The world's smallest 3D printer
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0:01 - 0:04Hello everybody,
thanks for having me today. -
0:04 - 0:06I'm a little bit injured,
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0:06 - 0:09but it takes more than a car
to stop me from talking to you. -
0:09 - 0:12(Laughter)
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0:12 - 0:15(Applause)
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0:15 - 0:16Maybe a tank?
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0:19 - 0:22So today, I want to talk
about the microprinter, -
0:22 - 0:25about my work, how everything started,
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0:25 - 0:31what was my motivation to build
the smallest 3-D printer in the world. -
0:31 - 0:34Let's start with my daily business.
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0:34 - 0:38So, my normal working field is called
two-photon polymerization. -
0:39 - 0:42It sounds very nerdy, it is very nerdy.
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0:42 - 0:44(Laughter)
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0:44 - 0:48What do you need for making this stuff?
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0:48 - 0:50You need a complex laser system,
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0:50 - 0:52a so-called femtosecond laser system,
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0:52 - 0:58which you focus onto a very tiny spot --
very, very, very tiny -- -
0:58 - 1:04and this is a very expensive,
not very durable laser system. (Laughs) -
1:04 - 1:08And on the other hand, you need
a very complex positioning system. -
1:08 - 1:12We call it "Agathe,"
because it's very heavy, -
1:12 - 1:14and we thought Agathe was a nice name.
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1:14 - 1:16(Laughter)
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1:17 - 1:20And, well, you need this system
to move the laser through, -
1:20 - 1:24for example, at the very accurate
level, about 200 nanometers, -
1:24 - 1:25so very accurate.
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1:25 - 1:28And, well, what can you do with that?
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1:28 - 1:31You can do things
that you cannot see with your eyes. -
1:31 - 1:34So you can print out whatever you want,
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1:34 - 1:38you can print out a tower bridge,
you can print out Agathe's husband ... -
1:38 - 1:40(Laughter)
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1:41 - 1:47OK, but, what makes it so mind-blowing?
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1:47 - 1:54You maybe notice this scale bar,
and it's 100 microns for the tower bridge -
1:54 - 1:56and 20 microns for the fat man.
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1:56 - 2:01For comparison, the diameter
of a human hair is around 50 microns. -
2:01 - 2:06So these objects are like
a dust particle or even smaller, -
2:06 - 2:09so you can hardly see them.
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2:10 - 2:14What you can also do
and what we are also working on -
2:14 - 2:18is improving the system,
improving the resins, -
2:18 - 2:24the material we use for catching
a worm or something else. -
2:24 - 2:29Inside the resin, we move the laser
through the resin, it gets polymerized, -
2:29 - 2:32and we catch a living animal,
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2:32 - 2:33here, a special worm.
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2:33 - 2:37What we're trying to do,
or what the next step would be, -
2:37 - 2:44is to make biocompatible polymers
and maybe to write some things -
2:44 - 2:47inside your body
or inside the body of a worm, -
2:47 - 2:52or to attach cells
to our structures, and so on. -
2:52 - 2:55But, OK, that's my normal working field.
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2:55 - 3:00Today I want to tell the story
behind the microprinter. -
3:00 - 3:01What was my motivation?
-
3:01 - 3:06Well, everything started
on Monday morning, 6:30. -
3:06 - 3:09OK, that's a lie. Maybe it was 10 o'clock.
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3:09 - 3:10(Laughter)
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3:10 - 3:15I went to my laser lab, which is located
near Karlsplatz, in Freihaus, -
3:15 - 3:18at the Vienna University of Technology.
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3:18 - 3:22I went in, and I saw
that this laser system was broken, -
3:22 - 3:23and I tried to fix it.
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3:23 - 3:27It took me half a day, several hours.
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3:27 - 3:31Then I noticed, OK, there is a major
issue with the pump source. -
3:31 - 3:34I cannot fix that myself; we have to call
the service technician. -
3:34 - 3:38And from that point on,
I noticed I had time to think. -
3:38 - 3:42So I thought, "What to do now?
Maybe start to write my PhD thesis." -
3:42 - 3:44(Laughter)
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3:44 - 3:47No, no, not a good idea at all.
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3:47 - 3:52So I started thinking, maybe
write a scientific paper. -
3:52 - 3:53Not a good idea at all.
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3:53 - 3:57And then, on Saturday,
after a week of thinking, -
3:57 - 3:58I came up with the idea
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3:59 - 4:02to build the smallest
3-D microprinter in the world. -
4:02 - 4:03(Laughter)
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4:03 - 4:05Or, the smallest 3-D printer in the world.
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4:05 - 4:09(Applause)
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4:10 - 4:14So I called my professor
and told him about it. -
4:14 - 4:17"Hey, let's build the thing!
I have time. Is it OK?" -
4:17 - 4:18"Go ahead, build it."
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4:18 - 4:22And so I went to the university,
and from that point on, -
4:22 - 4:25I just put everything out of my brain
inside the computer -
4:25 - 4:29to make this CAD construction
of the whole thing. -
4:29 - 4:34And after a few months,
we had the first test run with the system. -
4:34 - 4:38It worked brilliantly
from the first test on, -
4:38 - 4:44and it had the same resolution
as systems which cost 60,000 euros, -
4:44 - 4:48and we only spent 1,500 euros
for the system, -
4:48 - 4:52not including my salary,
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4:52 - 4:54but that wouldn't add so much on its own.
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4:54 - 4:56(Laughter)
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4:56 - 4:58OK, how does this work?
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4:58 - 4:59I brought you a video
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4:59 - 5:04where you can see how you can put
in your three-dimensional file. -
5:04 - 5:09This video was produced
by a friend of mine, Junior Veloso. -
5:09 - 5:13And you can see, you have
a set stage which moves up. -
5:13 - 5:15And under the set stage,
there is a liquid, -
5:16 - 5:19which gets solidified by the light.
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5:19 - 5:24And slice by slice, you create the model,
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5:24 - 5:30so you really pull it out of the liquid.
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5:30 - 5:34And it just depends
on how big your model is. -
5:34 - 5:38Maybe you have 100 slices,
1,000 or 10,000 slices. -
5:38 - 5:40So that's how it works.
-
5:40 - 5:44Of course, this is a much bigger machine
than the microprinter, -
5:44 - 5:46but it uses more or less
the same principles, -
5:46 - 5:48so that's what I want to show you.
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5:48 - 5:52At the end, this head, this alien head,
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5:52 - 5:54is attached to the building platform,
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5:54 - 6:00and when the process is done,
you just simply have to break the head -
6:00 - 6:03from the support structure you need,
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6:03 - 6:05and then everything is ready.
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6:06 - 6:07So.
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6:09 - 6:12OK, but what does
the microprinter look like? -
6:12 - 6:15Well, maybe some of you
have already seen this picture. -
6:15 - 6:21I also brought it to you in person,
so I want to kindly introduce you -
6:21 - 6:24to the 3-D microprinter,
which looks like this. -
6:24 - 6:28So it's very small,
it's really a desktop version. -
6:28 - 6:30It's a really affordable system.
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6:30 - 6:34And we are really proud of it,
actually, and -- -
6:34 - 6:36(Laughter)
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6:37 - 6:43And you have this tiny little system;
there are bigger ones. -
6:43 - 6:45What can you do
with a cheap, affordable system? -
6:45 - 6:50For example, you all know
these hearing aids? -
6:50 - 6:54They have to be produced
individually for each person, -
6:55 - 6:56so this is a perfect example
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6:56 - 7:01for using this technology
to create the shell for a hearing aid. -
7:02 - 7:05Normally, you go to the store,
they scan your ear, -
7:05 - 7:09they send the data
to Germany via email, and -- -
7:09 - 7:11(Laughter)
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7:11 - 7:13and then they print it out with a --
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7:13 - 7:14(Applause)
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7:14 - 7:15Thank you.
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7:15 - 7:19(Applause)
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7:21 - 7:23Then they print it out with a big machine,
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7:23 - 7:27and then, when it's ready
to send back to Vienna -
7:27 - 7:28or wherever you are --
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7:29 - 7:30via post --
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7:31 - 7:33then they put in the electronics.
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7:33 - 7:35When you have a microprinter
in your store, -
7:35 - 7:38you can go to the store,
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7:38 - 7:39they scan your ear,
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7:39 - 7:42they just press "Print,"
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7:42 - 7:45the 3-D model gets sliced,
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7:45 - 7:47and you can go for a coffee,
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7:47 - 7:50you can go to the university,
whatever you want, -
7:50 - 7:56and instead of five days, you can have
your ear shell or your hearing aid -
7:56 - 7:59in just one day.
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7:59 - 8:03And that is an example
of how these tiny little machines -
8:03 - 8:08or other cheap 3-D printers
could change our everyday lives. -
8:09 - 8:10So thank you very much,
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8:10 - 8:14and start printing whatever
you want, whatever you need. -
8:14 - 8:16(Applause)
- Title:
- The world's smallest 3D printer
- Speaker:
- Klaus Stadlmann
- Description:
-
What could you do with the world's smallest 3D printer? Klaus Stadlmann demos his tiny, affordable printer that could someday make customized hearing aids -- or sculptures smaller than a human hair.
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 08:28
![]() |
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for The world's smallest 3D printer | |
![]() |
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for The world's smallest 3D printer | |
![]() |
Brian Greene accepted English subtitles for The world's smallest 3D printer | |
![]() |
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for The world's smallest 3D printer | |
![]() |
Camille Martínez edited English subtitles for The world's smallest 3D printer |