Motorola Mobility, a Google company, is building a 3D printed modular phone, and has partnered with 3D Systems for commercial fulfillment. More »
The Captured Dimensions pop-up studio was located in the Smithsonian Castle and featured approximately 80 digital cameras all connected to 3D software. More »
Microsoft expanded their support for 3D printing by launching a Windows 8 app called 3D Builder. It includes a library of objects you can edit and 3D print. More »
3D Systems (NYSE:DDD) announced the availability of the Sense 3D scanner, the first 3D scanner designed for the consumer and optimized for 3D printing. More »
With rumors circling that 3D Systems will be purchased by IBM, the stock soars. We look at why IBM might be interested in the 3D printing giant. More »
Afinia Targets Consumer Market with New 3D Printer Priced at $1499
Watch out MakerBot and Cube! Adding to the competitive market for consumer 3D printers, Afinia enters with the H-Series priced at $1499 and weighing under 11 lbs.
From their press release:
Afinia, a division of Microboards Technology LLC, a leader in specialized printing solutions for 3D printing and rapid prototyping has officially launched its H-Series 3D Printer. The Afinia H-Series 3D Printer provides a true “Out of the Box 3D Printing Experience” as the 3D Printer comes fully assembled, with easy to install software for both the PC and Mac. The printer is both portable and affordable at a low cost of $1499. The Afinia H-Series can prototype a part or model that is up to 5 inches cubed in dimension.
The custom designed 3D Printing Software features an easy-to-use interface for laying out, orienting, duplicating, and scaling your designs. Simply use the included utility to calibrate the printhead height, and within minutes you are printing. The software imports .stl files, and allows the output to be customized in terms of the amount of support material and “raft” (base support) printed. Breakaway support material created in the printing process is simple to remove, and tools for aiding the breakaway are included. Design files can be created using a variety of online softwares, professional software packages such as SolidWorks ™, or by downloading from the extensive online community for free.
The Afinia H-Series 3D printer uses inexpensive, high-quality plastic filament offered in a wide array of colors including: natural (white), black, red, yellow, glow blue and glow green. The portable H-Series 3D Printer weighs less than 11lbs making it easy to transport. Additionally, the H-Series can print in a standalone mode. Simply choose your .stl file, printing parameters, and hit print. You will then be free to disconnect your computer from the printer at any time.
3D Printing Industry Will Reach $3 Billion by 2018 – Report
How big is 3D printing going to be? Huge, according to Global Industry Analysts (GIA). $3 billion by 2018 to be precise. This is lower than the figure reported by Forbes in March: $3.1 billion by 2016 and $5.2 billion by 2020. But nevertheless, this shows incredible growth for a revolutionary industry.
GIA, a leading publisher of off-the-shelf market research, has published a comprehensive global report on the 3D printing market.
The global market for 3D Printing is projected to reach US$2.99 billion by the year 2018, driven by the advent of newer technologies, approaches, and applications. Expanding use of the technology in manufacturing final products, declining cost of printers, and increasing use of 3D printing technology in newer areas bodes well for market growth.
Hailed as a transformative manufacturing technology, 3D printing involves fabrication of physical objects by depositing a material using a nozzle, print head, or any another printer technology. Though initially used for prototyping of products, 3D printing has evolved and is currently capable of customized short-run manufacturing of industrial products, dental implants, and medical devices. 3D printing is finding use in a diverse range of applications across varied markets. Though used initially for rapid prototyping purposes, technological advancements are increasingly facilitating the use of 3D printers for manufacturing final products. The technology has now reached a stage where digital models can be replicated to produce physical components or prototypes, which would be similar to those of mass produced products. The declining cost of printers has led a wide range of industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to footwear and jewelry to adopt 3D printing technology for manufacturing desired objects. 3D printing technology is thus offering individuals as well as companies with the ability to design as well as manufacture objects at relatively lower costs.
In the coming years, 3D printing technology would evolve to enable printing of metals including precious metals such as silver and gold. Further, low cost techniques are expected to be developed for enabling 3D printing of widely available materials such as paper and plastic. Another area of growth is the medical sector wherein 3D printing technology could be used for developing replacement parts. Potential also exists for companies to penetrate into educational and medical device sectors.
As stated by the new market research report on 3D Printing, the United States represents the single largest market for 3D Printing. Several companies in developed nations do not actually manufacture products in entirety in their home ground anymore, and have moved manufacturing activity to low-cost destinations, primarily in developing economies. However, the potential for local manufacturing on demand end-products with the aid of 3D printing is significantly enhanced, as it eliminates the need for physical shipping from far-off regions. As 3D technology matures, mass production within developed nations could be cheaper than manufacturing and shipping products from overseas markets. In certain specialized areas where speed and time to market are critical, technologies such as 3D printing will cause manufacturing activity to move back to developed nations from the developing world.
The market for 3D Printing Products is projected to grow manifold in the near future with 3D printer systems becoming more affordable and easy to use. In the short run, the demand for simple and low cost desktop 3D printers with the ability to rapidly produce concept models for prototypes is expected to witness strong growth. Technological advancements would facilitate development of 3D Printers that are less bulky, easy to fabricate and capable of serving almost unlimited number of purposes. An increasing number of freelance professional designers and hobbyists are using 3D printers for creating new designs and producing physical models, which is partly attributed to the high cost of alternate technologies.
3D Printing is a nascent industry well poised for robust growth driven by rising user adoption. The industry is highly competitive, with competition primarily stemming from new product development, process know-how, pricing, and the ability to provide comprehensive solutions to meet customers’ needs. Major players profiled in the report include 3D Systems Corporation, Bits from Bytes, envisionTEC GmbH, EOS GmbH, Hewlett-Packard Development Company L.P, MakerBot® Industries LLC, Objet Ltd., Stratasys Inc., among others.
Read more on their press release, or buy the report.
3 billion photo by nagillum used under Creative Commons license
Top 3D Printing Headlines Last Week: Libraries, China, Survey Results
A roundup of the top news On 3D Printing brought you from July 17 to July 22.
Tuesday, July 17
Wednesday, July 18
Thursday, July 19
Friday, July 20
- 3D Printing Coming to a Public Library Near You: Nevada First
- Results of First Survey On 3D Printing: Adoption, Education, Services
Saturday, July 21
Sunday, July 22
3D printing photo by DSTL UNR used under Creative Commons license.
Fab Lab of the Week: 2nd Fab Lab Opens in the UK, Fab Lab Airedale
This week’s featured Fab Lab is called Fab Lab Airedale. Located in Dalton Mills, Keighley, it is the UK’s second Fab Lab. The first Fab Lab in the UK was opened in Manchester in 2010.
About Fab Lab Airedale:
Fab Lab is the first stage of an ambitious project to create a Centre of Manufacturing Excellence within Airedale serving Bradford District and the surrounding parts of the Leeds City Region. Fab Lab Airedale is a collaborative venture between the Airedale Partnership, Bradford Council and Leeds City College, with support from The Manufacturing Institute. The Fab Lab Airedale will operate as a not for profit company limited by guarantee. Any profits generated through the running of the Fab Lab will be reinvested in the aims of the project which are to promote innovation and excellence within the local manufacturing and related sectors.
Dalton Mills offers the perfect mix of old and new, blending the opulence of Victorian splendour with modern facilities ideal for today’s fast-paced working environment.
Dalton Mills is a former textile mill, located by the side of the River Worth, on Dalton Lane in Keighley, near Bradford. The majestic mill, which has been a landmark of the town for more than 140 years, was acquired by Magna Holdings Ltd in 2004.
It is now having a multi-million pound make-over to restore it to it’s former glory, and with massive regeneration taking place in Airedale over the next decade, there has never been a better time to relocate to Keighley.
Learn more about Fab Lab Airedale at their website, or follow them on Twitter @FabLabAiredale.
See all of our featured Fab Labs in our weekly series.
America Will Lead the Future of Manufacturing, China Will Follow
In a fantastic opinion piece by technology entrepreneur and academic Vivek Wadhwa, the case is made that America will be the center of manufacturing, not China. This won’t happen through increasing Chinese labor costs or monetary policy, but through American innovation in technology. Specific innovations cited include robotics, AI, 3D printing, and nanotechnology.
Below are Wadhwa’s thoughts on 3D printing:
A type of manufacturing called “additive manufacturing” is now making it possible to cost-effectively “print” products. In conventional manufacturing, parts are produced by humans using power-driven machine tools, such as saws, lathes, milling machines, and drill presses, to physically remove material until you’re left with the shape desired. This is a cumbersome process that becomes more difficult and time-consuming with increasing complexity. In other words, the more complex the product you want to create, the more labor is required and the greater the effort.
In additive manufacturing, parts are produced by melting successive layers of materials based on three-dimensional models — adding materials rather than subtracting them. The ”3D printers” that produce these parts use powered metal, droplets of plastic, and other materials — much like the toner cartridges that go into laser printers. This allows the creation of objects without any sort of tools or fixtures. The process doesn’t produce any waste material, and there is no additional cost for complexity. Just as, thanks to laser printers, a page filled with graphics doesn’t cost much more than one with text (other than the cost of toner), with 3D printers we can print a sophisticated 3D structure for what it would cost to print something simple.
Three-D printers can already create physical mechanical devices, medical implants, jewelry, and even clothing. The cheapest 3D printers, which print rudimentary objects, currently sell for between $500 and $1,000. Soon, we will have printers for this price that can print toys and household goods. By the end of this decade, we will see 3D printers doing the small-scale production of previously labor-intensive crafts and goods. It is entirely conceivable that, in the next decade, manufacturing will again become a local industry and it will be possible to 3D print electronics and use giant 3D printing scaffolds to print entire buildings. Why would we ship raw materials all the way to China and then ship completed products back to the United States when they can be manufactured more cheaply locally, on demand?
Read the full article at foreignpolicy.com.
American flag photo by Loving Earth used under Creative Commons license.
Vivek Wadhwa photo by BAIA used under Creative Commons license.
