HP实验室was founded 50 years ago this week, I sat down with the CTO of the ‘original Silicon Valley start-up’ to find out about plans for the next half century.
Throughout this year, analysts have cited HP’s forthcoming entrance into the 3D printing market as a reason why companies may have deferred investment. In development for 10 years and lifting the veil of stealth in 2014 (with a few earlier hints) HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) 3D printing solution will be available to a wider audience next month.
虽然已经在使用by a select few partners, including BMW and Nike, when MJF fully launch competition across the industry is set to heat up. Regarding the timing of HP Labs’ market entry Shane Wall says, “We didn’t come in late, what we said is when we entered this market we wanted to do something that was absolutely disruptive。”
3D Printing: A数字炉
在他的首席技术官的角色,巴蒂尔细胞膜l has spoken before about how 3D printing and other technologies such as immersive computing are transformative or disruptive technologies driving the next industrial revolution. HP refer to the increasing connection between the physical and digital world as ‘blended reality,’ and the company have a knack for interesting turns of phrase, such as describing MJF as a ‘digital furnace’ in one recent promo video.
Wall tells me, “它不是足够好来更好的10%, 10% faster. We wanted to come in and do something significant。”To this end MJF, “解决今天印刷中最大的4个问题。”These issues are speed, quality, cost and materials. The CTO describes how HP Labs address each of these areas,
First, Multi Jet Fusion is at least 10 times, and in most instances 100 times, faster than any technology out there today. The second is cost, [MJF] does it at 50% of the part cost of existing capabilities that are out there today. Third, it does it at a quality level not attainable, that quality level is achieved by operating at the voxel, a 3D pixel essentially, and then being able to change all aspects of that [voxel] to create parts that you could have never created before. The fourth reason is that it’s open. It’s an open system. Other people can put materials in, other people can bring in software and applications and so you end up with a complete ecosystem that you’ve created.
On this final point, the question of an open system, it is important to clarify. HP Labs have an “现有有关哪些材料可以使用的规格集沃尔说。这意味着物质开发人员必须经历“资格过程，以便材料可以与机器本身相对应。”The rationale for this is one of safety according to Wall; think about who is more likely to be named on any future lawsuit brought about by issues with materials. Is it the company with a multi-billion market cap, or the small feedstock start-up? “这是我们的！”says Wall.
Putting the claims to the test
The other claims regarding speed and quality will be put to the test soon enough. From a practical perspective the innovations of HP appear able to make good on their promises. Ink jetting is well suited for scaleability and Wall explains the key innovations in the Multi Jet Fusion process. “There are actually 3 pieces to it,” he says. Firstly MJF “在粉末床上运行，从该角度来看，可能与SLS有些相似。”相似性以HP 3D打印机可以结束，“以平行方式在粉末床上的火添加剂下降。”The technique uses“一个打印杆，可以在粉末床上每秒发射3.2亿滴，我们可以在一次通行证中做到这一点。”
这意味着整个层是在一个快速运动中放置的。打印头的第二次通过，或在这种情况下栏介绍了融合代理。“The innovation is really operating in a parallel level, doing it with an additive on top and then a fusing agent沃尔说。这意味着速度大于serial process of a laser tracking a bed of material” are possible.
Post-processing 3D printed parts can be a chore, as anyone familiar with the industry will tell you. Several companies are tackling this issue in novel ways, including HP Labs. “We automated a lot of the backend about how you do post-processing,” says Wall.
There are 2 pieces to it. One of them is, you have to optimize the bed that you use. In other words, you have a bed and you want to be able to pack the parts in there as densely as possible. We have algorithms around software by which we do that. Once it’s built you essentially have the parts in a cake, and so that comes out into an automated machine that is a post-processing machine. It essentially de-cakes the parts, it recycles all the unused material and pulls it back in to be used later and it cleans the surface of the parts.
Moving forward to Metals
In terms of materials, the first MJF will launch, as announced, with a single color. The next iteration in the “following year, will bring in a few features. The most prominent we speak about is probably color沃尔说。
While the “initial product will focus on plastics and polymers” which“if you look at the market today that is the bulk of the market,” HP are investigating “4种不同的方法” to expand intothe fastest growing segment，金属。目前正在研究，”taking our core technology and figuring out how we can use it in the metal space沃尔说。
在GE收购上，出价墙说：“it creates a competitor for us and that’s fine. I think it helps advance the state of the art, but it really validates the market.” I ask whether he shares the concerns of some in the industry thatGE may seek to close off the 3D printing technology acquired in the takeoverand reserve it to grant a competitive edge to themselves and their partners. “这很难说，他们将要做什么以及他们的确切策略是什么，”他回答。
Conversely, HP has worked out their strategic vision in no uncertain terms. “我们在HP Labs看世界的方式可能与某些人有所不同” Wall tells me. This involves looking, “有意未来30年。”
我们不会尝试查看我们拥有的技术，以及我们如何推进该技术以及它可以去哪里。我们尝试做的是退后一步，看看社会的去向。当您这样做时，这很有趣，因为您开始查看城市化之类的事物以及当您拥有高度茂密的城市时会发生什么。您将货物进出的能力受到限制；您管理能量的能力将受到限制。
3D印刷行业的进一步合并和实现
In the mega-cities of the future, “随着全球化，全球影响力的扩展以及期望事物成为瞬时的期望“惠普实验室，”extract the problems that need to be solved。”3D printing for the company is a solution to these problems and will play a key role for the, “fundamentally different way in which we make, in which we design and build and manage our products。”
After this week’s birthday celebrations are finished, HP Labs begin the next stage of their journey into “digital manufacturing.” A favorable market reaction may trigger the devaluation of rival 3D printing stocks as customers begin to order machines from HP rather than established 3D printing companies. Interestingly this may have benefits for HP Labs beyond the immediate additional income.
With rivals trading at lower valuations any possible takeover bid to acquire metal 3D printing IP may come at a lower price. This could accelerate HP’s entrance into the metal space, or bring further consolidation from another company.
毫无疑问，尚未完全播放其3D印刷手的主要跨国印刷公司将在接下来的几个月中与3DPI保持密切关注。
迈克尔·皮奇（Michael Petch）的所有图像
