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EnvisionTEC Partner Viridis3D Shows Off New 3D Printing Tech 3D Printer Hardware

by Technologies

Viridis3D, a supplier of additive manufacturing technology for making sand molds and cores for foundry applications, has teamed up with Palmer Manufacturing and Trident Alloys to provide live demonstrations of its new robotic 3D printing technology. Customers from the United States, Canada and Mexico attended the first demonstration events held in June and August, and were shown the speed and flexibility that the RAM123 printers bring to the foundry industry. Three more events will be held on Sept. 14, Oct. 6, and Nov. 8. Each session will run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attendees will receive an hour-long live machine demonstration, a foundry tour, and an offsite Q&A at a nearby conference center. Trident Alloys, a jobbing foundry in Springfield, Mass., purchased a Viridis3D RAM123 printer in 2015, and has added 3D printed sand molds as a quick turn service for making production sand castings. The company has produced castings for existing customers, ranging from prototype, production, and legacy spare parts. Jim Galaska, owner of Trident Alloys, said he was “surprised at the new business that we are getting through word of mouth, before we even started advertising.” Will Shambley, Co-founder of Viridis3D, and Jack Palmer, President of Palmer Manufacturing & Supply, will lead the live demonstrations showing how the company makes cores and molds with the robotic 3D printing technology and discuss how Trident Alloys is using the technology in everyday production. “These demonstrations show just how revolutionary and disruptive 3D printing technology is for the foundry industry,” Shambley said. “We have a great product that is already making production sand castings.” Palmer added, “The Viridis3D technology is amazingly simple, rugged, and affordable. Its ability to achieve excellent surface finish with accurate tolerances sets itself apart from anything else on the market today.” Space is limited in each session. For more details and to register, visit www.palmermfg.com/reservation.html. About Viridis3D Founded in 2010, Viridis3D is an all-inclusive supplier of additive manufacturing technology for industrial applications. The company sells complete systems of materials, 3D printing machines, robots, software, and the training needed to successfully deploy functional solutions for metal casting, ceramics, and composites applications. Viridis3D is backed by an exclusive strategic partnership with EnvisionTEC. For more information, please visit Viridis3d.com. About Palmer Manufacturing & Supply Palmer Manufacturing and Supply, a manufacturer of foundry equipment from Springfield, OH, is the official sales partner for the Viridis3D sand casting systems in North and South America. More information at www.palmermfg.com. About EnvisionTEC EnvisionTEC is a leading global provider of professional-grade 3D printing solutions. Founded in 2002 with its pioneering commercial DLP printing technology, EnvisionTEC now sells 40 printers based on six distinct technologies that build objects from digital design files. The company’s premium printers serve a wide variety of medical, professional and industrial markets, and are valued for precision, surface quality, functionality and speed. EnvisionTEC’s intellectual property includes more than 100 patents and 70 proprietary materials. Headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, and Gladbeck, Germany, EnvisionTEC is privately owned by its founder, who is passionate about advancing the field of additive manufacturing. Learn more at EnvisionTEC.com.

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Maurizio Casella’s 3D Printed ’57 Corvette May Be the Most Beautiful Model Yet AM Software

by Automotive

When it comes to 3D printable car models to assemble it does not get much better than Maurizio Casella’s work. His latest 3D printed ’57 Corvette, though, might just beat them all. “This ’57 Chevy Corvette is one of the most iconic design ever seen, and could not miss in my collection”, Maurizio said on Facebook. I modeled following blueprints for this first white and red version, and then printed it in white ABS by a Bnz 4070, red PLA on a Bad Devices BP2, silver metallic PLA on a WASP 2040. A second version light blue and white, with closed roof, is on the way.” I feel I “discovered” Maurizio “Mao” Casella, since we got in touch through Facebook when he was beginning to commercialize his 3D models. Judging by what he has produced so far, he might be one of the biggest talents out there at creating “consumer-ready” 3D printable models. He has shown it once again with three new creations straight out of “automotive mythology”: the Citroen 2CV, the original Mini Cooper, the Renault 5, the Wolkswagen Beetle, the “Hippy van”, and many more.

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LUMEX presents larger LUMEX Avance-60 to UK market 3D Printer Hardware

by Technologies

Matsuura just announced the UK launch of the LUMEX Avance-60, the larger sister model to the unique hybrid (SLM additive and CNC subtractive) LUMEX Avance-25. Since the Avance-25 has been present on the market – and has been the Matsuura reference system (and the only hybrid system) for about a decade – this is quite a significant step. Especially since the new machine is truly impressive for its size.

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Modla Brings New Dimension to Snapback Artwork with 3D Printed Range 3D Printing Processes

by Consumer

London-based 3D Printing studio, Modla, released an exclusive range of three snapbacks, each with its own 3D printed graphic. As part of its launch, Modla is offering the public the opportunity to submit their own designs, with the best entries chosen to be recreated in 3D and released as part of the range. Known for their artist collaborations and commissions for brands like Nike and Converse, Modla continues to push the creative boundaries of 3D printing with its new snapback range; lifting graphics and illustrations off of the fabric and into 3D. The range has been created as part of Modla’s ongoing exploration into the creative possibilities of 3D printing, combining digital design with art and fashion. There are three intricate designs, each intended to be a mini piece of art in itself; designed in digital 3D software, before being 3D printed, dyed and assembled by hand. The snapbacks are made to order – literally 3D printed and assembled one at a time. Modla is also opening up the opportunity for designers, artists or any member of the general public, to enter their own designs to be recreated in 3D. You don’t need to be a designer to enter – all they need is a simple sketch or image, from which to work. The designs will be sold through the Modla website and a percentage of profits shared with the entrant. More info with terms & conditions can be found at www.modla.co.uk Modla Founder, Jon Fidler, says “We’ve always seen 3D printing as a tool to create art. We’ve worked with fashion designers in the past, to develop highly intricate prototypes, but this makes the 3D print an actual part of the final piece of clothing. It’s unlike anything we’ve ever seen, so we’re excited to see how it goes down. If people like it, there’s plenty more from where this came from!”

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Open Camera Project Helps You 3D Print Your Own Affordable DSLR and GoPro Rigs AM Software

by Design

Jenny Chen of 3DHeals, on the Women in 3D Printing Blog, recently said that it is not the technology itself, as much as the people using it, that are driving innovation in 3D printing. That is absolutely true: the paradox is that while so many of us focus on the limits of desktop (and industrial) machines, the true limits are in our heads (and in materials). The Open Camera Project by YouTuber, blogger and 3D Printer Chat FB group administrator Anton Månsson shows exactly that we are just beginning to understand how we can fully exploit the capabilities of even a basic desktop 3D printer fed with PETG. “I’ve always loved filming and cameras,” Anton explains, “I love the idea of creating videos to educate and illustrate things going on. When combining this with a passion for gadgets i suddenly realized you have to cut corners to afford the “important” stuff. One of those things were to mount all the necessary parts around the camera. When moving from visual 3D-creation into more mechanical 3D-creation – he continues – I picked up on the fact that I have all these 3D printers at the Creative Tools office and wanted to create a 3D printable system that I could use instead of buying loads of expensive parts.” DSLR (and GoPro) camera accessories are extremely expensive. Even more so for rigs. And yet rigs are some of the products that can be 3D printed more efficiently. The biggest challenge – as is often the case -is designing them but through open source sharing, it may be enough for one person to begin and let everyone contribute to provide the community with several affordable designs. The most common systems use 15mm Diameter rods (aluminium or carbon fiber usually) that are offset by 60mm (center to center). The idea of a camera rig is to incorporate manually operated focus systems, as well as enabling one or more two persons to operate the camera easily. For low budget film and documentary use it’s common to use a shoulder rig that’s lets one operator rest the camera (and audio recording, light, batteries and more) on this shoulder and arms. This can be combined this with a “follow-focus system” (a knob that you twist to smoothly change focus, instead of turning the lens built-in focus ring). Given all the right tools, a camera operator is able to achieve a lot more with a smaller team (or even alone). “All of this gear is usually very expensive and my goal was to create a system that could be printed for under $100, to be open source, and to work with existing parts while being strong enough to handle a DSLR-camera.”, Anton says. The project is just beginning but it looks promising and there certainly are thousands of professionals out there – in the ever more competitive and low paying world of photography and videomaking – who can benefit a great deal from a significant cut to their accessories expenses list.

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Harvard researchers “EMB3D Print” the first autonomous, entirely soft robot 3D Printing Processes

by Business

Powered by a chemical reaction controlled by microfluidics, 3D printed ‘octobot’ is a soft robot which has no electronics. A team of Harvard University researchers with expertise in 3D printing, mechanical engineering, and microfluidics has demonstrated the first autonomous, untethered, entirely soft robot. This small, 3D-printed robot — nicknamed the octobot — could pave the way for a new generation of completely soft, autonomous machines. Soft robotics could revolutionize how humans interact with machines. But researchers have struggled to build entirely compliant robots. Electric power and control systems — such as batteries and circuit boards — are rigid and until now soft-bodied robots have been either tethered to an off-board system or rigged with hard components. The study’s authors include Robert Wood, the Charles River Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences and Jennifer A. Lewis, the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) led the research. Lewis and Wood are also core faculty members of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. Professor Lewis is also one of the leading researchers in the fields of bioprinting and 3D printing by pneumatic extrusion (she is a foiunder of Voxel8).

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Source3 Brings 3D Printing to South Park 3D Printing Processes

by Consumer

For the first time South Park super fans, technophiles and collectible geeks will be able to purchase some of their favorite South Park characters, previously unavailable in physical form, thanks to Source3. Source3, a startup founded by former Google and music industry executives specializing in digital content management, has launched a collector-inspired line of South Park characters presented in full-color 3D prints, featuring year-round introductions of new and old characters. South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have hand-signed a limited number of Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman figurines which select fans who purchase the full set on Shapeways will have an opportunity to win (see the store links for official rules). The product lineup also includes fan favorites like Candidate Garrison, Terrance and Phillip, Tweek and Clyde Frog. The Source3 team is thrilled to celebrate the 20th season of South Park in partnership with Viacom, South Park Studios, Brandgenuity, WhiteClouds, Amazon, and Shapeways. The goal of Source3 is to help large content distribution websites, such as popular 3D printing marketplaces like Shapeways, but also consumer product giants like Amazon, to meet the real needs of designers. “We started developing the platform and launching a private beta testing phase first of all for us to develop a better product,” says Source3’s Director of Marketing Tom Simon, whom I finally caught up with, in spite of the 10-hour time zone difference between us. “We also did it for us to be able to go back to potential distribution partners and say to them ‘look, I know your API doesn’t do this today but designers are asking for it, se we can help you develop that part of the API in order to meet the designers future requirements.” What Source3 promises is to let designers everywhere simply upload a 3D model file and a texture to be rendered for online visualisation. While that is happening, the designer accesses a screen that lets him or her set the title, insert all metadata information, select categories and add tag words. Once this phase is complete, all the designer has to do is select the marketplaces and e-tailers that s/he wants his or her product to be featured in and Source3 will do all the work. Personally, I know quite a few people that could already take advantage of this service, instead of manually uploading to Shapeways, i-materialise, 3DaGoGo, ToyFabb, Pinshape, Cults, Threeding, Shapetizer… “Once a month, a revenue report comes from each of these marketplaces. We look at it and distribute the money earned to the designers based on how well their products sold. Give us your Pay{al account and we’ll deposit the money, and if you want to see a detailed report, we can provide the number of products sold, where the buyers are located, etc.,” Tom explains. “So, we’re slowly opening up this ecosystem of distribution marketplaces… The next step is to get beyond that and get closer to the more traditional marketplaces, like Amazon, or Etsy, as what we’re doing on the backend as well is forming relationships with 3D printing partners like White Clouds. If we set up for example your ability to distribute at Etsy, once the product is purchased it would send a a request to White Clouds to get it manufactured on demand.” The bottom line is that Source3 is being created to enable designers to just focus on designing and not worry about distribution. The real “unicorn” that Source3 is chasing is a “derivative rights model”, working with top brands to create consumer products out of their IPs and distributing through all the 3D printing marketplaces that have been integrated into the network. As in the recent Capcom and Zverse collaboration for the Street Fighter videogame cover art, or the following one with CDbaby. In order to achieve this, Source3 combined the experiences of two different “souls”. Some of the founders come from a digital rights management company called RightsFlow, which was created to manage royalties and licenses for digitally distributed music content. They were there when Sean Parker presented the Napster project to Universal Music in 2001 and the company was later acquired by YouTube. Another part of Source3 comes from Geomagic, which was acquired by 3D Systems and saw what happened with the home 3D printing hype. With physical objects, everything is much more complex but there are services like 3D Hubs which, as Tom puts it, “are already very functional processes.” Others, like Autodesk Spark (which is one of Source3’s investors) are working to create the ecosystem for global digital manufacturing. This might not mean that giants of the toy or consumer product industry will see it as a threat but some of the smaller companies might. The digital manufacturing revolution is happening, preparing to manage it can only be beneficial for everyone. If I were a designer of 3D printable products, I would definitely give the beta a shot. Despite posing certain potential threats to brands and intellectual property, 3D printing also offers a wealth of benefits, including customization for the customer and zero inventory costs for the manufacturer, making 3D printing a potential win-win means of manufacturing. Kudos to Viacom and South Park Studios for embracing 3D technology via licensing and setting an example in the industry for other brands determining the best way to react to this promising, disruptive technology.