An anonymous reader writes: MIT's Mediated Matter Group has published a paper and a video about their new technique for 3D printing with glass. The top part of their printer is a kiln that heats the glass to temperatures of approximately 1900 degrees Fahrenheit, causing it to melt. The molten glass is then passed through an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle, which moves just like an extruder on normal 3D printers. "The frame of the printer is constructed out of 80/20 aluminum stock and square steel tube. They used three independent stepper motors and a lead screw gantry system and drivers which were controlled via an Arduino and a RAMPS 1.4 Arduino shield." The device's makers say, "The tunability enabled by geometrical and optical variation driven by form, transparency and color variation can drive; limit or control light transmission, reflection and refraction, and therefore carries significant implications for all things glass."
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