News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
3D printing company EOS has been a critical partner over the years for London-based HEXR, a company that is pioneering the use of 3D printing for custom bicycle helmets. Now, with the launch of the HEXR fitting app, the partners have brought a complete scan-to-product-solution to market for the production of custom-fit cycling helmets.
Makeway is a modular, creative, unique super-puzzle with magnetic bits that attach seamlessly to all ferromagnetic materials-like a fridge, a locker or a whiteboard, a car. Simply move the track, connector and trick pieces around for an exciting brand new marble challenge. Now that it has collected over 4 million euro between the Kickstarter and Indiegogo crowdfunding platforms, the final products will be produced by injection molding, but it probably would have never seen the light if it were not for some intensive 3D printing to make the first prototype in the videos above and below.
Technology has progressed at amazing rates. Think about it: just four decades ago, Sony released the first walkman. Today, you’d be hard pressed to find one in a store and most youngsters wouldn’t even recognize a cassette. For those for whom nostalgia bites hard, a creative design agency has created an homage to the now obsolete Walkman, ironically using state-of-the-art 3D printing technology to do so.
SHINING 3D and Japanese designer footwear brand MAGARIMONO make you walk on clouds using 3D Digital Technology for Design & Production
After Elementum’s own aluminum alloys, APWORKS‘s Scalmalloy aluminum alloy has now also been officially approved by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and added to the Formula 1 regulation as one of the additive metal materials. Given that APWORKS is based in Germany it seems safe to assume that the current world champion Mercedes team will be making use of the material for its seemingly unbeatable vehicle. Mercedes F1 has been a major adopter of AM for rapid car development throughout its tenure.
When some hear about 3D printing, they think of a cutting-edge production technique that has little to do with art and creativity, but that is not at all the case. To illustrate this side of the technology, we recently spoke with Serena Fanara, an architect and designer with a strong and versatile portfolio. She designs and produces many product lines, including furnishing accessories, jewelry and gadgets, as ell as lighting systems and arrangements for events. At the core of all her work is the mission of environmental sustainability. To exemplify this ethos, she launched the SeFa Design by Nature brand in 2015.
A New Zealand veteran who was in a helicopter crash 10 years ago and has suffered from long-term injuries is now preparing to participate in the next Invictus Games thanks in part to 3D printing technologies. The New Zealand Defence Force has leveraged additive manufacturing to develop a customized cycling solution for the veteran, Stevin Creeggan.
Since it became accessible to hobbyists, 3D printing has been an essential tool for cosplayers, enabling them to create authentic replicas of even the most complex props from across fantasy and sci-fi worlds. Just take a scroll through Thingiverse to see some very creative and truly impressive cosplay projects. In fact, 3D printing has even helped pave the way for the creation of a cosplay-making industry, with skilled makers designing and creating custom projects for others. This is the case with Lightning Cosplay, a German company that creates tailored costumes for its customers using a range of processes, including 3D printing.
GSD Global, an engineering and design consultancy specializing in premium e-bikes, has teamed up with Swedish engineering company Sandvik to improve e-bike production using titanium additive manufacturing. Together, the companies have developed a 3D printed motor node, which is both significantly lighter and cheaper to produce compared to the traditionally manufactured part.
Remember the Spirula Speaker by studio Akemake? It was one of the very first design products showing that it was possible to actually make nice, functional finished consumer products using 3D printing. It was made using a wooden-polymer composite filament in a filament extrusion process and it still had limits both in form and productivity. Now that company is called Deeptime and it has evolved to embrace a more production-ready sand binder jetting 3D printing process: the result is the stunning Ionic Sound System, which consists of two passive sand 3D printed Spirula satellites and an active Thunderstone subwoofer (also 3D printed). The Thunderstone has optical, AUX, and Bluetooth inputs and contains the electronics that power the sound system.