MIT Food Printer

I did a quick search but didn't see this posted anywhere. This reminds me of SR in so many ways.

indeed, its the autocook mentioned in the description of the middle lifestyle.

3D printer, food style (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

now if only one can make a 3D printer that takes cubes of metal, wood and plastic at one end, and spit out AK's the other (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smokin.gif)

The dealybobs on top look like a unit of ominous red-eyed robots marching in rank and file...

wow that is shadowrunnish. I imagine it would be the taste analog to the structural integrety of 3d printers. For those who dont know 3d printers are nice for fast model prototyping but are not designed for and really suck at making an end product that will last and probably never will. but for a medium lifestyle in a dystopian world, or I guess computer science college students it is a tasty and affordable way to eat. eww.

Awesome. I'd buy one.

what exactly makes you say that?

here are a few big reasons. I'd rather not go too far off topic and turn this into a manufacturing discussion.

1. current ones work by useing plasitcs and basically harden them one layer at a time.

2. metals, cant just spray it on with a deposition technique and expect it to have the right properties there is a whole science of how to do that: metalurgy. It gets complicated sometimes.

Don't tell me there is another manufacturing engineer on here?
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As for if it could work, not with the materials we have today. Waiting for diamond processing chips to come out (3-5 more years should do it.)

not specialised in it. but I certainly work in engineering and build alot of stuff. and if I could have gotten a job in the right area I would have gone to grad school for something related to metalurgy and material science even though statistical mechanics isnt my favorite subject.

I've seen chocolate 3d printers before, instructables.com has plans for making one out of legos.
I'm glad they're someone's working on a general food one. This will be a huge boon for people with certain allergies or dietary restrictions, and a complete lack of cooking skills. I've got some friends who would benefit greatly from this.

I personally would have no use for this. One of the benefits of marrying a professional chef. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

LINK

Very neat. Too bad most of my lego RC stuff is missing or broken.

What about the use of metal powder deposition followed by the use of a laser?
http://www.autofieldguide.com/articles/129903.html

only time will tell if that can ever get beyond rapid prototyping. I still dont think it will though.

I'm certain that one day soon we will atleast have bacon printers. Ones even vegetarians and/or jewish people can enjoy.

Why?
http://www.baconsalt.com/
Oh so tasty bacon, no actual pork. This stuff makes even pizza hutt pasta edible.

Take their recipe, mix it with soy, and extrude it through a microwave beam to bring it to the proper consistency. It could be like slurpee machines, dispensing long ribbons of bacon directly onto sammiches or other foods at the pull of a lever.


Excuse me, I need to go find a mechanical engineer I can exploit..., err, partner with for this.

Is this real or is it something from The Big Idea...

Baconsalt is real. I've tried the applewood and maple so far, so damn tastey...
http://store.baconsalt.com/ If you want to try some.


The extruder, not so much.








Yet...

As someone who lives alone, I think this would be awesome. I'm a good cook, but it is alot of work to cook for one person. Even my mom who could likely open a restaurant or bakery if she wanted dislikes cooking for only one or two people.

Especially given the micro kitchen I have with about 2 feet of count space and two tiny burners.

so am I wierd for cooking a meal in a pan and using the pan as the plate? ex steak and broccoli tonight.

I've seen alot of people do that. I do it very rarely, but the biggest reason I don't do it more is that I don't want to burn myself on the pan by mistake while I'm eating.

thin pans that cool off quickly help alot there.

See, I have the giant thick ones that I can put water in and have boil off half the water before they cool off. I like them because I can put water in them when they're hot without worrying about warping the metal.

that is THICK. I wonder if I've warped mine...

Yeah, they are all at least a good cm thick all the way around. Maybe more, I haven't really bothered to measure them.

On the bonus side, they act as amazingly effective weapons. I'm sure someones bones would break long before my fry pans got so much as a dent in them.

Too much Tom & Jerry as a kid?

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Well, it was likely the show I watched the most, but basically those are exactly the kind of frying pans I have. Big, black, hard, painful.

I haven't actually had a chance to test how durable they are in combat though (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)