Hi-tech spying: by recording the sound of a working 3D printer, you can reproduce a previously printed part

A team of researchers from the University of California (Irvine, USA) discovered that by recording the sound of a working 3D printer, it is possible to reproduce the part printed by this printer earlier. True, in order for everything to work out, the “spy” should have a similar printer model. It should be used to calibrate the "spy" software. After the training program is completed, you can use the sound of a working printer of the same model. The result is a copy of what the printer printed - the “donor” of sound.

The authors tested their idea in practice by using an FDM printer. As it turned out, the accuracy of the reproduction of the details is about 90%. True, the details were not printed the most complex. Presumably, the accuracy of reproduction of more complex parts will be lower.


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Researchers call the method of copying parts using sound "acoustic attack." This method can be used for industrial espionage, and it is quite an effective and inexpensive way - only a smartphone is needed to record sound.



True, the method itself has a number of significant drawbacks, one of which is the need to place a smartphone near the operating system. In addition, the algorithm itself does not work very well with short printer operations — the sound is too short.

In order to protect themselves from the “acoustic attack”, the authors of the research say, it will be sufficient to introduce intermediate operations that do not carry a special semantic load. In addition, the usual access control to the work area will also help.