A 3D printer to turn waste plastic into composting toilets, rainwater harvesting systems
November 27, 2012
3-D printers work like inkjet printers but create 3-dimensional objects, one layer at a time. This smaller machine printed a likeness of undergraduate Brandon Bowman, whose body was scanned using a Kinect. (Credit: Alison Deng, UW Photography)
A University of Washington team claimed a $100,000 prize in the first 3D4D Challenge, an international contest to use 3-D printing for social benefit in the developing world.
The three undergraduates won to form a company that will work with partners in Oaxaca, Mexico.
Matthew Rogge, a mechanical engineering grad student, proposed to use giant 3-D printers to create composting latrines that are lightweight and use less energy to manufacture than concrete toilets.
The machine would also make rainwater catchment components that are specifically designed to fit to rain barrels, unlike current systems where joining available plumbing parts cause leaks and frequent failures.
Judges also were impressed by research the students conducted to prove their concept. In July the students printed a boat from more than 250 milk jugs and then entered it in a Seattle race. That proved they could create objects from recycled plastic and was a test run for their custom-built giant printer, also built from salvaged parts.
“With small-scale printers, the extruders can clog easily,” said Brandon Bowman, who also attended the competition. The huge printer that the students built, named “Big Red,” can not only create larger objects, but it also allows them to print with materials that are not perfectly clean.
Comments (3)
by salec
This is a great thing. Up to this, 3D printers were potential heavy polluters – just like “paperless office” creates more paper waste then classic one did. Now here is a machine to recycle your unsuccessful prototypes and test runs, as well as provide you a seemingly never-depleting source of raw material – your own trash! All you need to do is print a filament for your little 3D printer, using your big 3D printer.
by Dan Robinson
Seems like there are three good ideas here, with many other options for each and nothing very new about any of them. Reuse plastics. Find more uses for 3D printers. Build compost toilets. More important, how many other materials can 3D printers use? I’m waiting for when they can build an organism out of stem cell “pixles”.
by Bri
I’m curious as to more specific details of the printers design and functionality. Things such as, did the machine use raw stock or was it prepared ( ground up) first? How was the material transported to the print head? What types of plastic can it utilize? What size objects can be manufactured? How long to print? What is the energy consumption? What parts and where they obtained them? Did they use custom code, if not what system and it’s availability? What resolution and finished surface? There are many products that a system like that could make for us first world people. Waste plastic is everywhere.