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 »
Search Results for: 3d printer
3D Printer Made from Computer Scrap May Have Promise on Mars
Recycled 3D Printer is Made in Africa from Electronic Waste
Afate Gnikou wants the world to know the brand “Made in Africa” and he is using 3D printing to achieve that dream. Gnikou designed and built his own desktop 3D printer using parts from old scanners and discarded computers.
“My dream is to give young people hope and to show that Africa, too, has its place on the global market when it comes to technology. We are able to create things,” he said in an interview with Euronews.
The 3D printer is called W.AFATE.
The inventor of the recycled 3D printer lives in Togo, a country with 6 million people.
Electronic waste, or e-waste, is all too common in Africa, with over 500 tons of computer scrap sent to Africa each year. As this waste is burned, harmful chemicals are added to the local environment and impact the health of the community.
See these below infographics for more details on the electronic waste problem in Africa.
Gnikou’s recycled 3D printer only cost $100 to build, making it one of the least expensive 3D printers in the world.
Related: Peachy 3D Printing Sells for $100 on Kickstarter
The W.AFATE 3D printer is profiled in the video below.
Already, the 3D printer is helping educate kids about science and technology.
The inventor also has bigger aspirations for his recycled 3D printer, to build habitats on Mars.
He submitted his idea called W.AFATE on Mars to the International Space Apps Challenge. His proposal is to send payloads of electronic waste to Mars, where it can be used to build 3D printers and habitats for humans, reducing the waste footprint in Africa. Watch the video below to learn more.
Visit this site to learn more about W.AFATE.
Non-Profit Org Brings First 3D Printers to Haiti
“Our goal is to empower local Haitians to think differently about their surroundings and potential.” — iLab // Haiti
iLab // Haiti is a partnership between Haiti , KIDmob, and The Blue Marble Movement whose mission is to provide access to tools for design and fabrication and to teach creative problem solving strategies.
Related: Read our series on Fab Labs
A lot of people associate 3D printing, today, with creating small plastic tchotchkes. But in a country like Haiti, even a basic desktop 3D printer can produce things that are of real value.
iLab // Haiti has deployed two MakerBot Replicator 3D printers in Haiti, which are being used to help local communities. As one example, one group of Haitians are 3D printing umbilical cord clamps that are being delivered to local birth clinics. The difference in cost between local production via 3D printing and import is material.
The non-profit is also providing 3D modeling instruction using software such as SketchUp and Rhino.
Video: Follow this link to watch a video posted from Haiti at the 3D printer lab.
MakerBot Retail Stores Expand: 3D Printers Coming to Boston and Greenwich, CT
Desktop 3D Printing Company Opens New MakerBot Retail Stores
More news from MakerBot! The desktop 3D printing company is launching new retail stores in Boston and Greenwich, CT. The two stores are scheduled to open before the holiday season.
The MakerBot Store in Boston will be located in the busy downtown-shopping district at 144 Newbury Street. The MakerBot Store in Greenwich, Conn., will also be located in the area’s top shopping destination at 72 Greenwich Avenue.
The new stores will showcase MakerBot’s innovative 3D printers and scanner and will feature the MakerBot 3D Photo Booth, workshops and unique 3D printed gifts.
“Boston and Greenwich are great retail environments and we are excited to bring the MakerBot Store to both cities,” noted Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot. “This is also a homecoming of sorts for some of our employees as many attended schools in the area; our president, Jenny Lawton, has also been a retail fixture in Greenwich, Conn., and ran her own tech company in the Boston area.”
The two new MakerBot Stores are planned to open their doors prior to the start of the holiday season. These two new locations are in addition to the company’s current flagship MakerBot Store at 298 Mulberry Street the NoHo district of New York City. MakerBot also sells online and through a global network of resellers throughout the world.
“Boston and Greenwich are both terrific, tech-savvy communities, so it seemed natural to expand the MakerBot Store presence in these two areas,” noted Jenny Lawton, president of MakerBot.
When scouting for a new location for the MakerBot Store, Lawton found Boston and Greenwich to be great retail markets for the company. “We considered locations all around the world, but knew these two neighborhoods offered vibrant retail communities,” she said. Lawton noted that the MakerBot Store in New York City, which opened in 2012, has become a very successful venture for the company, and is one of the few places in the New York City areas where you can walk in and walk out with a MakerBot product.
Related: MakerBot Launches Thingiverse iPhone App for 3D Printing Community
The MakerBot Store in New York City has become so popular that it is often touted as a tourist destination and has school groups visiting for field trips and visitors from around the world that make the MakerBot Store a must-see place to visit.
Visitors to the MakerBot Store in Boston and Greenwich, as well as the New York MakerBot Store, will have the opportunity to experience the wonder of MakerBot 3D printing technology, such as the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer and the MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner, live and in-person. Patrons will also have the chance to purchase amazing 3D-printed gifts and accessories made on MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers created at the company’s Brooklyn workshop.
The MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer and MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner will also be available for immediate purchase at the MakerBot Store, as will MakerBot PLA and an assortment of ABS Filament, available in more than 30 colors.
Read: MakerBot Store in NYC Drives 3D Printer Sales
Other attractions scheduled to be at the Boston and Greenwich MakerBot Stores that are sure to delight 3D printing enthusiasts, from hobbyists to professional engineers and designers, include:
- A MakerBot Gum Ball machine with a variety of MakerBot-made miniature 3D printed keepsakes to choose from – look for iconic Greenwich and Boston specialty-themed items
- Ongoing demonstrations by MakerBot 3D Design staff
- Really cool 3D project installations and window displays made on MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers
- Coming soon – The MakerBot Photo Booth – have your photo taken and then printed in 3D! The popular MakerBot Photo Booth takes just minutes to create a 3D portrait file, which you can then take and create other 3D creations with, or have MakerBot print a 3D portrait or bust
And a final note: MakerBot is hiring. If you live near Boston or Greenwich, apply online at makerbot.com/careers.
MakerBot Has Glow-in-the-Dark 3D Printer Filament for Halloween
Get Your 3D Printed Ghosts Ready for Halloween
Desktop 3D printer company MakerBot has launched glow-in-the-dark filament just in time for Halloween.
Made with a special dye, MakerBot Glow-in-the-Dark PLA Filament glows a ghostly green in the dark. You don’t need sunlight to power up your glow-in-the-dark 3D print: any light source will do the trick in just two to three minutes.
To get your filament, go to the MakerBot store and stock up.
3D Hubs Opens the Kimono on 3D Printer Usage, MakerBot and Ultimaker on Top
3D Printing Network Shares 3D Printer Usage Across 200 Cities
3D Hubs, the world’s largest network of 3D printers with over 1,100 printing locations across 200 cities, has publicly shared a report of how 3D printing is being used and which 3D printers, materials and colors are most popular.
“3D printing is a disruptive technology that people are beginning to embrace, and given our unique position within the sector, we thought it would be interesting to highlight emerging trends we’ve started to see on the 3D Hubs network,” said Brian Garret, CTO and co-founder of 3D Hubs.
Out of 1,100 printers in the 3D Hubs network, Ultimaker and MakerBot are the brands signed up most. Ultimaker is taking the lead in Europe and MakerBot in the USA. They are mainly used to make prototypes and all kinds of gadgets, such as customized smartphone and camera cases. White is the preferred color, followed by blue, red and green.
Highlights of the 3D Hubs Trend Report
Sourcing from their actual order data, 3D Hubs has given the market insight into actual 3D printing activity. Here are some highlights:
- 3D printer brands: Ultimaker and MakerBot currently account for a combined 40.4 percent of the more than 1,100 3D printers on the 3D Hubs network, followed by RepRap (11 percent) and Prusa Mendel (7.3 percent) amongst others. MakerBot leads in the United States and Ultimaker leads in Europe.
- Prototypes: The number one use case is still prototypes, however more and more end products have begun to be printed. Gadgets, phone accessories, gifts, toys and fashion items like jewelry currently make up more than half of the platforms’ print jobs.
- Colors and materials: Given that desktop printers represent 90 percent of the 3D Hubs network, it is not surprising that plastics like ABS and PLA make up about 80 percent of the 3D printer materials available. Other popular materials include nylon, wood and flexible rubber-like materials. Customers can order these materials in a variety of different colors, however, white is currently the most offered color (15.7 percent), followed by blue (14.5 percent), red (14.1 percent), and green (12.9 percent). More exotic colors are also being offered including gold, silver and glow-in-the-dark colors.
You can quickly browse through the charts in the report below, or read the full 3D Hubs Trend Report at http://www.3dhubs.com/trends.
How 3D Hubs Works
The majority of 3D printer owners use their device less than 10 hours a week, and 3D Hubs harnesses the remaining 95 percent idle time. Printer owners earn money when their 3D printer is not in use, and simultaneously establish social connections within their local 3D maker community.
3D printer owners simply join the Hubs listing in their city to offer 3D printing services in their neighborhood. Each Hub decides how much money it wants to earn, and sets its own start-up price for a 3D print, plus additional fee charges for each cubic centimeter of material used.
3D Hubs performs a 3D model repair check using Netfabb cloud software for each order to ensure the uploaded 3D-model is watertight, automatically repairs it if necessary, and once the 3D-model passes inspection, the order is processed and forwarded to the Hub. 3D Hubs adds a 15 percent commission (excluding any applicable taxes) on top of the price entered for each customer quote, processes the order, and collects the payment.
Customers use 3D Hubs to locate 3D printer owners in their neighborhood, and then order and pick up sustainable, locally printed objects in a matter of days instead of weeks – something that sets 3D Hubs apart from centralized 3D printing services.
Based in Amsterdam and founded in April 2013 by two former 3D Systems employees, 3D Hubs is a privately held company backed by Balderton Capital and Rockstart Accelerator.
Watch this video to learn more about how 3D Hubs works:
