<p>I am wondering if anyone here knows of any 3D printers that work by assembling models from parts instead of extruding or setting material.</p>
<p>The closest I have found is the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtoqCrwr91bNH_hbPtBrprw" rel="nofollow noreferrer">pixelstone</a> but it appears to only be a prototype and I haven't seen or heard of any progress on it in over a year.</p>
<p>There is a similar house printer <a href="http://fbr.com.au/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">fastbrick</a> but it is also just a prototype.</p>
<p>There is research papers on rapid prototyping with lego blocks and software for this (<a href="https://all3dp.com/brickify-rapid-prototyping-lego/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">brickify</a>), but these don't have machine assembly.</p>
<p>And there are 3D printers that can do conductive filament in the model but none of these seem to do pick and place as well and they still need a human to add the electronics or to change the tool head. (<a href="http://delta.firepick.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">firepick</a>)</p>
<p>So are there any 3D printers that work like pick and place machines and just stick blocks together?</p>

[{'answer_id': 3730, 'author': 'Andre Hamman', 'author_id': 6375, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/6375', 'pm_score': -1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<p>I\'ve prototyped a design that used beads similar to these <a href="http://www.infostir.com/images/plastic-beads-350.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">http://www.infostir.com/images/plastic-beads-350.jpg</a> on a rod with a heated tip and then you just press them off into the design. But it wasn\'t too strong and had some pretty specific requirements of the model. Labelled it a failure. </p>\n'}, {'answer_id': 6330, 'author': 'Trish', 'author_id': 8884, 'author_profile': 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/8884', 'pm_score': 1, 'selected': False, 'text': '<h2>Yes and no</h2>\n<p><strong>Yes</strong>, there are machines, that assemble things from parts. For example, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMT_placement_equipment" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SMT placement equipment &amp; pick-and-place-machines</a>. Almost all electronics are made this way. In fact, a lot of items are made by using Pick-and-Place machines in the final assembly.</p>\n<p>On the other hand: <strong>No</strong>, there is no <em>3D-printer</em>, that works by <em>just</em> being a P&amp;P machine: it simply is not inside the specifications of additive manufacturing to be <em>just</em> an assembly machine. That is an <em>assembly</em> or <em>pick and place</em> machine, no matter if they call it <em>printing</em>. It is not.</p>\n<h4>combo machines?</h4>\n<p>However, I have seen a recent (<strong>2018</strong>) <a href="https://youtu.be/jfopGYO0r-M?t=488" rel="nofollow noreferrer">makerfaire video</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRkF-D0fEbQ" rel="nofollow noreferrer">a talk</a> that was showing a prototype of an E3D toolhead swapper, which - in its idea - would allow to <em>combine</em> a 3D printer with a P&amp;P machine. Their idea is to fully automate the manufacturing process, including adding non-printed parts with grabbers or the like.</p>\n<h2>2022 update</h2>\n<p>Multi-Tool 3D printers based on the E3D-Toolchanger including a pick-and-place are in <a href="https://youtu.be/pBztvEJJGwA?list=TLPQMTIxMTIwMjKbAChud1cdqg" rel="nofollow noreferrer">small-scale</a> use in at least one fabrication shop in their prototyping stage.  They also use conductive filaments in conjunction with their setup - but need to compensate for the considerable resistance of conductive filaments.</p>\n'}]
['https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/questions/3711', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com', 'https://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/users/1476/']