Latest By
Category:
Armor
Artificial
Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual
Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
"Science Fiction is speculative fiction in which the author takes as his first postulate the real world as we know it, including all established facts and natural laws."
- Robert Heinlein
 |
| Plastic Constructor (3D Printer) | ||
| A 3D printer - for spaceships. |
This is the earliest description of what we now call a 3D printer that I've ever seen.
| It makes drawings in the air following drawings it scans with photo-cells. But plastic comes out of the end of the drawing arm and hardens as it comes. This thing will start at one end of a ship or a house and build it complete to the other end, following drawings only. |
| From Things Pass By,
by Murray Leinster. Published by Thrilling Wonder Stories in 1945 Additional resources -
|
Here's a description of the machine in action:
This video shows a prototype device that is an earth-bound version of a plastic constructor. Contour Crafting (CC) is basically a "house printer;" when supplied with the proper instructions, it will "print out" a complete shell of a house. Technovelgy readers should be familiar with the work of Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis from a previous article (see Contour Crafting: 3D House Printer for additional details on how the technique actually works).
“The arm made clumsy but precise gestures, following the drawings off to one side. It had begun by putting a blob of magnetronic plastic on a stout upright… Then, for a while, it made gradually enlarging circles about that spot.”
(Robotic Contour Crafting Video )
Compare to the idea behind the cosmic express from The Cosmic Express (1930) by Jack Williamson, however, for an early version of 3D printing as part of a teleportation idea. Compare also to Deposition (3D Printing) from Assassin (1978) by James P. Hogan.
Thanks to Eric for submitting this item, with quotes!
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Things Pass By
More Ideas
and Technology by Murray Leinster
Tech news articles related to Things Pass By
Tech news articles related to works by Murray Leinster
Plastic Constructor (3D Printer)-related
news articles:
- Contour Crafting: 3D House Printer
- Sketch Furniture Ultra Rapid Prototyping
- Contour Crafting House Printer Nears Test
- 3D Printing Your Winter Reality
- World's First 3D Printed Villa
- CreoPop 3D Pen Draws In Midair
- Protopiper Lets You Sketch Full-Size Objects In Real Space
- XYZprinting 3D Pen Used, Reviewed By Terrible Artist
- 3D Cocooner From Festo Spins Web In Mid-Air
- 3D Printed Dubai Building Is World's Largest
| As Big As A Biltong - World's Largest 3D Printer |
| The Dawn Of Orbiting Manufacturing In 2020? |
| Orbital Manufacturer 'Made in Space' Gets $73 Million NASA Contract |
| CNSILK Robotic Spider Builder |
Want to Contribute an
Item?
It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a
quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add
it here.
| <Previous | Next> |
|
|
|
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
|
'Immediately an enormous apparatus fell on to her out of the ceiling...'
'... filling their great tanks with the finely divided dust which the ionic rockets would spit out in electrified jets.'
'In the napcap a client became an instant yoga master...'
'Employees above a certain level were implanted with advanced microprocessors...'
'Jeremiah is a sports-model to begin with and that kind is awfully hot-tempered.'
'If anything can glue the asteroids back into the planet they once were, magnology will do it.'
A cooling unit had to be strapped to every commuter's back, by law.
'...lined with durite, that strange close-packed laboratory product.'
'He was still roaring when the knife missile flicked past him...'
