Ok, we’ve heard of expensive media for 3D printers, paper, sugar and other wacky stuff going in “raw” and coming out as usable 3D objects. Today it’s pasta dough! The Fabaroni home-made 3D printer is capable of printing 3D objects with a moving head, much like other inexpensive 3D printers. In fact, it “loosely follows the Fab@Home design”. Why pasta? The team investigated eleven different common foods to see which one was most suitable. Results:
Cheese wiz: too soft, took too long to solidify
Chocolate: pretty good viscosity, melted at 90 deg C, took a while to solidify
Chocolate sauce: too saucy, didn’t solidify
Marshmellow fluff: too thick and too sticky
Vanilla frosting: too soft
Gummy bears: good viscosity, but takes a while to cool and is stringy
Gummy bears & Chocolate mix: mixture separates
Marzipan: too thick
Oiled marzipan: gross, and terrible consistency
Pasta dough: good consistency, hardens pretty quickly, flows well
Peanut butter: too runny, too oilyAnd the winner is…PASTA DOUGH for its good structure and speedy drying properties.
Approximate cost of materials: USD$1000, probably the least expensive 3D printer we’ve seen yet.
Via MIT.edu
Kewl! I always liked pasta with complex geometry.
although, i guess Orchetti isn't all that complex… must be the sauce š I'm promoting a less exotic fabber – although features of all the food fabs could be combined using this framework.
See: http://www.cubespawn.com
So, sweetened pasta with chocolate sauce, anyone? I guess there are still a few kinks to work out…