable non-experts to “kind of think their way through a design space” before sending any instructions to the printer.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/520576/automated-manufacturing-for-3-d-printers/
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