3D printers

3D printers are devices that can create any conceivable type of clothing (and perhaps, any type of item that may be required).

The clothing-oriented 3D printers (as shown in Compete) are large, industrial-grade devices that are capable of supplying the needs of the entirety of an Imperial Ark Ship's compliment of thousands (crew and passengers) for a journey of years in space over thousands of light-years. The printers are 'fed' with raw organic and artificial material compounds that act as the 'ink' for the devices to create an endless variety of clothing fabrics.

These materials are kept in storage containers that are in the same area as the printers, along with small office-style enclosures where users enter specific printer programs into consoles and email the catalog item numbers to the. (Users enjoy immediate access the Fleet Network Cloud, where they may browse through a huge library of historical and modern fashions from both Earth and Atlantis in order to choose outfits. Individuals may also request special items of their own design to be manually loaded into flash memory for their personal use.

Once an individual has their clothing program ready, they simply e-mail the required catalog item numbers and other relevant information (ultra-accurate physical measurements supplied by body scanners in an adjoining area to the 3D printers, colors, etc.) to the 3D printer device driver app which will queue a specific print job. The finished product (for the 3D clothing printers, new outfits, which include shoes and appropriate underwear, if requested for the outfit, etc.) is then manufactured in a ten-minute process and then delivered for pickup at the assembly line in adjoining areas to the printers.

Individuals are notified via email when when their outfits are ready for pickup. Due to the immense number of persons who may wish to use the system and the limited number of 3D printers available, individuals are requested to be considerate and both order and pick up their outfits in a timely manner, as they may risk not being able to have their outfits ready on time for their chosen events.