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 »
Shapeways’ Friday Finds: 3D Design Showcase from the Shapeways Community
Looking for some unique and innovative examples of 3D printing? Check out Shapeways’ Friday Finds, a curated collection of designs from the Shapeways community. Pictured above is a Combo Razor Stand by Lightbringer, designed for safety and functionality.
Sharkfin Ring in Silver, by The Rogue and the Wolf
Concentric Cube by Oskar van Deventer
More from Shapeways blog.
3D Printing Advancements Leads to New Job Creation in Defense, Energy
In Dayton, Ohio, local industry leaders are working on plans to introduce new jobs thanks to advancements in 3D printing.
3D printing is rapidly becoming an integral part of the prototyping and production process for industries such as aerospace, jewelry, and dentistry. Now there is increased interest from the defense and energy sectors. SelectTech Services Corp, whose Executive Director is pictured above, is one such company that provides engineering services to the Department of Defense, and is incorporating 3D printing into its production process.
Here are details on the federal funding that is enabling this job creation.
The University of Dayton Research Institute is part of a statewide consortium of Ohio companies and organizations that are vying to win a federal pilot institute on additive manufacturing, said Brian Rice, head of UDRI’s Multi-Scale Composites and Polymers division. UDRI operates a reverse engineering and rapid prototyping facility with 3-D part scanning and printing capabilities.
President Obama announced the pilot institute in March as part of a $1 billion plan for a network of 15 “Institutes for Manufacturing Innovation” around the nation, serving as hubs that help manufacturers and encourage domestic investment.
Up to $45 million in federal funding has been made available for the pilot institute, which will support the Departments of Defense, Energy and other federal agencies, according to the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office.
Via Dayton Daily News.
This New House: 3D Printing and Constructing WikiHouse
Most 3D printed objects are tabletop size, but how about 3D printing a full-size house? That’s the idea behind WikiHouse.
Great story from Inhabitat:
We’ve seen a lot of cool 3D-printed objects in our day, but what about a whole house? That’s what UK design firm 00:/ took on when they constructed their 3D-printed WikiHouse at La Rinascente during the Milan Furniture Fair. WikiHouse is an open-source platform that allows designers from all over the world to design, download and share housing templates that are printed using a CNC milling machine or 3D printer. Hit the jump to see a quick video by Alice Masters, which shows the 00:/ team putting together the first ever zero-bolt prototype of WikiHouse on the shop floor of one of Milan’s most renowned department stores.
Via Inhabitat.
Analyzing Funding Goals of 3D Printing Kickstarter Projects [Data]
Why do some Kickstarter projects achieve their funding goals while others are unsuccessful?
The New York Times recently published an analysis of three years of Kickstarter projects.
Almost 50,000 projects have sought financing on Kickstarter since the site began on April 28, 2009. About half successfully reached their fund-raising goals.
We decided to run our own analysis of 3D printing Kickstarter projects. Here is what we found:
- Of the 13 projects since October 2009, only 6 have successfully reached their funding goals, or 46%
- The average funding goal of a successful project is $3,842 and the average funds raised is $11,039, or 287%
- The average funding goal of an unsuccessful project is $16,874 and the average funds raised is $1,105, or 7%
- The average number of backers for a successful project is 55 with each backer pledging $164
- The average number of backers for an unsuccessful project is 21 with each backer pledging only $38
- There was no geographic concentration of successful projects
Based on this analysis, we are seeing that unsuccessful projects are asking for too much money and also not finding enough individual backers to support their idea. Sometimes this is due to the production quality of the pitch, but overall it seems that crowdfunding backers are not ready to embrace 3D printing projects.
For example, PotteryPrint was an iPad app concept to teach kids about 3D printing. They raised $6,000 of their $12,000 funding goal. Another example on IndieGoGo is Anarkik3D, which has only raised $3,050 of its $120,000 funding goal with 55 days to go. Both of these projects have good ideas and great production quality, but have set targets above the average successful funding level of $3,842.
Below are some charts of our analysis and the raw data.
3D Printing Kickstarter Projects Funding by Location
Kickstarter bookshelf photo by Scott Beale / Laughing Squid used under a Creative Commons license.
Stable Design: 3D Printing with Autodesk 123D and MakerBot [Video]
The video below shows an expert tutorial on how to create a flat surface foundation on the bottom of your design in Autodesk 123D before sending it to your MakerBot for 3D printing. This is important so that your model can stand up as it’s being printed and will continue to be stable once it leaves the printer and is used in the real world.
