How a 3D Printer Let a Dog Run For the First Time 26
Nerval's Lobster writes Ever since 3-D printing began to enter the mainstream, people have discussed the technology's potential for building prosthetic arms and legs for human beings. But what about doing the same for dogs? In one of those videos that ends up circulated endlessly on the Internet, a dog named Derby, born with a congenital deformity that deprived him of front paws, is outfitted with a pair of 3-D-printed prosthetics. With those "legs" in place, the dog can run for the first time, at a pretty good clip. Both the prosthetics and the video were produced by 3D Systems, which builds 3-D printers, and it seems likely that other 3-D-printing companies will explore the possibility of printing off parts for pets. And while the idea of a cyborg pooch is heartwarming, it will be interesting to see how 3D printers will continue to advance the realm of human prosthetics, which have become increasingly sophisticated over the past decade.
Finally we know the answer (Score:3)
Who let the dogs out? The 3D printer did.
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Great. Now, that song is in my head. Thanks a lot. :P
question from a kid (Score:3)
Grandpa, how could they make anything before there were 3D printers?
Re:question from a kid (Score:5, Funny)
Now, this other rock, hold it in your hand and move your arm stiffly, like it's controlled by a couple of cheap servos. That's going to be your 'extruder'; but imagine for a minute that this extruder is like a 'negative extruder' that subtracts material by, um, extruding antifilament or something.
Ok, now just start mumbling g-code under your breath really fast and bash the 'extruder' into the 'build plate' until all the hardened gunk covering the shape you wanted has been removed from the extruder. That's pretty much all there is to it...
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Animals are always the guinea pigs (no pun intended). This is an amazing breakthrough. Surely it's not too long before we have prosthetic limbs for people!
Illutrates my hesitation (Score:2)
Your snark reinforces my questions about using any of the current offerings whose price doesn't require mortgaging the house. And I have so many questions that go unanswered. For example, what's the print speed in terms of volume e.g. cubic millimeters per second? And I had to scoff/chuckle at CubeX who won't tell you exactly how much material is in one of their cartridges. When I asked, they said "Oh, you can print about 75 cellphone cases." WTF? A cellphone case is not a standardized unit of measure
Re:"3d printer" (Score:4, Insightful)
The point is that the technology has advanced to the point that people can help a dog. This in itself is not much of an advance, but it demonstrates some of the potential of the advances that are being made. Oncethe cost of technology is reduced and it becomes more readlily available people do cool stuff and sometimes help someone or something else. Sometimes people just do cool stuff with technology. Now turn in your geek card since you cannot simply enjoy something cool that is also helpful for a dog.
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The point is that the technology has advanced to the point that people can help a dog. This in itself is not much of an advance, but it demonstrates some of the potential of the advances that are being made. Oncethe cost of technology is reduced and it becomes more readlily available people do cool stuff and sometimes help someone or something else. Sometimes people just do cool stuff with technology. Now turn in your geek card since you cannot simply enjoy something cool that is also helpful for a dog.
Advanced to what point? 3D prototyping isn't new. Animal prosthetics isn't new. Deciding a single hunk of extruded plastic is good enough to strap directly on a dog isn't a huge accomplishment. Dogs don't complaint about lack of comfort...
This story bugs me, not the tech.
It skips the whole development and production cost angle of 3D proto^H^H^H^H^Hmanufacturing, which in my opinion is the most important part.
The pet owner didn't call up Pet Legs R' Us and order an affordable custom prostheses which was
Re:While great for the dog (Score:4, Insightful)
Well, there's two reasons why 3D printing makes sense. One is prototyping. You might need to make a half dozen different prototypes that are pretty similar to each other before you find one that really works. The second is replacement. You may need to replace these things on a regular basis. Replacing them is just a matter of sending a file to a printer -- no craft skill needed at all.
Hand crafting something like this falls within the scope of my tinkering abilities. I've worked with fiberglass and epoxy and wood. But it's not for everyone and if someone had to *pay* me to make something like this it would probably cost a thousand dollars a pair.
Something like this would seem to fall into the sweet spot for 3D printing: something you need more than one of, but not *thousands* of identical copies.
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Prototyping is what you do before you mass produce something.
As for replacement, you need three different variations - small, medium and large. Injection mould the fucking things by the shedload and they'll hardly cost tuppence.
LOL have prosthetic oto and cool way to create (Score:1)
Happy Doggy (Score:1)