3D Printer
A 3D printer builds objects layer by layer from a digital model. This type of printer melts a thin plastic filament and pushes it through a heated nozzle, drawing each layer before moving upward to add the next one.
The process is called fused filament fabrication (FFF), or FDM. It turns a computer-designed object into a real, three-dimensional form.
Watch something being built from nothing but a spool of plastic at the Science Playground.
Additional Information
This building process is called additive manufacturing, the opposite of traditional “subtractive” methods like carving or machining.
The technology can produce shapes — hollow lattices, interlocking parts, complex curves — that would be difficult or impossible to make with traditional tools.
3D printing is now used to make everything from replacement machine parts to prosthetic limbs and even prototype human tissue.