硬币大小的 3D 打印机可以彻底改变快速原型制作

来自麻省理工学院和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的工程师创造了一款功能齐全、适合手掌大小的 3D 打印机，这是一项可能彻底改变我们对 3D 打印的看法的突破。

Engineers from MIT and the University of Texas at Austin have created a fully functional 3D printer that fits right in your palm. The device is no larger than a coin and has the potential to bring rapid prototyping capabilities virtually anywhere.

来自麻省理工学院和德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的工程师创造了一款功能齐全、适合手掌大小的 3D 打印机。该设备不比硬币大，几乎可以在任何地方实现快速原型设计功能。

Making this possible is an ingenious millimeter-scale photonic chip that can emit programmable light beams into a reservoir of light-curable resin. When the light hits the resin, it rapidly solidifies into a user-defined 3D shape.

使这一切成为可能的是一种巧妙的毫米级光子芯片，它可以将可编程光束发射到光固化树脂储存器中。当光线照射到树脂上时，它会迅速凝固成用户定义的 3D 形状。

The MIT team's expertise in silicon photonics allowed them to create integrated optical phased arrays on the chip – essentially microscopic antennas that can steer light beams by modulating the speed of the optical signals running through them. This beam-steering capability is what enables the 3D printing magic.

麻省理工学院团队在硅光子学方面的专业知识使他们能够在芯片上创建集成光学相控阵——本质上是微型天线，可以通过调制穿过光束的光信号的速度来控制光束。正是这种光束控制能力实现了 3D 打印的魔力。

The antenna design also eliminates the need for motors to move the beam's focal point, resulting in a printer without moving parts that saves space. The device features 160 optical antennas, all fitting within a US quarter-sized footprint.

该天线设计还消除了使用电机来移动光束焦点的需要，从而使打印机无需移动部件，从而节省了空间。该设备具有 160 个光学天线，全部安装在美国四分之一大小的占地面积内。

However, the visible light wavelengths required for this technology initially posed a challenge. Researchers at UT Austin addressed this by developing specialty resins optimized to cure under visible light exposure. This innovation was the missing link needed to make chip-based 3D printing viable.

然而，这项技术所需的可见光波长最初提出了挑战。德克萨斯大学奥斯汀分校的研究人员通过开发可在可见光照射下固化的特种树脂来解决这个问题。这项创新是实现基于芯片的 3D 打印所需的缺失环节。

With their proof-of-concept complete, the researchers now have a larger vision: developing chips that can generate entire 3D holographic light patterns to rapidly print complex volumetric objects in one go. The potential applications are staggering – from emergency repairs by first responders to printing medical devices on-demand.

随着概念验证的完成，研究人员现在有了更大的愿景：开发能够生成完整 3D 全息光图案的芯片，从而一次性快速打印复杂的体积物体。潜在的应用是惊人的——从急救人员的紧急维修到按需打印医疗设备。

MIT Professor Jelena Notaros said the system is completely rethinking what a 3D printer is. "It is no longer a big box sitting on a bench in a lab creating objects, but something that is handheld and portable. It is exciting to think about the new applications that could come out of this and how the field of 3D printing could change."

麻省理工学院教授 Jelena Notaros 表示，该系统正在彻底重新思考 3D 打印机是什么。 “它不再是一个坐在实验室长凳上创建物体的大盒子，而是一种手持式、便携式的东西。想到由此可能产生的新应用以及 3D 打印领域将如何改变，这是令人兴奋的”。

If this coin-sized 3D printing technology can be developed into a commercial product, it could decentralize and democratize on-demand fabrication like never before.

如果这种硬币大小的 3D 打印技术能够开发成商业产品，它将能够以前所未有的方式实现按需制造的分散化和民主化。

Further details about the research can be found in a paper published in the journal Nature.

有关该研究的更多详细信息可以在《自然》杂志上发表的一篇论文中找到。