“If one does not fail at times, then one has not challenged oneself.”
– Ferdinand Porsche, modified for gender neutrality
1. Printing the Vehicle That Physicists Called Impossible
Prepare to get nothing done today! I warn you this could break your brain if you investigate it for too long. A YouTuber bet a UCLA physics professor $10,000 he could make a car or cart powered by the wind – but that could go faster than the wind. There’s a plethora of messy algebra reference frames involved that’s not for the faint of heart. By now, you might be asking what this has to do with manufacturing. What you need to know is that the working carts were ultimately 3D printed – and safety glasses are important! You gear grinders will love this, I promise!
2. Australian Meat Processing Calls for Additive
What would a good Tech Report be without some Australian shenanigans? Australia is out of its mind, and I love it. Can an entire continent be your spirit animal? I sure think so! You know who or what else is cool? The boys and girls over at Markforged! I’ve never been to Australia, but I absolutely have a Markforged additive-made key chain for both my car and motorcycle. They give ‘em away in pairs! Speaking of Markforged and Australia, they just got in cahoots in the name of meat processing. Don’t worry. This isn’t another article about 3D-printed artificial meat. At least not yet. No, in the meantime, Markforged will just play a key role in the supply chain for the industry by providing on-demand spare parts. No additive steaks just yet!
3. You Need a Lot of Space to Print Rocket Ships
More than 90,000 square meters to be exact! That’s over a million square feet for all my machinist readers who go by freedom units. After all, in the words of my favorite Instagram machinist page, “There’s two types of countries in the world: ones who use the metric system and ones who have been to the moon!” No, this isn’t entirely true. Russia and China have both been there, but nobody cares because we were there first, so happy Independence Day, folks! Also of note: Liberia and Myanmar are the only other countries that use imper- … freedom units.
4. Chip Shortage is Coming to a Close
Hooray for infographics! Sure, graphs and sweet, sweet data are good and all, but I also really appreciate this article. It explains the silicon crisis from every angle without getting too long-winded or preachy. “To keep future shortages at bay, the chip industry and auto executives need a more direct connection going forward so signals about supply and demand are clearer.”
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