Tag Archives: Autodesk

MakerBot Academy Campaign to Put 3D Printers in Every School

MakerBot Announces MakerBot Academy: 3D Printers, Supplies and Curriculum for Schools

MakerBot wants to put a 3D printer in every school in America.

The company has partnered with DonorsChoose.org, America Makes, and Autodesk on this initiative. “To get this done, we are going to have to do it together,” said Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot.

MakerBot was inspired by President Obama’s call to action to bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. In the most recent State of the Union address, the President said, “a once-shuttered warehouse is now a state-of-the art lab where new workers are mastering the 3D printing that has the potential to revolutionize the way we make almost everything.”

3D Printing Obama SOTU

MakerBot Academy is the company’s answer to this call. Beginning this week, individuals and corporations interested in helping put MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers in schools can visit DonorsChoose.org, a crowd funding site for teachers, and pledge to financially support the program. Teachers then register on DonorsChoose.org for a MakerBot Academy bundle.

Each MakerBot Academy bundle contains a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer, three spools of MakerBot PLA Filament, and a full year of the MakerBot MakerCare Service and Protection Plan. MakerBot will also support the teachers with the development of ongoing 3D printing curriculum that teachers can participate in and utilize in the classroom. MakerBot will leverage Autodesk’s software and educator curriculum as well.

Bre Pettis, CEO of MakerBot, has personally pledged to put a MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer in public high schools in MakerBot’s hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. In addition, Ralph Crump, original inventor of FDM 3D printing technology and founder of Stratasys, has pledged his support.

“As a former teacher, I believe strongly in creating a new model for innovation. A MakerBot is a manufacturing education in a box,” said Bre Pettis. “We need to encourage our teachers and our youth to think differently about manufacturing and innovation. When you have a MakerBot Desktop 3D Printer, you see the world differently. Instead of waiting for someone to create a product for you, you can create your own. It can change the whole paradigm of how our children will see innovation and manufacturing in America.”

Stratasys MakerBot Complete Merger

Pictured above, Bre Pettis and Scott Crump.

The White House has responded positively to this initiative. “We are thrilled that MakerBot and America Makes are joining a growing coalition of citizens working to give American students the ability to design and make almost anything,” said Tom Kalil, deputy director for Technology and Innovation, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. “As the President has said, we all need to think creatively about giving our young people the tools to be ‘the makers of things, and not just the consumers of things.’”

MakerBot is also launching a MakerBot Thingiverse Math Manipulatives Challenge. Math Manipulatives are one of the most requested items on DonorsChoose.org and are an item that can easily be 3D printed in the classroom. The MakerBot Thingiverse website will hold a week-­‐long design challenge, from November 12 through 18, 2013, for its members to quickly develop a variety of different math manipulative 3D designs that can then be available immediately to teachers that receive the MakerBot Academy 3D printing package.

For more information on MakerBot Academy, visit makerbot.com/academy. For more information on supporting or registering for the program, visit DonorsChoose.org.

Home 3D Printing Can Save You $2000 Per Year (Infographic)

Learn about home 3D printing in this detailed infographic

3D Printing Infographic - LineShapeSpace

Hat tip to our reader @morgaNicole who shared this great infographic with us. Published by Line/Shape/Space, Autodesk’s creative blog, the infographic gives a one-page primer on the benefits and ROI of 3D printing at home.

Click on the image above, or click here to access the full infographic (3.6 MB), to read about:

  • How 3D printing works
  • How much it costs
  • What you can print
  • What’s in it for small business
  • and, getting started

Attend Inside 3D Printing Conference in San Jose – 15% Discount

Inside 3D Printing Conference

Attend Inside 3D Printing San Jose – 15% Discount

The Inside 3D Printing Conference & Expo will continue its world tour in San Jose, California on September 17-18. With a new city, speakers, and exhibitors, this event is one that shouldn’t be missed by those interested in the business and applications of 3D printing.

The event’s proximity to Silicon Valley makes it an ideal place to hold the event, attracting leaders in the valley’s startup community. We’ve partnered with the event to again bring you a 15% discount: ON3D.

Carl Bass, President & CEO of Autodesk, Avi Reichental, President & CEO of 3D Systems, and S. Scott Crump, Founder of Stratasys, will deliver the conference’s three keynote addresses.

Crump will also participate in the session, 3D Printing Pioneers, which will bring together Carl Deckard, Polymer Scientist, Structured Polymers, and Chuck Hull, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, 3D Systems. The three creators of FDM, SLS, and SLA will discuss their early technical and commercial challenges, and what it took to become successful.

Additional sessions include The 10 Principles of 3D Printing, Leveraging 3D Printing Through Innovative Design for Space Exploration, The Promise of Distributed Manufacturing, The Financial Landscape, and Local Connectivity & 3D Printing: How It Got Here and Where It Will Take Us. View the full program.

New exhibitors including Artec Group, Made in Space, Fathom, GoEngineer, will join the conference’s expo hall with the likes of Stratasys and 3D Systems. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore the latest 3D printers and services and watch them in action.

PERK: Enter our discount code: ON3D for 15% off your full conference pass. For the best rates, register before August 21.

 

3D Scanning for 3D Printing: How Kickstarter is Changing the Game

3D Scanning 3D Printing

3D Scanning Makes 3D Printing Possible

Last week, two 3D scanning projects were launched on Kickstarter, looking to raise crowdfunding.

  • Fuel3D, which bills itself as “a handheld 3D scanner for less than $1000″ rocketed past its target of $75,000 and is now over $200,000 raised with 23 days to go.
  • Volumental’s 3D Scan-to-Print Web App, on the other hand, is still short of its $20,000 goal (they’ve raised about $12,000 so far).

Let’s take a deeper look.

First, why is 3D scanning important?

While the popularity around 3D printing continues to rise, sourcing good designs to print remains a challenge. Sure, you can buy a MakerBot 3D printer and download some 3D designs from Thingiverse, but what if you wanted to capture something in your home or office? That’s where 3D scanning technology comes in.

New entrants to 3D scanning

On the high end, there is expensive software and equipment used by professionals. Fuel3D is directly competing in this area of the market with a much more affordable solution.

Hardware innovation blog HackThings wrote, “Fuel3D is a handheld 3D scanner that’s capable of capturing extremely high resolution mesh (250 microns) and color information of objects in 3D, for around $1000.  According to the creators, that’s an order of magnitude less than today’s commercial solutions of comparable resolution.”

On the low end, there is free software such as Autodesk 123D Catch. And MakerBot has announced plans for real-world copy and paste technology. This is the area that Volumental is competing. The web-based software connects to a depth camera, like a Kinect, and builds a model on the fly.

HackThings wrote about this solution, “It works as a combination of inexpensive sensor hardware and sophisticated cloud-based software.  Log in to their web service, plug in a $300 depth sensor via USB, walk around the object you want to scan, wait for processing and then click “print” to get a clone either via an online printing service or on your own 3D printer.”

Kickstarter campaigns comparison

It might seem surprising that the higher priced solution has raised more money to date on Kickstarter, but this side-by-side comparison gives us some insight into the mentality of crowdfunding. Supporters don’t want to fund things that are perceived to be free; instead, they want to pledge to campaigns that are changing the market. Fuel3D is reducing the cost of high end 3D scanners by an order of magnitude, while Volumental is competing with free.

If you want to back either campaign, or both, here are videos and links to each project.

Fuel3D: A handheld 3D scanner for less than $1000

The 3D Scan-to-Print Web App by Volumental

 

Buttercup the Duck Gets 3D Printed Prosthetic Foot and a Facebook Page

Buttercup Duck 3D Printed Foot

Prosthetic Duck Foot Designed Using 3D Printing

Buttercup is a lucky little duck. He was born in November 2012 with a backwards foot, a disability that could have resulted in a short life, were it not for his owners who designed and 3D printed a prosthetic foot. It’s an amazing story.

From birth Buttercup was disabled with a backwards foot. As he grew, it was clear that this was going to impair his ability to survive.

Buttercup Duck 3D Printed Foot

After having surgery to remove the foot, Buttercup had just a little stump of a leg. His owner Mike Garey decided to turn to 3D printing to create a new limb for the duckling. As a software engineer, Garey used Autodesk 3D modeling software to design the new foot based on photos of Buttercup’s other foot and photos of Buttercup’s sister’s foot.

Buttercup Duck 3D Printed Foot

Garey partnered with NovaCopy, a 3D printing reseller located in Tennessee, to 3D print the foot, or really a sock shaped like a webbed foot that would ultimately be used to create a mold for the final prosthetic.

Buttercup Duck 3D Printed Foot

Needless to say, Buttercup is happy little duck that he is so well taken care of. His owners have published a Facebook page where you can follow Buttercup’s story in great detail. The page currently has over 8,000 likes!