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Manufacturing

Electroloom Debuting 3D Printer For Clothes

May 20, 2015

Electroloom 3D Printer For Clothing

Electroloom is perhaps the closest thing we have seen yet to a true 3D printer for clothes. The concept is simple, insert a thin metal template into the printer and then it is showered with an electrically changed mixture of liquid polyester and cotton to produce a strong, soft, seamless garment. Currently on Kickstarter, Electroloom is not quite ready for consumers. Instead the company is borrowing the Oculus Rift model and using Kickstarter as a platform to get the device into the hands of developers and engineers, helping the company further refine the technology. The team at Electroloom thought of using an electrospinning process for creating garment from work they were doing with bioprinting blood vessels. One of the preliminary steps in printing blood vessels requires a scaffolding to be built via electrospinning. The technology needed to be re-conceptualized though to create something as large as an item of clothing. It will be interesting to see where this technology could lead. 3D printing of clothing has the potential to completely reshape an entire industry and democratize fashion. In addition to allowing anyone in the world to distribute and access garment designs, it would also help address worsening ecological and labor issues related to the manufacturing of clothing.  Without a doubt, the team at Electroloom has succeeded in creating a device that fabricates fabric based clothing on demand, though the results are still rough. It will be interesting to see how it develops! Check out the Kickstarter video after the break:  

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by Doug Parker
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Disney Fabric Printer Felt
Manufacturing

Disney Research Prototypes A New Fabric 3D Printer

April 20, 2015

Disney Fabric Printer Felt

Almost a year ago, we reported that Disney Research was hard at work on different 3D printer techniques for textiles. The entertainment company has continued on that mission and, together with Carnegie Mellon University, has announced a new advancement. The method relies on additive manufacturing to build a shape by stacking slices of thick felt. Similar to a standard 3D printer, a 3D object is loaded into the software and automatically broken down into slices. Instead of a hot extruder printing the object with plastic, a laser precisely cuts a sheet of felt, similar to a CNC machine. That slice is then placed on top of the previous layer on the build platform. The “printer head” then applies heat to the new layer of fabric to activate an adhesive on its underside. A combination of materials can be used and different cutting techniques can result in the final object being more flexible in one direction than the other. No word on what Disney is hoping to achieve with their research into textile printing, but it is clear that the company is taking it very seriously. Head past the break to see the printer in action:  

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by Doug Parker
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Manufacturing

New Fashion, Fashion Tech Incubator Opening In Brooklyn

December 4, 2014

Fashion Incubator BrooklynBrooklyn seems to becoming the next hub for NYC fashion. Today New York City officials announced a $3.5M investment in a new incubator facility in Sunset Park, Brooklyn named the Manufacturing Innovation Hub for Apparel, Textiles & Wearable Tech. The 160,000 soft facility will focus on fashion, wearable tech, and manufacturing. Last month Pratt Institute announced a similar but smaller space in South Williamsburg, designed to focus mainly on fashion. The newly announced Manufacturing Innovation Hub will feature a research and development center, workforce-development center, and an incubator space with studios, conference rooms, storage, and work space. The feature point of the facility is a 110,000 sqft space for for job-intensive active manufacturing use. Work is slated to begin on the space by February 2015 and last 9 months. The active manufacturing space will take around 18 months to build-out. Ole Sondresen Architect, who has designed spaces for Kickstarter and Etsy, is overseeing the project. When complete, the space is expected to house 20 to 30 companies and 50 designers.

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by Doug Parker
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Manufacturing

Recycle PET Bottles By Transforming Them Into Clothing

November 6, 2014

PETE Transforms PET Into Clothes

One of the 6 finalists of this year’s Electrolux Design Lab is a device that would aid in the recycling of PET (polyethylene) bottles, allowing you to transform them into clothing at home. The concept comes from Hungarian designer Kovács Apor. Apor humbly describes the device as “nothing more than a special trash bin.” In reality, it is far more interesting. Instead of throwing alway your empty PET bottles, you would feed them into the machine, PETE. The device then transforms the bottle into polyester (which is also made from PET) and 3D prints an article of clothing. Apor imagines an interface on PETE through which you would select the type of garment you want made, the fit, and color. PETE would then alert you to how many bottle were needed to product the garment. While I am not sure how many polyester clothes people want in their wardrobe, this is a smart way to create a second life for plastic bottles and to keep them out of landfills. Head past the break to see a video of the concept: 

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by Doug Parker
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Manufacturing

Red Algae Could Lead To Odor-Free Clothes

October 6, 2014

Red AlgaeThe KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden has developed an alternative to silver based anti-odor clothing. By utilizing a combination of bio-compatible plastic and a bacteria compound found in red algae (lanosol), KTH has crafted an antibacterial thread. Currently silver is used in clothing to accomplish the same thing. The new material is designed to solve two of the largest issues with silver based antibacterial fabrics. Silver is applied to clothing via nanoparticles and studies have shown that these particle often shed and are ingested. The long term ramifications of this is debated, but there are fears that because of its antibacterial properties the silver could have health consequences. Since the algae is spun into the threads, it is less likely to shed.

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by Doug Parker
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Manufacturing, Sports

Nike Debuts 3D Printed Duffle Bag

June 20, 2014

Nike 3D Printed Duffle Bag

Nike is debuting an extremely limited edition 3D printed duffle bag at this years World Cup in Brazil. The bag is named Rebento, which means “explode” in Portuguese, and is designed to hold sports equipment. The mesh design references two of Nike’s football cleats. It is printed out of nylon using a method called Selective Laser Sintering (SLS). During laser sintering, a laser heats a powdered material (in this case nylon) and binds it together. Following a 3D CAD design, laser sintering is able to easily produce extremely complex geometries that would otherwise be nearly impossible. The bag is not the only 3D printed item Nike is debuting for the World Cup.  

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by Doug Parker
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Manufacturing

Disney Testing 3D Printing With Wool

April 29, 2014

3D Printed Wool Bear

Deep within the bowels of Disney Research, there is a team tired of 3D printing items with sharp corners.  They have developed a method of using wool and wool blend yarn to print CAD objects.  The printer uses a sewing machine style needle to gradually build an object.  The printing technique can also be used to layer around other items, such as electronics or stiffening mesh.  While you likely won’t be purchasing a custom printed Goofy from a cart in the Magic Kingdom anytime soon, the implications of this type of 3d printing are very exciting.  Click through to see a video of it in action.  

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by Doug Parker
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