Meet the Maker: 3D printing with … chocolate!
We’re really excited to have the world’s first Chocolate Selective Laser Sintering 3D printer at the Toronto Mini Maker Faire in September!
Brian Luptak, Benjamin Cousins, Andy Vopni and Nima Majidifar, students of the Mechatronics Engineering program at the University of Waterloo, had 8 months to design and build a unique prototype to show off their engineering skills and decided to build a 3D printer.
Watch the guys talk about their printer in this BNN interview:
Their Selective Laser Sintering printer can use common thermo-plastic powders to print 3D objects but it can also use chocolate! The printer lays down layers of powder that is then heated using a laser (that’s the sintering part) to melt the chocolate into a 3D object. Learn more about the printer.
The 3D chocolate chain in the image below is an example of what this machine can create that isn’t possible with other methods such as injection moulding, which, like it sounds, produces parts by injecting material into moulds.
Maybe we’re closer to Star Trek’s food replicator than we think!
Come see the 3D Chocolate printer at the Toronto Mini Maker Faire on September 21st and 22nd.