News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
Polling of printed circuit board (PCB) designers and manufacturers, electrical engineers, OEMs and others interested in 3D printed PCB and circuits reveals that there is increasing demand for in-house prototyping for research and product development. The interest is particularly keen among companies that spend as much or more than $100,000 each year for prototyping services.more
Earlier this year, southern Italy-based Roboze, a young innovative manufacturer of professional FFF 3D printing solutions, appointed Gil Lavi as VP Global Sale with the goal to lay the foundations for the company’s global distribution channels, starting with the EMEA region. With 10 years experience in 3D printing, working for industry leader Stratasys, and with a wide perspective on the market, Lavi could tackle this new adventure with a definite head start. We recently had the chance to speak with Lavi to better understand Roboze’s plans for the future of 3D printing.
As we reported when we announced the launch of the new MakerBot Replicator + systems, Stratasys has refocused its strategy for the low cost 3D printers, now targeting primarily professionals and educators. Andreas Langfeld, MakerBot’s EMEA GM, is the man tasked with seeing this through and, by leveraign on his previous experience as Stratasys VP of finance, he seems to know exactly how to do it. We met him to find out exactly how the company intends to reposition itself to strengthen its desktop 3D printing market leadership.
The photopolymer sector is probably the one that is undergoing the most changes. It is at the same time the most mature and also the one that is evolving the fastest into different vertical markets. Photopolymers are finding applications for prototyping as we as – more and more often – for end use products. Materials (and multi-material) possibilities are endless and we may be just beginning to scratch the surface, with nanocomposite ceramics and pure ceramics presenting new and amazing possibilities for photopolymerization processes.
Over the course of the last three years, the desktop fabrication segment of the 3D Printing industry has come a long way. We have seen a great deal of innovation on the hardware side and a few new solutions that hold a great deal of promise in solving the issue of dual extrusion. At DesignBox3D, we have worked hard to choose our partners carefully and will often proudly share with anyone that happens to be listening that our longest running relationship has been with Espen Sivertsen and the entire team at Type A Machines. One of the core reasons for this mutual respect is that they look at additive manufacturing the same way as we do. It is a quickly emerging component in the design to manufacturing tool-chain and Type A Machines, like DesignBox3D, wants to be a key part of that tool-chain. Part of this vision of having Additive Manufacturing play a key role in the design to manufacturing process involves an intense focus on continual R&D and innovation on the hardware side, coupled with a desire to expand the capabilities of the hardware on the materials side of the equation. Type A has taken their version of Cura and added capabilities that cannot be found elsewhere. Absolute 3D Internal ™ structures and the 88+ materials and rising that are supported today are prime examples of the material flexibility of this platform.
Lifting the veil of secrecy, I will tell you that our team has been working day and night on a brand-new, never-before-seen, hand-held 3D scanner. And it’s almost here! However this post is not about how great or unique this piece of tech will be. This article is a glimpse into the life of an innovative, somewhat bizarre, yet never-boring team of brilliant techies. It turns out that naming a 3D scanner is almost as difficult as inventing a 3D scanner. Our team of engineers is ordinarily in harmony with our support, sales, manufacturing and marketing staff, but in the last few weeks we’ve witnessed heated intra-departmental discussions all around our Moscow office and at our manufacturing plant. The debate especially intensified, as the first prototypes started circulating around the office and the topic of color also began appearing in conversations (“What color should the scanner be?”). So what were some of the name choices? To understand why certain names were suggested, you have to know the key features of the new technology. As we are not yet formally announcing the new scanner, I won’t go into details, but I will say this: it is a hand-held, white light 3D scanner with three sets of interchangeable lenses that never have to be calibrated and can be switched out easily like lenses of a professional photo camera (snap on/off these lenses and you can go from capturing tiny objects such as jewelry to large objects such as cars or furniture). So the new scanner will ultimately have three “heads” and will be able to scan objects of almost any size. Sounds like a breakthrough, right? Our whole whacky team is very excited about the upcoming release (due out this autumn). So what do we call this new device? Here is where the debate starts… Some of the suggestions (and reasons for rejection) were:
At the 3D Printing Business Directory we pride ourselves in working with some of the most fascinating companies in the industry. One of these is certainly Moscow based 3D scanner manufacturer Thor3D, whose recent history has seen the company go thorough some difficult times and yet overcome the challenges that have come before it. Now Thor3D is pleased to announce the end of a prolonged legal dispute with Artec Europe S.a.r.l. in Germany. On August 25th, 2016 the Dusseldorf Higher Court handed down a final decision in favor of Thor3D and the creator of the technology behind the scanner, Mr. Andrey Klimov. The disagreement between the two companies started in 2015, when Artec Europe S.a.r.l. mistakenly assumed that the recently-announced Thor3D scanner, might contain misappropriated technology. The company filed a claim in the Dusseldorf court asking the court to confiscate one of the Thor3D scanners at the Euromold 2015 exhibition for an independent review. The court granted the request, and a prototype of the scanner was seized. Since this action was taken as a precaution (the Court, at the time, agreed with the plaintiff that once the exhibition was over, the alleged device might leave the country), Thor3D was not informed ahead of time, nor had a chance to voice its opposition. Several months later, there was a hearing in which we finally had a chance to present our arguments before a judge and in March 2016, the court sided with us. It agreed that the prototype should not have been confiscated in the first place, as Artec Europe S.a.r.l. did not prove that it had exclusive rights to what it claimed was “its” technology (regardless of whether Thor3D used it in its scanners….which it didn’t). The decision was upheld again in August 2016, after Artec Europe S.a.r.l appealed. We would like to take this opportunity to make several things clear:
EOS completed the pilot phase for EOSTATE MeltPool, a process monitoring and analysis solution for direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). Turkey-based pilot customer TUSAS Engine Ind. Inc. (TEI) will use the automated, intelligent and real-time process monitoring tool for quality inspection on engine parts.
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).
The low-cost, desktop 3D scanning segment is extremely varied, with DIY systems starting at a few hundred dollars and high end systems running into the thousands. Until supplies last (only a couple remaining at the time of writing), you are able to take advantage of a unique offer on eBay to get the reliable Rubicon 3D Scanner system at the unbeatable price of €299, thanks to an end-of-stock promotion from Rubicon 3D. Unlike most of its competitors, that use simple web-cam modules running in video mode, the Rubicon 3D Scanner uses an FPGA chip to control the Aptina MT9P006, 5 megapixel image sensor, which enables it to snap an image only when needed. In fact, while the main priority of a camera is to keep a steady frame-rate by sacrificing the image quality, the Rubicon 3D Scanner, through the use of a prolonged exposure, is capable of achieving a much higher quality image. The system designed by Rubitech is known to be at the same time capable of professional level perfromances and extremely easy to use: 3D scanning object becomes easy and fast and for everyone, making it a user favorite for fablabs, makers, workgroups, schools and universities all over Europe. The latest going out of stock promotion on eBay makes it the most affordable in its category currently on the market, representing a great opportunity to take a walk on the other side… of 3D printing.