3D printing is often a hobbyist’s haven for churning out quirky desk toys or handy spare parts, but [It’s on my MIND] just dropped a project that demands attention: a 3D-printed BB gun that’s equal parts clever and surprising. Forget flimsy plastic shooters—this single-piece marvel, fresh off the printer, uses a four-bar linkage to transform a trigger pull into a mechanical masterpiece, proving there’s serious ingenuity in the DIY world.
3D printing’s always been stuck with a pesky size limit—your average printer’s cramped build area forces makers to slice big designs into awkward chunks, gluing them together like a clumsy puzzle. It’s a pain, and the results often scream compromise. But what if you could churn out massive creations in one shot without needing a warehouse-sized machine? Makers Ivan Miranda and Jón Schone spotted a treadmill—yep, that gym staple—and turned it into a mind-bending 3D printer that spits out giants, like a two-meter girder or even a full-blown kayak.
A University of Edinburgh crew just nailed a Blade Runner-worthy feat, 3D-printing soft robots that crawl right off the printer, no assembly needed, ready to scuttle around. These palm-sized, four-legged bots, driven by air pressure, are a big step for robotics, with potential to tackle everything from disaster zones to medical breakthroughs. Led by PhD student Maks Gepner, the project flips traditional robot manufacturing on its head with a clever, low-cost printing system that’s as accessible as it is groundbreaking.
Photo credit: Benjamin Hofer / Nova Fundaziun Origen
In Mulegns, Switzerland, a village of just 11 residents, Tor Alva, the world’s tallest 3D-printed tower, stands 98.4 feet tall (30 meters). Officially unveiled on Tuesday (May 20), this collaboration between ETH Zurich and the Origen was designed to host art, music, and theater.
At first, Wolf Ranch’s homes look like stylish, modern houses with a touch of Texas Hill Country charm. But a closer peek shows their big secret: they’re made by ICON’s Vulcan II, a huge 3D printer that builds them layer by layer using a special concrete mix called “Lavacrete.” The result is a collection of single-story homes ranging from 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, with three to four bedrooms and two to three bathrooms, priced between $450,000 and $600,000—competitive for the Austin metro area.
Berkeley Humanoid Lite is an open-source, budget-friendly humanoid robot created by UC Berkeley researchers to make robotics research easier for everyone. It’s a customizable, 3D-printed robot designed for researchers, teachers, and hobbyists. Unlike expensive, closed-source commercial robots (often over $100,000), it costs less than $5,000 by using common parts and desktop 3D printers.
This 3D-printed typewriter, made by an inventor named Toast, is a really interesting project, and not in the way you’d expect. Unlike regular typewriters, it skips the usual keyboard and ink ribbon. Instead, it uses a rotary wheel to pick letters, where you select a character and press a key straight down to stamp it onto paper using carbon paper for ink.
Hugging Face, a company known for its AI developer tools, released the SO-101, a programmable, 3D-printable robotic arm through its robotics group, LeRobot, working with partners like The Robot Studio, WowRobo, Seeed Studio, and PartaBot. Simply put, it’s a big move forward to make robotics accessible for everyone, starting at just $100.
