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 »
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When Will We See 3D Printers Make Their Way Into Our Homes?
3D printing has hype and controversy, but what about adoption?
This is a guest post by UK-based Laser Lines Ltd, whose bio is at the end of the article.
Earlier this year it was announced that Maplin Electronics would be the first UK retailer to stock a home 3D printer. With all the hype and controversy surrounding this technology, it’s left many wondering if 3D printers will be the next big gadget to make their way into every home.
3D printing is the process of printing layers of material, usually plastic, on-top of one another to build up a 3D object. The Velleman K8200, which retails at £700, allows customers to 3D print any object they want from the comfort of their home, from a chess piece to mobile phone case. The plastics come in red, black, white, orange, green, yellow and pink, costing £30 for 1kg of the resin. Certainly an interesting addition to any home office but isn’t this a rather expensive way of reproducing items that would ordinarily cost just a few pounds?
The idea of everyday consumers being able to access 3D printers has already caused controversy in the US following the announcement of printable handgun blueprints online. The handgun, which would have been made from plastic if successfully produced in this way, could have gone undetected by standard security scanner.
Another widespread concern about 3D printers in the home is the likelihood of copyright infringement through the reproduction of products. Users would potentially be able to produce a 3D scan of a product and then using this scan blueprint re-create the object precisely at home.
Outside of the home however, 3D printing technology has been having far greater success. Manufacturers are able to benefit from quick prototype production, enabling sketched concepts to be swiftly tried and tested. The aerospace industry has already started producing fully functional parts via 3D print technology too, with NASA known for their frequent use of the procedure to make lightweight engine and shuttle parts. 3D printing has the potential to completely transform production supply chains, particularly when it comes to producing small parts that would have usually been shipped from one manufacturer to another.
There are incredible medical implications of this printing process too. Professionals believe that, ultimately, 3D printers could be produced to print living materials in place of plastics. Layering cells alongside a medical scaffolding substance called hydrogel, it should be possible to print the basis of human organs such as a liver or kidney, before leaving them to grown into the fully formed structure. Soon it will also be possible to print sophisticated human tissue specifically for pharmaceutical testing – which means risk free clinical testing and trials (though again a hugely controversial idea).
In conclusion, perhaps 3D printers will see their way into the homes of those who can afford such a novelty, but for the time being the real advantages will be found in manufacturing on professional scale machines. Even then 3D printing has a long way to go before it’s embraced by everyone.
About the author: This article is written by UK-based Laser Lines Ltd, a bespoke 3D printing company that have been providing 3D printing solutions for over 20 years. Visit their website to browse through their collection.
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College Kids Design Desktop 3D Printer to Be Crowdfunded and Sold For Under $500
Deltaprintr Desktop 3D Printer Coming Soon to Kickstarter and Maker Faire
“We designed the Deltaprintr to be simple without sacrificing anything.” — Deltaprintr team
Deltaprintr is a new desktop 3D printer concept that is targeting a retail price of under $500. Created by a team of college students, the savings come from a desire to simplify, not limit, capabilities.
“The project’s inception occurred when I had built a RepRap for our University due to limited availability of funds at the time,” said Shai Schechter, the tech guru behind Deltaprintr, in an interview with On 3D Printing. “After noticing 3D printing’s potential in the classroom and rising demand from fellow college friends, we decided to make our own 3D printer that not only those who can afford to spend more than $1,000 on their printer can buy, but college students as well.”
The team began working on their desktop 3D printer in May and are in the process of finalizing production costs. Schechter said proudly, “we are currently on track to sell at retail under $500.”
The Deltaprintr Team
The founding Deltaprintr team is composed of electrical and mechanical engineers, finance, and a graphic designer. But there is also a great response from the community, Schechter explained, “with a lot of positive feedback and a lot of anxious people waiting for us to launch.”
Desktop 3D printer leader MakerBot, sellers of the $2,200 Replicator 2 desktop 3D printer, was recently acquired by Stratasys for $403 million. Perhaps this team can strike gold with their more affordable design.
The company has launched teaser videos on YouTube and high quality images of its 3D printer. Below is an image gallery and their teaser video.
See Deltaprintr at Maker Faire and on Kickstarter
Deltaprintr will be exhibiting at the World Maker Faire this September 21-22 in NY.
Schechter tells us they are also planning on launching a Kickstarter campaign sometime in October or November. Stay tuned here for more news on Deltaprintr.
Learn more at Deltaprintr.com.
Win a Solidoodle 3D Printer at 100% Design Competition in the UK
3D Printing Design Competition Will Award Solidoodle 3D Printer to the Winner
To celebrate the launch of the Home Factory at this year’s 100% Design, the UK’s largest contemporary design event, the organizers are teaming up with iMakr, the world’s largest 3D print store, to offer 5 lucky creatives the chance to have their designs printed in 3D and displayed at the event.
100% Design is officially the UK’s largest design trade event with over 25,000 visitors including architects, interior designers, retailers and designers. The event is held between the 18-21 September and is the biggest event during the London Design Festival. 100% Design is expected to attract over 30,000 visitors in 2013.
The Home Factory is a dedicated 100 square-meter space at 100% Design exploring the potential of 3D printing. It’s a concept living space that demonstrates both the impact of 3D printing in an interiors setting and showcase some of the best 3D printed interiors products. UK 3D print pioneers, iMakr, will produce a concept space within The Home Factory that brings creativity closer to the technology.
Submit Your Design
The contest is open to any design, whether for the home or workplace. You can design anything from furniture to lighting to tableware to technology or an accessory. Submit your designs in 2D or 3D software. If a 2D drawing is selected, the contest organizers will convert it into 3D for you.
Here are some of the current highest voted submissions.
Awards
Judge’s Choice Award
The judging panel including 100% Design Event Director, William Knight will select 5 winners who will:
- Have their design 3D printed and displayed as part of the Home Factory feature at 100% Design
- Have their 3D printed works exhibited in the iMakr store in London for a promotional period
- Earn commission on their design if sold during the promotional period
One overall winner will receive a Solidoodle 3rd Generation 3D Printer worth £800.
People’s Choice Award
In addition to the Judge’s Choice award, the design that receives the highest votes will have their design exhibited at 100% Design.
Learn more about the contest, submit your design, or view submissions at Talent House.
Student Creates LEGObot 3D Printer Made Entirely of LEGOs
LEGObot 3D Printer
Engineering student Matt Kreuger loves LEGOs and 3D printing, so why not combine those passions? Kreuger is the creator of the LEGObot, a 3D printer built almost entirely out of LEGO blocks.
Unlike other desktop 3D printers, the LEGObot is limited to hot glue which makes it more of a novelty than utility, but not bad for a first version!
Kreuger posted his design on Instructables along with this story and video.
Ever since I saw the first makerbot, I have been obsessed with 3D printing, but I am an engineering student so I don’t have an extra $800-$2500, and have been doing my best to create one out of what I have on hand. I tried arduino with easy drivers, and parallel port, but neither one gave results, I always needed a tool or part that I couldn’t get. So I pulled out my old box of legos and started building.
This is a project I have been working on for the past year, it prints in hot glue and made almost completely out of legos. Based roughly on the first version of the makerbot, while it does print, I would call this more of a prototype than a finished project. I am using 4 power supplies (3v extruder, 7.2v for nxt, 12v fan, and 115 for hot glue gun) and having to manually turn the extruder on and off, (although i am working on that one) . Unfortunately, due to my lack of computer programming skills, every move has to be manually programmed from the NXT programming software, I have yet to find a g-code interpreter for the NXT.
Hopefully in the next version I will be able to shorten the height of the platform, reduce wobble, and use g-code files.
but in the mean time, I have included a Lego Digital Designer file with the full printer in it, just about all the technic parts are exactly the same as in my printer, but for the structure I used different parts to speed the digital building process, the structure and dimensions are still the same. under each X and Y axis there are 2 suspended blocks that I placed coins in to balance the weight of the motor on each side, for the extruder motor I used a lens adjustment motor out of an old VHS camera because it was low speed/high torque. In the .ldd file, the green box on the right side of the extruder gears is the case I made for it, it works perfectly.While hot-glue works, its very rubbery and doesn’t have many practical uses, if only one or 2 layers are printed then it will stick to glass to make window stickers, but its not sturdy or rigid, I will be experimenting with printing using wax and heat-melting resins in the future. I am currently limited to what I can make with what I have at hand, some more printed parts could really improve accuracy on this. I initially did not have enough gear racks so I asked someone who had a 3D printer at work if he could help me out, I was able to get around 30 of them printed, and while they work, they do not connect perfectly to the legos, which is what causes most of the wobble in the platform.
Bukito 3D Printer: Portable 3D Printer on Kickstarter
Bukito 3D Printer is Portable, Affordable and Fast
Last year, Diego Porqueras from Deezmaker launched a Kickstarter campaign for the Bukobot 3D printer and raised $167,410 from 290 backers, or an average of $577 per backer. With that successful track record, Diego’s team has launched a new campaign for the portable and affordable Bukito 3D printer.
What is the “Bukito”?
Industrial 3D printers are massive machines. While desktop 3D printers like the MakerBot Replicator 2 are much smaller, they are still far from portable.
The Bukito is a sturdy, fast and portable 3D printer. It has 100 micron resolution, speeds up to 150 mm per second, and can be taken anywhere. Think about taking your 3D printer to school for projects, the local coffee shop, a friend’s house, on a family roadtrip, or even library (yes, it’s quiet enough).
Kickstarter Campaign
Deezmaker is looking to raise $54,000 in crowdfunding on Kickstarter. With 32 days to go, they have already raised $38,094 from 84 backers, or $454 per backer. To get the Bukito 3D printer kit, the minimum pledge is $549.
Watch the video below to learn more about the new Bukito portable 3D printer.
Hat tip to Hack Things who also covered this story.
