3D printer uses light from smartphone

A new 3D printer uses the light from any smartphone to cure resin onto a metal printbed. Since the light from smartphones is low-powered, printing from the device is relatively slow, but inventor Jung Ywam-Jeng, who is also a professor and dean of the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, said he is looking for ways to speed up the process. The printer works by putting a vat of resin above the phone, and as the light emitted from the phone cures each layer, the vat lifts up for the next layer. This particular resin that can be cured using visible light was developed by the team from Taiwan Tech.

This would not be the first 3D printer built for smartphones. As 3D Printing Industry points out, the OLO from Solido3D was supposed to launch on Kickstarter by the end of October and be the "first device capable of turning any smartphone into a 3D printer." Now, it looks like the Taiwan Tech printer is closer to making this kind of portable 3D printing a reality.

Until now, portable 3D printing has mostly taken the form of 3D printing pens, which are offered by many China manufacturers. This is far from the kind of technology offered by the team at Taiwan Tech, but it is available now. Global Sources has compiled a list of 3D printer pens with adjustable temperatures, which allow for different filaments. Unfortunately, they are not powered by smartphones. Not yet, anyway.

See a comparison table of selected 3D printer suppliers on GlobalSources.com