Also known as rapid prototyping, digital fabrication consists of producing, using computerized machines such as 3D printers, laser cutting, CNC milling machines, physical prototypes from digital models through software, in order to maximize the replicability and adaptability of the avoid spending and save time.
The new production methods based on digital models are adaptable systems, which can produce a large spectrum in different ways, according to the changes applied digitally, and produce identical copies of the same product.
An object can be produced by an additive process or by a subtractive process. In the additive process, the machine adds material in layers until the assembly is completed, using various technologies such as FDM, SLS, SLA, among others.
In the subtractive process, in which the machine forms the final object when removing material until the desired mold is obtained, the small or large milling machine, vinyl cutter, laser cutter, among others, can be used.
Chris Anderson, editor of Wired, called digital manufacturing “the new industrial revolution”, based on accessibility and ease in the materialization and dissemination of inventions, allowing ideas to develop without big companies and big investments behind. “With an idea in your head and a 3D printer in hand, you can effectively have a product and a company in a few months. It’s the same revolution that happened with computers, and promises to flood the market with incredibly creative products and inventions in the years to come. . ”, Said Neil Gershenfeld, professor at MIT and creator of Fab Lab, a digital manufacturing workshop, in an interview with Folha São Paulo in 2013.