What is 4D printing? How does a 4D printer work? Read our essential guide to learn more about this amazing technology.
Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology developed tensegrity structures using 3D printers. The 3D printed objects dramatically expand when exposed to heat in a process which is also known as 4D printing.
Researchers from TU Delft have developed self-folding origami-style 3D structures using sequential shape shifting mechanisms.
The future of 3D printing is bright, with several high stakes players entering the scene. People are looking to solve some very specific, challenging problems with creative innovations. Here are a handful of them.
North Carolina State University researchers created flexible 3D printed mesh structures which are controlled by magnetic fields. They can grab objects, carry water droplets, and expand and contract while floating on water.
Engineers from MIT developed a new technique called the direct-write colloidal assembly process. It can build centimeter-high crystals made from billions of individual colloids. They did this by uniting the principles of 3D printing and self-assembly.
Engineers at Rutgers, the state university of New Jersey, and the New Jersey Institute of Technology have developed a 4D printing method which may find application in tissue engineering and targeted drug delivery systems.
Austrian researchers have developed a process to create objects that can self-transform from 2D to 3D without external influence.
MIT researchers develop 3D printable expanding polymer structure that will fold itself up as soon as it's peeled off the print bed.
Researchers from several institutions have developed shape-shifting 4D prints which can permanently transform when heated up.