A Novel Way to Speed Up 3-D Printing, Using Bio-Inspired Architecture

Inexpensive 3-D printing has changed how engineers and designers work, but creatives always find ways to complain. Common gripes include low resolution, expensive consumables–the 3-D printer equivalent to ink cartridges can cost up to $150 per liter–and painfully slow print times.

Formlabs already improved resolution by using lasers to print high-fidelity models. Today, the company is announcing a software update that will allow its printers to produce parts using 60 percent less material, and do so at a faster rate with improved print quality.

It does this by making leaner, yet stronger, scaffolds.

By Joseph Flaherty

Full Story: http://www.wired.com/2015/01/formlabs-smartsupports/