3D fabrication

3D fabrication also known as 3D printing or additive manufacturing, refers to various processes used to synthesize a three-dimensional object. In 3D fabrication, successive layers of material are formed under computer control to create an object. These objects can be of almost any shape, geometry or material, and are produced from a 3D model or other electronic data source, generally known as digital schematics. A 3D fabricator is a type of industrial robot, and can range from desktop home printers to large-scale industrial fabricators typically at the head of any modern assembly line.

The development of matter destroyer technology in the 2200s opened up new possibilities for 3D fabrication, with the possibility to break down any matter into a high-pressure liquid "soup" of unbonded matter. This allows 3D fabricators to create objects that require certain typically non-malleable materials, such as metals, at room temperature. 3D fabricators are often used in assembly lines as the source of individual components to be put together by other machines or processes, simplifying and quickening production processes for complex machinery like computers or vehicles.

Using the power of the Fieldnet, it is possible for companies to sell digital schematics instead of products online, allowing consumers to produce the products themselves. The sharing of digital schematics across the Fieldnet also allows almost all the citizens in Yamatai to attain products otherwise unavailable near them. In the corporate world, the sale of production rights to products now typically includes the digital schematics of said products as well. 3D fabricators have also been used to produce artificial organs for medical purposes.

A step-up from 3D fabrication, direct molecular fabrication, aims to allow the cheap mass-production of molecular engineered composite materials.