3D Printing\n Abstract Amongst manufacturing, 3D printing is a very novel way of making things. It is also known as additive manufacturing. A 3D printer is used to 3D print objects. It builds the object layer by layer. There are metal 3D printers and polymer 3D printers. Both of them work very differently but fundamentally, the object is prepared by building layer upon layer. Less wastage and ability to manufacture sophisticated objects are the perks of 3D printing. The cost of capital machinery for manufacturing a product is way less in 3D printing as it relies on the principle of additive manufacturing. The main parts of a 3D printer are as follows. - Filament - Extruder - Hot End - Print bed ###How does it work ? CAD software is used for designing an object. After it has been designed according to the required specifications, we must convert it to .stl file which shall be interpreted to g-code. G-code guides the 3D Printer for additive manufacturing of the object. For any printer to work, it requires a source file which shall be processed to make the product. Object file is created by rapid prototyping using CAD software. Object file is converted to .stl file ( Stereolithograph file ). .stl file" is the source file for 3D printing. Stereolithograph file sliced to computer numerical code called g-code. G-code instructs the 3D printer to manufacture the object. G-code is a widely used computer numerical code - CNC programming language. It is used in CAM ( Computer Aided Manufacturing ). Cartesian coordinate configured robotic arm shall hold the extruder element. The extruder has a heating element, which shall melt the polymer filament(Eg., PLA filament) and layer by layer, the object is manufactured. ###3D Printing softwares and open resources Ultimaker Cura is a prominently used 3D printing software. It is a open source slicing engine for converting the .stl file to CNC. Using this software, we can begin our journey with 3D Printing. Ultimaker Cura Download Link : https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura Thingiverse is an open-source website where we can find and collaborate our ideas with the 3D printing community. Here, one can download the .obj files of myriad available objects from the website. ### Ultimaker Cura for Splicing and 3D Printing In order for anything to be printed, the scale, dimensions, material, infill(density and pattern), and support structures are a few important things to remember. #### Infill Patterns #### Support Structures They are required for building layers of filament while printing in overhanging regions. Support structures are printed along with the object. They are relatively soft and can be broken off later to get the finished object. ###Resource Links : - 3D Printing - CNC - CAM - [Rapid Prototyping](https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/rapid-prototyping#:~:text=Rapid%20prototyping%20(RP) - Study Materials from Ultimaker Cura"