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A step toward fully 3D-printed active electronics

(news.mit.edu)
183 points gmays | 3 comments | 21 Oct 24 01:17 UTC | HN request time: 0.407s | source
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LASR ◴[21 Oct 24 07:06 UTC] No.41901467[source]▶
I am a fan of 3D printing. And I think you can probably get some circuit traces 3D printed for some niche applications.

But active electronics? That's a huge stretch. But more importantly, the economics just doesn't make sense. Components already cost fractions of a cent. Small-run PCB prototyping is like <$25 for 5 boards or so.

"A step toward..."

Maybe. But why?

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1. dotnet00 ◴[21 Oct 24 15:05 UTC] No.41904975[source]▶
Being able to just print some simple electronics components would massively simplify iteration and distribution of DIY things, especially as auto-filament changer systems become more accessible. As one example, being able to print a transistor or two and some traces would allow for making projects which embed something like an ESP32 dev board much more compact without having to wait for weeks for custom PCBs to ship from China.

It's always weird to see people making arguments like this on a forum titled "Hacker News"

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2. shultays ◴[21 Oct 24 15:58 UTC] No.41905494[source]▶
I think it is valid to point of feasibility of something. For fast prototyping there are already breadboards or PCBs that you can just solder wires on, so it doesn't really help with tracing PCB lines. Printing transistors or other things that are good and compact enough to use, even for prototyping, seems to be indeed a stretch
3. xondono ◴[21 Oct 24 16:46 UTC] No.41905943[source]▶
> would massively simplify iteration

I seriously doubt it.

It’s far easier and more effective (and economical) to have a bunch of jelly bean components around in stock.

You’re going to have a hard time 3D printing anything that can be solderable (either the 3D printer needs to work at high temperatures for DIY, or you need exotic solder that melts at low temperatures).

If you have the need to fabricate quick PCBs for prototyping, you’ll be better served by a cheap CNC machine and some copper foil blanks.

The only real promise I see is that you might, in the very long future, be able to print custom multi-purpose devices, that integrate the characteristics of non critical electronics with mechanical elements, i.e. integrating NTCs on cases or fan supports,..