The RoBo 3D Printer is for the “average joe.”
Posted on 01/11/2013 10:25:31 AM PST by null and void
New Kickstarter project could well be first affordable at-home 3D printer brought to market
Staples may be planning to bring 3D printing to the consumer marketplace, but three men from San Diego want to bring it right into your home office, and they’ve created an overwhelmingly successful Kickstarter campaign to help them do it.
Called the RoBo 3D Printer , the device is not the first personal 3D printer out there, but it is one of the most inexpensive. Its creators believe that they’ll be able to sell the product for just over $500 — a veritable steal compared to home 3D printers with price tags in the thousands.
The RoBo 3D Printer is for the “average joe.”
“For the average joe, there’re not many opportunities to buy a 3D printer without breaking the bank,” says co-founder Braydon Moreno. “So we decided to build it ourselves for people like us and to keep it open source so there’s no barriers to how this machine can evolve.”
Additionally, Moreno and his partners say that RoBo 3D was designed to remove many of the entry-level barriers associated with in-home 3D printing. They promise that the printer will be easy to use and require very little design knowledge, making it the perfect starter printer for beginners, hobbyists, educators, and artists. It is plug-and-play with a USB connector and works with open-source 3D modeling software, like Google Sketchup.
Model of Yoda printed by the RoBo 3D.
For those interested in a more advanced printer, RoBo 3D stands up well to its more costly competitors. It has a 10 x 10 x 8-in. print area — large for an at-home printer, but still small enough to fit into the personal office. It prints at 100-micron layers in 3-mm-diameter PLA plastic filament, which results in strong, hard-wearing products.
With just under a month left in their campaign, RoBo 3D and its founders have already well surpassed their funding goal, with more than $121,000 pledged by nearly 300 backers. Once the campaign is completed, the trio plans to begin mass-manufacturing the printers — ordering some components and printing others in their RoBo 3D farm.
For more on 3D printing, read How 3D Printing is Building Our World and 5 Things to Know: 3D Printing .
For more information about RoBo 3D, visit the Kickstarter page . ■
Yeah the resolution / print accuracy seems a little course.
Taught myself basic programming on one of those in the early 80's. Chiclet keyboard and all.
I had the Sinclair and I even sprang for the big clunky extra memory that plugged into the side. I learned plenty from that thing, and also from the Commodore C64 and the IBM PC and finally the 386, 486, etc. That process took quite a few years. With this printer tech, I see it progressing much more rapidly. While I would love to have one right now to start playing and learning, I am leaning towards waiting a while and getting the 3rd or 4th generation improvements.
It saddens me to think back on all the cheap ABS toys and doodads I have broken since I was a kid. If I had saved them, I could repair them all with new parts.
Yes. I've read how-to accounts by hobbyists who have done this. Mostly at Solidoodle threads. I'm not totally sure it was PLA. But basically they put a strainer basket in a pot with some acetone, and gently heat it for a limited time. The object is left in the basket for an extremely short time, and the vapor smoothes it. (Done outdoors with precautions.)
Problematic. The printer has problems with large overhangs, no can do.
Does it? Check out Yoda’s ears!
The problem is, it builds up layer by layer from the bottom. So Yoda’s ears have support from the bottom, and slowly builds outwards. A well-endowed woman would have no support on the lower portion of her extremities, and the printer “ink” would simply fall away. If you “print” the woman in sections while laying on her back, you may have better results. A better solution are extremely expensive 3-D printers that build layers in a support medium.
Regarding vapor polishing, the folks doing this on the Solidoodle threads use PLA filiment, while having more success with ABS filiment. Halfway down this thread are discussions of vapor polishing using acetone.
http://solidoodletips.wordpress.com/
A strainer and pot combination in use is the Presto Kitchen Kettle Multi-Cooker Steamer from Walmart.
I’ve done it by putting a half inch or so of acetone in the bottom of a mason jar, dangling the part over the acetone and putting the jar in a shallow pan of hot water.
I could hold them and give support while they are printing.
I suppose one could alter the source file to provide bridging supports to the extremities, and then cut them away after printing. A certain amount of sanding/grinding and polishing is required anyway to achieve desired results. One probably would have the joy and satisfaction of a sculptor in carressing a work of art in the making, a modern Venus. The wife asks what are these machines good for other than as toys. They don't understand men's needs to play with toys (or art). Many new technologies have their R&D paid for by prurient interests, and it will be so with this one as well. Such is progress, and as it improves so will the joy of many hobbyist artists. Now, if only robotics would catch up to the dreams of men.
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