The 3D Printing Revolution

3D printing always has been intriguing. More recently, it has become truly useful. And in the near future, it will become increasingly controversial.

There are videos on YouTube documenting entire homes that are being printed in as little as 8 hours, priced as low as $4,000. So while there is a lot of buzz about AI eliminating jobs, 3D printing could add become another significant threat.

The big questions now revolve around just how far and how quickly this technology can be extended. At this point, there is no indication of where the limits are because no one has even approached them. The technology is becoming more refined by the day.

While printed electronics already are widely used, much of this work has been rather rudimentary. That’s beginning to change. Even though it’s unlikely that we’ll see a 3nm gate-all-around FET being printed on a 3D printer, it’s probably not out of the question that a PCB, the connecting wires, and the surrounding bells and whistles can be custom-built or chosen from a menu of options.

What’s intriguing here is that printing is beginning to break down barriers between form and function, and as that happens this technology is reaching into a variety of new markets where the possibilities are nearly endless. There was a hint of this at last week’s Maker Faire Bay Area 2018. Rather than just creating simple forms and replacement parts, designs are becoming more much more complex, and in some cases more useful. And along with that, 3D printer prices are dropping to the point where basic models are cheaper than a smart phone. Even the most advanced models cost a fraction of what they did five years ago.

Fig. 1: Printed art at Maker Faire Bay Area 2018. Photo: Linda Christensen/Semiconductor Engineering

The real workhorse of this technology is the software, which can run on a standard PC or workstation. These are the same kinds of engineering tools used to develop semiconductors. But rather than just creating components, entire systems will be printable. If this technology becomes sophisticated enough, startups can’t begin putting together much more complex and interesting technology with a raft of customizable forms. That could take design out of the hands of large systems companies and begin putting it into the hands of consumers and boutique startups.

There are examples of contact lenses with printed circuitry and unusual patterns. And clothing already is being custom-fit and designed with circuitry woven into the fabric.

Fig. 2: Printed contact lenses. Source: Smithsonian

What comes next is where this starts to become more controversial. New tools can create many new jobs for those capable of utilizing them, but they also become a way of replacing entire industries that have been built around individual pieces instead of customizable systems. And while it’s unlikely that all pieces will be replaced—at this point it’s still easier, faster and cheaper to buy a complex chip than to print one—enough pieces in the supply chain could be printed to make this technology much more threatening to a lot of people.

Combine that with AI, and suddenly this becomes a double whammy threat to multi-billion-dollar industries. The manufacturing world is changing rapidly, and 3D printing will play an increasingly important role in hurrying along that change. And while it may open the door for many new and interesting inventions, it also will close the door on entire segments of the economy that have thrived in isolation from other markets.