Airbus unveils first-ever 3D-printed drone at Berlin showJune 6, 2016 - 14:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Dwarfed by huge jets all around, the mini-plane Thor was nonetheless an eye-catcher at the Berlin air show this week -- the small Airbus marvel is the world's first 3D-printed aircraft, AFP reports. Windowless, weighing in at just 21 kilos and less than four metres long, the drone Thor -- short for "Test of High-tech Objectives in Reality" -- resembles a large, white model airplane. "This is a test of what's possible with 3D printing technology," said Detlev Konigorski, who was in charge of developing Thor for Airbus, speaking at the International Aerospace Exhibition and Air Show at Berlin's southern Schoenefeld airport. "We want to see if we can speed up the development process by using 3D printing not just for individual parts but for an entire system." In Thor, the only parts that are not printed from a substance called polyamide are the electrical elements. Airbus and its U.S. rival Boeing are already using 3D printing, notably to make parts for their huge passenger jets the A350 and B787 Dreamliner. The new 3D printers can make pieces up to 40 centimetres long and is of most use in particularly complex designs. Related links: Top stories Yerevan will host the 2024 edition of the World Congress On Information Technology (WCIT). Rustam Badasyan said due to the lack of such regulation, the state budget is deprived of VAT revenues. Krisp’s smart noise suppression tech silences ambient sounds and isolates your voice for calls. Gurgen Khachatryan claimed that the "illegalities have been taking place in 2020." Partner news Most popular in the section | The Power of One Dram to benefit Road of Life charity The companies inform that the May beneficiary of The Power of One Dram is the “Road of Life” charitable organization. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |