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- Here's a pretty amazing
technology, 3D printing.

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3D printing is when various
materials, often plastic,

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are joined together to build
a three dimensional object.

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It's done by designing
the object on the computer

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with CAD software and ultimately

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exporting the appropriate
files to the 3D printer.

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The technology is often
used to create prototypes

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of products to be later
manufactured in bulk.

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However, it can be used to actually

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create commercial product as well.

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And, of course, there's a
big market for the home user.

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I've seen people make
sunglasses, chess sets, toys,

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you name it.

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Now this is more of a professional device.

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And here we see a prototype
of an engine it looks like.

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So you have one example there.

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3D printing can be accomplished
by implementing one

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of a few processes namely
fused deposition modeling,

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or FDM.

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Also laser centering.

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Now FDM is very common.

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That's an additive process where materials

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are fed into an extruder,

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they're super heated,

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and then they're applied on top

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of a substrate or build plate.

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And it's done layer by layer

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ultimately creating the 3D
shapes, which harden immediately.

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Laser centering's a little different,

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that uses a laser that compacts a piece

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of material such as nylon
using heat and/or pressure

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and binds the material
to create the structure.

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But FDM, very common in the industry.

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3D printing is also known
as additive manufacturing

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and that name encompasses
a lot of technology.

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Now you might say, "Hey, this device

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it's not really a printer,
it's more of a modeler"

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and effectively it is

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but you probably won't
see that name, "modeler"

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or "modeling" used too often

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because of the confusion it could cause

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with actual software based 3D modeling

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when you're dealing with graphics.

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This device builds, this
device manufacturers,

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but the name 3D printing has
stuck and it's commonly used.

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Now what's important for the A+ exams?

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The same as always,

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installing, maintaining,
troubleshooting, and so on.

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You know the drill.

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Many 3D printers can connect
via USB, Wi-Fi, and Ethernet.

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These printers are controlled

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by a computer running an operating system,

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such as Windows 7 and higher

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or macOS 10.9 and higher.

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The computer itself should
meet the minimum requirements

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or the recommended requirements

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for the various design software

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like the computer aided design software,

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the CAD software,

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and the slicing software
if you're using it.

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Now, some manufacturers

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of 3D printers make their own software

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while others use third-party programs.

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So be ready to install the
different programs necessary

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and to even work with design templates

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many of which are freely
available on the internet.

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When first installing a 3D printer

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and periodically afterward,

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be sure to update the
firmware for the device.

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Next, periodically make sure
the build plate is level

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and on cheaper devices,
on home use devices,

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you could actually do this
with a physical level, a tool,

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but on devices like this

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you would do it from the LCD panel.

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So make sure that build plate is level,

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otherwise your object might
not come out correctly.

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Then, you want to lubricate, tighten,

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and realign the rods and
the pulleys periodically.

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And of course calibrate the
device, like other printers,

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but from a 3D perspective.

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More expensive 3D printers

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will have automatic
calibration configured.

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That's becoming more common

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with the less expensive ones, too.

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Finally, clean the device,

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including the extruder's drive gear.

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So we have the extruder here

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and that's what actually
puts out the filament

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to build the prototype

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or whatever you want to build here.

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And the gears are inside here,

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so you're gonna have to clean
those out once in a while.

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You also wanna clean up the build plate,

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make sure that's clean of any residue

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and so on, clean out the device.

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Now users should clean up after themselves

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when completing a 3D print job,

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but you and I know that this
does not happen that often,

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that's a utopia, a perfect
world that we don't live in,

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especially given the
fast pace of engineering

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and prototyping work.

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So you wanna be ready to
clean up any excess stuff

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be ready to clean any

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of that excess filament from the device.

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Let's take a look at a
few more 3D printers.

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Okay, here we have another
MakerBot 3D printer

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and MakerBot's big in the industry,

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and so this is another one here.

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You can look right in to
see what's being built.

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Now this is more of an
expensive, professional printer.

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And so with this type of thing,

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what we're interested
in is the tech specs.

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That's what we want for this.

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So if we go to the tech specs here,

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we'll see the size and
shape, the dimensions,

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the printing technology used,
FDM, we could do two color,

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we have two print heads
here, the resolution,

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the accuracy, product testing,

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the actual hardware, what
it's made of, the LCD,

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extruder hardware in case we
ever need to do a replacement,

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color availability,

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and, here's a good one, operation.

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What temperatures

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and humidity should you be
operating the device at?

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And you'll see here that this
has automatic calibration

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for the device and the more
expensive ones will have that.

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Safety and compliance, software,

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MakerBot's proprietary,
they use their own software.

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Other devices will use other software

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and the file types that you can use:

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MakerBot, very common, STL, very common.

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Operating systems supported,
electrical information,

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and the connectivity.

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And there's a whole technical document

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for the device, as well,
written by experts.

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So you wanna download
that and go through it

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if you're working with any 3D printers.

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Here's another one and
a bit more advanced,

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HP Jet Fusion, large device,
and this can do multicolor

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and you can do all kinds
of stuff with this.

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You open up the lid on the top

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and you can build some
pretty large prototypes.

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And again, multicolor, some of
these are just single color.

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Some are two, some are full color

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And so, another professional device.

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And here we have the
da Vinci, xyzprinting.

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And this is more of a
basic device for home use.

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Meant for doing one color at a time,

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quite often, just white or black.

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And I have seen people
make some pretty cool stuff

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with this, but more for the home use.

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So you're talking a couple
hundred dollars as opposed

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to several thousand dollars
for these other devices.

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So take a look out there at
the different 3D printers

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that are available for the
business and also for home use.

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Definitely understand, one,
how to connect these devices

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and also understand the basic maintenance

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for the devices, as well.