3D printing to build robotic dinosaur models

Paleontologists (people who study about prehistoric life) have decided to digitize ancient fossils instead of moulding them using plaster or pickaxes. Drexel university has announced recently that 3D printing will help them to create dinosaurs bones for further study. Researchers hope that models will allow them to study how dinosaurs moved and help create smaller robotic models of massive dinosaurs

Paleontologist Kenneth Lacovara has started doing 3D scans of giant dinosaur bones and, with a collaborator (is building scale models of complete skeletons). The process works by extruding very thin layers of resin or another material to slowly build up an object. A six-inch model of a dinosaur bone takes a few hours to print.
Since the printing process can be repeated in all sizes it will helpful for the researchers to create the models in different sizes for the museums.
Moreover Lacovara an associate professor from the same university has added that the small size models will help them to understand several activities of the dinosaurs like reproducing etc because it will be impossible for them to perform the experiment with a model that weighs in tons.
The Drexel team plans to build robotic models of giant sauropod dinosaurs with artificial muscles and tendons for their tests, drawing on work done on robotic fish. They hope to have a robotic dinosaur limb by the end of this year and a complete replica within two years.