Elon Musk: From 3D Printing to 3D Manufacturing

SpaceX is exploring methods for engineers to accelerate their workflow by designing more directly in 3D. We are integrating breakthroughs in sensor and visualization technologies to view and modify designs more naturally and efficiently than we could using purely 2D tools. We are just beginning, but eventually hope to build the fastest route between the idea of a rocket and the reality of the factory floor. Special thanks to Leap Motion, Siemens and Oculus VR, as well as NVIDIA, Projection Design, Provision, and to everyone enabling and challenging the world to interact with technology in exciting new ways.

A lot goes on in my head.  But because I am neither a technologist nor an engineer, I need colleagues who can make-real what is in my head - from ideas and models, to algorithms and pet inventions.  Since 2008, when I first deigned to be an entrepreneur, I knew that such a collaboration was an imperative.

Elon Musk 

Enter:  Elon Musk, who is, to me, a complete package:  South African by birth, he is an American billionaire, inventor, and entrepreneur.  So he can create something, fund it, then sell it.

As for the Ironman-inspired technology Musk demonstrates for us in his video, he and his team have clearly taken a quantum leap from 3D printing (i.e., simple objectives), to (sooner than we imagine) 3D manufacturing (i.e., complex machines).

Greg Kumparak, with TechCrunch, apparently has a pulse on how extraordinary difficult of a leap this is:

It’s a bit unclear, though, whether or not they’re currently able to actually design models within the gestural setup, or just inspect models they’ve made with more traditional tools. While the video shows Elon and his engineers doing things like scaling, rotating, and even cutting away at meshes, it never demonstrates anyone building something anew. As anyone who has ever worked with 3D modeling software could tell you, this stuff tends to get crazy complicated, with each app having dozens upon dozens of menus and a few zillion hotkeys to memorize (especially when you’re designing with any sort of precision in mind). Squeezing anything but the most basic modeling concept into a set of motion gestures seems… difficult.

Reference:  Elon Musk Shows Off His Crazy Iron Man-Inspired 3D Modeling Setup.

(image credit)

In the distant future, it would be ultra-cool to realize into a physical 3D device or machine - the dimensionless ideas and algorithms that regularly occupy my head - à la Elon Musk technology!

Thank you for reading, and let me know what you think!

Ron Villejo, PhD