btown2 hours ago
Some press coverage (though I highly recommend just reading the paper linked as the OP, it’s quite approachable to skim without prior knowledge, and you get to see how they turn the Star Trek replicator problem into “just” a loss optimization problem with projectors and spinning mirrors!):

https://aminsightasia.com/education/tsinghua-dish-3d-printin...

And as other have noted, it’s worth bearing in mind that most images here are less than a centimeter in scale; the scale bar is a millimeter. Super impressive stuff.

fc417fc8022 hours ago
Minor correction. Actually confusingly the scale bars vary not just from figure to figure but from image to image within a single figure as noted in the captions. It's a rather odd choice IMO.
skybrian4 hours ago
Figure 5g: not that impressive a Benchy. But printed much faster, presumably.
tdeck4 hours ago
binsquare4 hours ago
The squid is pretty impressive, multiple curves.

Promising tech

aendruk3 hours ago
> not that impressive

Until you see the scale bar

fc417fc8023 hours ago
They're printing 12 μm features (fig 4h). For high speed mass production of more or less arbitrary geometry with no need to retool it's seriously impressive.
jimbokun5 hours ago
ELI5?

Is this a Star Trek replicator or what?

c224 hours ago
I believe this happens inside a liquid substrate that cures (hardens) when exposed to light. Instead of building up a shape by exposing a series of flat layers (stacked on top of eachother) one at a time, this exposes the entire 3d shape at once, using holograms.
Nevermark4 hours ago
That replicator involved arbitrary chemistry, so except for fans of polymer flavored “chicken” nuggets, no. :)

But if they can scale up dimensions it is a big opportunity.

Or scale down dimensions.

Or scale up resolution.

Or scale up the throughput for manufacturing small complex parts. Not just one part at a time but many parts in proximity at a time, a bit like chip production.

All four seem likely now that the principle has been proven.

ra4 hours ago
that was my first reaction