Rapid prototyping

Rapid prototyping, ''the fast production of prototyped parts,'' in its most common forms has been available to industry and academics for over a decade. It is the creation of parts or objects through either adding or subtracting materials to create these parts. Parts are produced on computer controlled machines, machines that require considerable amounts of ''human-in-the-loop'' skills and knowledge to operate them. Over the same period of time in which rapid prototyping machines have been developed there have been associated developments in materials science, processes, software, and service industries, all for rapid prototyping technology.