This will be especially helpful in the future when we’ve moved past the frequent prototyping and custom one-off stage to a time when high-performance parts and machines, like jet engines, will be routinely 3D printed to order. According to HP Labs, 3D identifiers could also help when developing new systems for the tracking of objects “on a massive scale.”
HP Labs Distinguished Technologist Stephen Pollard Bristol, UK-based researcher Stephen Pollard said, “To use a 3D printed part in a machine like an aero-engine, you need to be able to confidently identify and track that part after it has been printed from a known and trusted printer.” Counterfeiting is a major issue, particularly in critical applications like aerospace, where design defects could be disastrous. But Pollard, along with his colleagues in HP Labs’ Print Adjacencies and 3D Lab, have come up with a solution: a three-stage, cost-effective, automated identification and authentication system, where 3D printed objects do not need to be ready for authentication.
Read more > HP Labs Develops Three-Stage Identification and Authentication System for 3D Printed Objects
