This was my second year in a row and I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have attended this year's 18th Annual Solid Freeform Fabrication Conference in Austin, TX. I find the subjects of Rapid Manufacturing (RM) and Solid Freeform Fabrication (SFF) not only fascinating but quite possibly the technologies that will forever change and advance the custom seating industry well beyond what we currently think possible or necessary.

Consider this slogan: "Any material, any form, anywhere." It declares absolute confidence in a technology that has been quietly evolving for the past thirty years but is just now gaining substantial foothold in a number of well healed industries such as: automotive, aircraft, aerospace, military sciences, biomedicine, dentistry and consumer products.

RM and SFF are just two examples of a number of emerging technologies that allow a person to produce a product or artistic structure without having to first create a mold. This simple concept is expected to have profound impact specifically in high-value low-volume industries such as adaptive technology and custom seating fabrication. The reduction in tooling brought about by RM and SFF will allow for on-site manufacturing of products, eliminating the need for central stock control and distribution, which in turn will improve lead times and decrease inventories. An additional advantage of these technologies will be a reduction of waste materials and toxic byproducts, allowing micro companies to meet strict environmental control regulations and thereby cut production costs even further.

In just a few short years highly evolved service delivery models will no longer be constrained by limited access to technical talent or availability of workshop facilities. Instead, they will be driven by the transfer and manipulation of electronic data, the assimilation of graphics specialists and most importantly, the development of highly integrated knowledge-based processing systems. Realizing such changes will dramatically affect the way human centric manufacturing industries operate or cause so much decentralization of expertise that the current support structure of these industries may cease to exist altogether. There may even come a time when each rehab engineer will divert so much into there own paths of conviction of what is do-able that our current understanding of the delivery model will seem grossly inept.

Since 1990 both RM an SFF have gently made their way into several prosthetic and orthotic research laboratories. Projects funded by government agencies and multi-national corporations are now undergoing well supervised clinical trials. Though much more strength and quality control research is still required it may not be long before these near complete service delivery models will undergo widespread field testing. The unique aspect of this rapid 3D technology is that at some future point current industry-dominating manufacturers may find it hard to curtail the proliferation of such products and service models by independent mobile operators. The decentralization of control will extend to the front lines in which subtle but necessary changes in product design will be thoroughly controlled by RTS/graphics specialists and direct client assessment interactions. That slogan: "Any material, any form, anywhere" will test our limits of imagination and tolerance for patience. By the way, this new client base will not be restricted to wheelchair dependent consumers but will include many consumers from the general population seeking comfort, convenience and intimately personalized products and services.

Imagine a point-of-sale world where there is no need to inventory finished products. Seating components such as hardware and cushions are customized and produced with the aid of a knowledge-based program and processing machine that requires no clinician, just the expertise of a human centric graphics specialist. In this future world the seating clinic is a cabinet sized 3D printer that can be transported to the consumer if necessary. What once took weeks will take days and what once required fabrication arenas and generous sized operating facilities will only require a desktop and closet space.

Need a custom bracket or mounting device? Select a drawing, tweak it to your requirements and print it. Need a custom cushion? Capture the profile in 3D, select posture and performance goals, define pressure and suspension gradients, then press "Enter". By next morning you're ready for a confirmation fitting and delivery. There will be no need for upholstery because the cushion will constitute a lattice structure with built-in temperature controls, imbedded fasteners and a moisture-proof, flexible coating; in your choice colors and textures. For safety and control, the underside will be imprinted with all relative warnings, instructions for care and Mfr/FDA tracking IDs. Eventually, seating systems will evolve to have shape altering features to compensate for dynamic weight shifts and other activities, and don't forget the wireless connections that will provide an endless stream of performance data. Sitting comfort and posture control will take on meanings well beyond what is deemed acceptable by today's standards.

So how far are we from this future world where end-use products are manufactured directly from digital data? The transformation will most likely occur in incremental steps. Most of the technological elements are already available but lack cohesive integration. Once research has reached a point of confidence, pay-for-service rehab specialists will likely be the first pioneers to market. I suspect that by 2013 we'll start seeing the first commercial offerings from the big guys. From there on, it will be just another few years before freelance operators will begin to offer cheaper and more accessible bits and pieces of the puzzle. After that it will truly be an open-source free-for-all because the materials, machines and operating programs will be obtainable by almost anyone at very low costs. What is unclear is how funding agencies and regulators will view this new vanguard, but certainly, given current conditions, pricing more than performance will tip the scale.

This is not a prediction but just one perspective of the not too distant possibilities. For everything to come together all processes must be quantifiably repeatable from start to finish. Materials, tolerances and processes must continue to improve. Knowledge-based programs through which all clinical findings must be filtered will be the most proprietary piece of the puzzle and it is this crucial element that is almost nonexistent to date. To obtain reliable consistency from boxed intelligence requires a sound philosophical base of understanding of the physics and mechanics of compromised seated posture. In the meantime the implications for this industry are that a present day, entry level seating specialist (clinicians, fabricators, RTS) must start to tune-in and turn-on to a whole new way of viewing their profession and strategically ponder which production/clinical philosophy to follow. I think the time to start planning for this new-age curriculum and career path is now.

What's your current thinking?

Richard Xavier Cushmaster
CUSHMAKER.com

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You can learn more about these cutting edge technologies through the following resources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_freeform_fabrication

2. http://home.att.net/~castleisland/

3. http://utwired.utexas.edu/lff/

4. http://candyfab.org/

5. http://www.contourcrafting.org/

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PS: At this year's conference there were 90 attendees, representing 28 universities and 63 research papers. Through research and education the world of academia is clearly playing a significant role in the advancement of these new-age technologies. Whether discussing 3D printing of metal, plastics or biomimetics, the overriding theme was the lattice geometry and topology of porous structures. When compared to the previous year's discussions, there was a noticeable advancement in the creative and scientific thinking of how these technologies can be used and exploited. The underlying emphasis was on quality control and the methodical repeatability of processes and outcomes. The range of subjects included printing: food, multi-component assemblies (including their power supply and actuators), tissue replacing implants and protective garments and textiles. Only one paper discussed the geometry and physics of 3D foam-like structures. However, if you can look closely enough, by utilizing 3D technologies, the term "memory foam" is slowly taking on a whole new dimension of interpretations.

©Copyright August, 2007

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