The Bobiverse books have been on my to-read list for quite a while. My coworker, David, informed me last week that they feature 3D printing at the atomic scale. He suggested a blog post analyzing how fast you could conceivably print something atom-by-atom.
We Are Legion (We Are Bob): Bobiverse, Book 1
If you don’t know about 3D printing, here’s a quick rundown.
There are several types of 3D printing. The most common is “Fusion Deposition Modeling” (or FDM), where you melt some plastic and squeeze it out of a little robotic hot glue gun, essentially drawing a shape one layer at a time.
There are other types, like SLA (stereolithography) or SLS (selective laser sintering) that melt a bed of powdered plastic in layers, and there are variations that use more powerful lasers (or even electron beams) to melt metal to create 3D structures.
I don’t know if the Bobiverse books talk specifics about atom-by-atom 3D printing, so I’m going to make up the process and see what it would take to print up a 3-inch cube of iron.
First, I’ll imagine that the 3D printer would follow a pattern like this to go back and forth enough times to make a 3-inch by 3-inch layer of iron atoms:
There are several types of 3D printing. The most common is “Fusion Deposition Modeling” (or FDM), where you melt some plastic and squeeze it out of a little robotic hot glue gun, essentially drawing a shape one layer at a time.
There are other types, like SLA (stereolithography) or SLS (selective laser sintering) that melt a bed of powdered plastic in layers, and there are variations that use more powerful lasers (or even electron beams) to melt metal to create 3D structures.
I don’t know if the Bobiverse books talk specifics about atom-by-atom 3D printing, so I’m going to make up the process and see what it would take to print up a 3-inch cube of iron.
First, I’ll imagine that the 3D printer would follow a pattern like this to go back and forth enough times to make a 3-inch by 3-inch layer of iron atoms:
Ignoring the various crystalline structures of iron, the number of 3-inch lines required (“x”) would be 3 inches divided by the diameter of an iron atom (which is 0.252 nm, or 0.00000000992 inches, link).
That means the 3D printer head would have to make about 302 million lines to make a single layer of this 3-inch cube. This is 14,317 miles of travel.
The fastest FDM 3D printer heads travel at around 150mm/s. At that speed (and ignoring the extra time required for acceleration and deceleration), a single layer would take 4.87 years to print.
But let’s say the Bobiverse 3D printers are super fast. In fact, they move at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). Again ignoring acceleration, a speed-of-light 3D printer would be able to print a single layer of iron atoms in 77.0 milliseconds.
Not bad. But remember, to make a 3-inch cube, you would need “x” (302 million) of these layers.
That means the 3D printer head would have to make about 302 million lines to make a single layer of this 3-inch cube. This is 14,317 miles of travel.
The fastest FDM 3D printer heads travel at around 150mm/s. At that speed (and ignoring the extra time required for acceleration and deceleration), a single layer would take 4.87 years to print.
But let’s say the Bobiverse 3D printers are super fast. In fact, they move at the speed of light (186,000 miles per second). Again ignoring acceleration, a speed-of-light 3D printer would be able to print a single layer of iron atoms in 77.0 milliseconds.
Not bad. But remember, to make a 3-inch cube, you would need “x” (302 million) of these layers.
302 million times 77.0 milliseconds is 23.3 million seconds. That’s 8 months, 3 weeks, and 4 days.
That’s right. 3D printing a 3-inch cube of iron, atom-by-atom would take almost as long as gestating a human baby.
If you’re a Bobiverse fan, weigh in – is there some technology mentioned in the books that would make atomic 3D printing faster?
That’s right. 3D printing a 3-inch cube of iron, atom-by-atom would take almost as long as gestating a human baby.
If you’re a Bobiverse fan, weigh in – is there some technology mentioned in the books that would make atomic 3D printing faster?