Category Archives: News
New Balance Develops 3D Printed Shoes for Elite Athletes
New Balance, a global leader in athletic shoes, has announced a specialized process for 3D printed shoes, focused on their high performance products for athletes. Elite athletes can now have their spike plates customized to individual specifications and created using 3D printing.
“With 3D printing we are able to pursue performance customization at a new level to help our elite NB athletes and eventually all athletes. We believe this is the future of performance footwear and we are excited to bring this to consumers,” said New Balance President and CEO Robert DeMartini. “As the only major athletic brand to manufacture shoes in the U.S., we are proud to invest in American workers. Developing our printing capabilities could ultimately help us further invest in the American worker by adding highly technical positions to our already skilled labor force in Massachusetts and Maine.”
More from the New Balance press release.
New Balance has developed a proprietary process for utilizing a runner’s individual biomechanical data to create hyper-customized spike plates designed to improve performance. The process requires race simulation biomechanical data which the New Balance Sports Research Lab collects using a force plate, in-shoe sensors and a motion capture system. Advanced algorithms and software are then applied to translate this data into custom 3D printed spike designs.
For the production of the custom plates, New Balance uses selective laser sintering (SLS) to convert powder materials into solid cross-sections, layer by layer using a laser. SLS printing enables the customization process by allowing for complex designs that could not be achieved through traditional manufacturing methods. Additionally, SLS printing greatly accelerates the turnaround time from design to functional part.
NB Athletes involved in the development of this process included: 2008 and 2012 US Olympic Athlete and current 1500m World Champion gold medalist Jenny Barringer Simpson, 2012 US Olympic Athlete Kim Conley, 2012 Great Britain Olympic Athlete Barbara Parker and 4 time All-American runner in the 800m, 1500m and the Mile Jack Bolas. These athletes provided key feedback in order to develop spike plates that spoke to each individual athlete’s personal preference, biomechanics and specific race needs.
“Utilizing our Team New Balance Athletes to develop the customization process was extremely helpful”, said Sean Murphy, New Balance’s Senior Manager of Innovation and Engineering. “We are impressed with their precise ability to identify and speak to the differences in the custom options provided. They are acutely aware of what is happening in their shoes”.
In addition to printing semi-rigid parts like spike plates for track runners, New Balance is working on softer SLS printed components that mimic the cushioning properties of foam midsoles. This initiative will be critical to bringing the customization process to a broader audience of athletes .
At the New Balance Games in January 2013, Team New Balance athlete, Jack Bolas, became the first ever track athlete to compete in customized, 3D printed plates.
Dreambox Hopes to Make 3D Printing Universal with Custom Vending Machines
“3D printing will enable every human on this planet to design, customize, and create products to solve problems – from the slightest household annoyance to global issues – and we’re here to fuel the revolution from the bottom up.” – Dreambox Team
A Dreambox is a 3D printing vending machine. It is the simplest way to have your custom models created. Take away the dozens of hours to setup a 3D printer, take away the weeks of waiting to receive an item from a 3D printing service, take away the need for a full-time operator and you’re left only with 3D printing’s unique manufacturing capabilities. With a Dreambox users can freely experiment with and harness 3D printing’s advantages.
The team came up with their concept while at UC Berkeley where it was hard to get access to 3D printers for rapid prototyping. Their only alternative was to order from online 3D printing marketplaces which would take 10-12 days for delivery and was more expensive.
Having an item 3D printed with a Dreambox is as simple as uploading or choosing a design online, clicking the “Print” button and retrieving the item once it’s ready. The details of what happens in between choosing to print an item and receiving that item are not important to the end user. What is important is that multiple users can get physical versions of their digital creations faster and simpler than ever before.
Dreamboxes are built to order with a varying number of internal 3D printers and lockers based on customer needs. Instead of creating our own 3D printers, we leverage the best of existing 3D printing technology so we can stay on the forefront of quality. Increasing the internal number of 3D printers and lockers lets a single Dreambox service a larger number of individuals.
Dreambox currently uses fused deposition modeling to create products from bioplastics, but will in the future offer additional material options.
Learn more at the Dreambox website.
Below is a concept video of the Dreambox 3D printing vending machine.
And here’s an inside look at how the Dreambox works.
MakerBot Kicks Off SXSW by Unveiling 3D Scanner: Real World Copy-Paste
“It is the best time to get into hardware.” – Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot.
At the annual SXSW conference in Austin, Texas, MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis kicked off the show with a big announcement: the unveiling of the MakerBot Digitizer. Though only a prototype, Pettis promises that the Digitizer will enable copy and paste for the physical world. “It’s like Tron,” he told the audience. You can scan an object in 3 minutes and then print out a copy.
Pettis continued, “The MakerBot Digitizer is a great tool for archiving, prototyping, replicating, and digitizing prototypes, models, parts, artifacts, artwork, sculptures, clay figures, jewelry, etc. If something gets broken, you can print it again.”
MakerBot has setup a website where you can sign up to learn more about the Digitizer.
In addition, Pettis announced that MakerBot will be partnering with Autodesk, the makers of iPad app 123D Catch, the current leading consumer 3D scanning tool.
Chris Anderson Clears the Air: 3D Printing Won’t Work for Making Guns
Former editor-in-chief of Wired Chris Anderson weighed in on the 3D printed gun debate with a simple rebuttal:
“3D printing is a terrible technology for the working components of a gun. There is no tensile strength. It would blow up in your face. You can buy guns in Walmart — they are not a scarce product. And if you want a good barrel you can go and get a bit of plumbing from the store.”
This comes after a wave of concern and paranoia about people 3D printing their own guns at home in the wake of school shootings that rocked the news. One such example was the “Wiki Weapon” from Defense Distributed, pictured below.
Hopefully this type of common sense will prevent regulation from hindering the potential of 3D printing to revolutionize our world.
Chris Anderson photo by Tom Foremski.
Via Wired.
Shapeways Offers Premium Silver Material for 3D Printing Fine Objects
3D printing marketplace Shapeways has introduced premium silver material for creating fine jewelry and other long-lasting items.
From the Shapeways blog:
Premium Silver is our 3D printed Sterling Silver taken to the next level with an incredibly smooth, glossy surface to give your designs a truly professional finish. We will be offering Premium Silver for a six week trial until Tuesday May the 14th, during which we will assess the pricing and design rules. If you love this new finish as much as we already do, we will keep it as a permanent material option on Shapeways.
Finished 3D prints are hand polished to give them that professional look.
During the trial, premium silver will be priced as follows:
- Handling Fee Per Model: $45 (up to 1.7 cm3), $78 (1.7 – 3.4 cm3), Free (above 3.4 cm3)
- Price Per cm3: $28 (up to 3.4 cm3), $75 (above 3.4 cm3)
This means:
- 1.0 cm3 item will cost $73.00
- 1.7 cm3 item will cost $92.60
- 1.8 cm3 item will cost $128.40
- 3.4 cm3 item wil cost $173.20
- 3.5 cm3 item will cost $262.50
More details at Shapeways.
