In light of the recent recession, many industries took a large hit from the public. One of the largest incidents was in 2008 when the automobile industry asked the US government for a $34 billion bailout to avoid bankruptcy.

Now the big three of Ford, GM, and Chrysler need to get their act together as they have to become profitable again. To aid in GM’s revenue, they plan for plenty of sales of their 2014 Chevrolet Malibu: a car that the previous model led to critics tearing it apart and which customers proved them right with a lack of sales.

Printing Change

The team at GM performed an overhaul of the vehicle to provide a roomier design and a car to better compete with other midsize sedans. In the past the changes of this magnitude in such a small window of 18 months would have been unthinkable, but with the help of 3D printing, GM successfully finished the car on time.

“When you need to get intricate, fully functional prototype parts quickly, nothing beats rapid prototyping,” said Todd Pawlik, chief engineer, Chevrolet mid- and full-size cars. With rapid prototyping the team avoids the countless man hours of shaping parts from clay and can “go from computer models to production-caliber parts” in a faster fashion.

Goodbye Cup Holders and Hello Smartphone Holders

The uses of the 3D printer for the Chevy Malibu helped update the floor console to weigh less, something all people try to do, and moved the car to this time with a smartphone holder for both the driver and passenger.

They also made a prototype of the car to test its aerodynamics without the need for an expensive production model. In order to make the car bigger without changing the size, the front seat panels received a modified design, resulting in an inch and a quarter of extra leg room in the back.

You might have argued that government should have just let these three crumble to nothing, but at least they made major improvements and learned that they need to constantly focus on the product they sell.

Although smart phones and tablets have taken many users away from the traditional computer, people still use the once got-to-have technology. As we all know, the mouse and keyboard come with the now old-fashioned desktop.

The keyboard has seen some improvements and so has the mouse, the issue though is that anyone can use a keyboard while some mice do not fit certain hands. 3D printing can solve the problem with its famous ability to create a custom size.

That would create millions of mice so Pyott Design LLC chose not to follow this path and instead opted to print a cover that can adjust in seconds to the desired size.

A 3D Printed Mouse

Charlie Pyott, from Pyott Design, can be named the inventor of the Statial. The Statial covers up an existing mouse, a Logitech M100, and can be unlocked at the center to expand or collapse five different areas.

A real life transformer!

It took a single print to make the Statial and its interlocking hinge pieces. The price of the adjustable mouse costs 65 euros and currently can be bought on Shapeways. With the price tag, it comes towards the upper end of a normal mouse (not the gaming kind) but it provides a lot more to the buyer.

You can say you have a fully customized mouse and hand it to someone else that can say the same exact thing. Now that is a wonderful upgrade for us computer users.

As a person who has his own fair share of finger injuries, I completely understand the value of the finger splint. Fingers can take some time to heal and continuously using it can be excruciating painful and can increase the length of the injury. To help people Ian McHale designed a printable finger splint.

A Cost-Effective Medical Solution

McHale, a high school student at Steinert in New Jersey, had a project from a biology teacher: create a device that aided people for less than $10. He went beyond that 10 dollar mark and chose to create finger splints for less than 2 cents.

His idea came from studying at the Mini Medical School program. Dr. Richard Siderits, the teacher of the program and a pathologist at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Hamilton, showed the students his office where he placed a usable prototyping environment. The laboratory contains the necessarily tools, such as 3D modeling software, a 3D scanner, and a 3D printer, to create plastic models for research purposes.

McHale decided he wanted to demonstrate that the technology could help “save lives” around the world. This can be especially seen in developing countries where medical supplies are scarce and costly.

The type of injury determines the splint shape

He named his project the Field Splint and can print up to 30-40 splints in one batch. Each one can be scaled individually across any axis and is made with ABS plastic. The ability to customize provides an extreme benefit as doctors can provide the best fit for the patients.

As no surprise to many, McHale’s design won first place in his division at the Mercer Science and Engineering Fair. To spread the love he uploaded the design on Thingiverse and hopefully more fingers can get well soon.

3D printing inspired many people to build their own robotic creations at home. The ability to design and create the parts quickly and efficiently helped build robotic wings, a problem for engineers until the 3D printer came.

The Bird Comes to Life

Several students and professors came together at the University of Maryland to make a mechanical bird. The group took eight years to make the mechanical contraption dubbed the Robo Raven.

Hard to tell the difference

To enable the bird to flap the wings independently of each other, they needed to use two motors which then required a bigger battery. The extra weight prevented the bird from weight.

The group needed to remove some of the weight and the only way to do that was to lighten the parts. This is what makes the 3D printer so versatile. With simple computer designs, you can easily change the specifications of certain areas and reprint it.

The new polymer parts helped Robo Raven lose the necessary pounds. If only it was that easy for people as well. The team also programmed the wings to perform at their optimum level depending on the conditions like any flying bird would. When trying to make a fake bird fly like a real one you need to balance the flaps with the right positions.

With the experimentation and testing done by the team, Robo Raven can perform “new in-flight aerobatics—like diving and rolling—that would have not been possible before, and brings us a big step closer to faithfully reproducing the way real birds fly” Satyandra K. Gupta, professor of mechanical engineering at U of M.

3D printing provides the changes needed to make creative thoughts real.

With smart phones becoming more and more popular, many technology companies have strived to make the next big thing. One idea is to make a smart watch that could do everything a phone does and still tell time. Some of the main competitors include Apple, Samsung, and Google.

Google has already taken the tech and placed it into glasses but so far there is no sight of a smart watch. To solve the problem and beat the giants at their own race, Brooklyn designer Dominic Prescod used a 3D printer to build one.

iPod Nano in Watch Form

Prescod didn’t really make the device but instead created a band that could hold the 6th Gen iPod Nano made by Apple. The smart watch band, the VIR or the 6th Relic, can be found on Indiegogo.

It looks like it’s really attached

Like many functional, affordable watches, the VIR uses the design of individual links attached together. That way you can adjust it to the way you want.  Prescod wanted the users to place a Nano easily into the band and carry on with their music, video, Nike+ trainer, and other functionalities with no problem. It appears he has done that by making sure to include functional buttons and a simplistic, modern look.

Right now the band currently costs $25 and can come in 5 colors: red, blue, yellow, black, and white. You should be able to choose the one that best matches your player.

In time, if sales go well, Prescod will purchase a higher quality 3D printer that should enable him to build better versions of the band. Maybe Apple can recruit him for work on their watch.