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The Plastics Blog
November 05, 2014 01:00 AM

Astronauts, 3-D printing and hoverboards? Sounds good

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    Autodesk
    Former astronaut Buzz Aldrin checks out Autodesk's prototype 3-D printer Ember with Chief Technology Officer Jeff Kowalski.

    Buzz Aldrin may have been the second person to step on the moon, but he was definitely the first former moonwalker to ride a hoverboard.

    The Apollo 11 lunar module pilot — who has remained active in developing technologies fields since retirement — stopped by Autodesk Inc.'s Pier 9 late last month.

    Autodesk may be best known in the plastics community for its software used by molders and mold makers for computer aided design, but the company also has an “Artists in Residence” program called Pier 9 in San Francisco, which allows product developers to access state-of-the-art equipment.

    That includes Autodesk's prototype 3-D printer Ember, which Aldrin also checked out.

    Then he stepped onto the Hendo Hoverboard at Pier 9 for a viral video that circled the social media world faster than a rocket, gliding side to side for a few seconds.

    Hendo, which is using Autodesk during development, probably didn't need the extra attention. Comparisons of the board to the movie “Back to the Future 2” and Marty McFly's hoverboard have already guaranteed that it's $250,000 funding campaign target on Kickstarter within just hours. (It now sits at nearly $500,000, with more than 30 days of funding remaining.)

    At this point, the board's structure relies on metal sheets, although the creators are considering other compounds for actual production.

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