In this article, we will provide insights into the benefits of using additive manufacturing and the challenges that businesses face when considering the change from conventional manufacturing (CM) to additive manufacturing (AM).

Pros and Cons of Additive Manufacturing

One of the key aspects of additive manufacturing is the ability to capture complex geometries in 3D models to produce unique parts. The design and redesign enabled by 3D printing technology allows the development of parts that simply can not be produced by CM methods including subtractive and formative manufacturing. When it comes to part complexity and customization, AM may be of a greater benefit to manufacturers. Computer software can be used to create intricate part designs that can be quickly printed without the need to create new molds – as required in CM – that can incur high costs and irrevocably increase product lead-times.

Low-volume manufacturing is the bridge between one-off prototyping and full-volume production. This is a term used to describe low-volume production (50-100,000 units) before actual serial production begins. AM began at low-volume for rapid prototyping and began to be adopted most notably for functional assembly manufacturing according to Wohler’s report.

Besides industries such as automotive, aerospace, and rapid tooling industries that are already using AM for direct-part manufacturing, AM can be a viable option to many other business. When considering the lead-times and costs concerned with AM and CM methods such as injection molding, AM has been shown to be beneficial for the cost-reduction of part manufacturing, and is usually more cost-competitive for smaller quantities.

Another benefit of AM over CM is the potential to save on costs associated with tooling. Deloitte has cited research where tooling costs associated with AM equipment are about 30% that of tooling for injection molding. Tooling expenses account for 5 and 90% of the total production cost for AM and injection molding respectfully. The layer-by-layer printing capability of AM allows for greater adaptability for a broad range of products compared to subtractive manufacturing tooling that must be made for each individual product. AM can also eliminate the labor and cost required for part assembly, as a product can be fully assembled during one print session.

Overall, AM may well be very attractive to manufacturers providing the process is applied to the production of parts that have high value, high complexity, low volume, and/or high labor costs. AM can reduce or eliminate assembly time for parts with high labor costs, and automate the production process so labor is reduced.

Challenges to Additive Manufacturing’s Wider Adoption

Despite the benefits of AM, there are various factors that hold back its full adoption as a standard manufacturing process, especially for mass production. As previously mentioned, although the technique is highly efficient at product design and redesign, the time taken to actually print the part required can be second best compared to what injection molding can achieve. For mass production, AM simply would not hit the mark.

As AM has the ability to produce complex geometries that CM methods cannot, it does not need to follow the traditional design for manufacturing and assembly (DFM/DFA) principles. Instead, AM follows its own manufacturing design regulations, which fall under the term Design for Additive Manufacturing (DfAM). Despite this, the debate still remains as to whether it really follows manufacturing for design. At present, DfAM principles still need to be worked on and standardized. Though progress is being made in this area, more is needed to promote AM at a larger scale. In particular, the absence of standardized best practices has continued to slow the development of quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) strategies to advance industrial certification of AM manufacturing.

Integrating Additive Manufacturing and Conventional Manufacturing

The process of AM is still being refined and explored to be able to fit it to suitable applications. As it is a growing technology, it still requires time to develop. Rather than seeing AM as a new way of creating products that completely superseeds CM, there is another perspective. A fusion of thought across and between industries is pushing forward the genesis of a hybrid manufacturing process where AM and CM are integrated together. This approach was described as the “best of both worlds” by 3D Systems and combines the relative speed and design complexity of AM with the materials and precision of CM methods.

An example of this can be gleaned through the use of the elastomer, urethane. In its cast form, its physical properties, texture, color and feel of injection molded parts can be replicated at low volumes which is ideal for pre-production. This same method is applicable for a number of resins used for 3D printing. It can be applied for industrial applications including rotating machinery or construction of conveyor systems.

Usually, CNC machining would be used to create master patterns needed to cast urethane. However, when AM techniques are applied to this process, it is made more efficient in terms of speed and cost-effectiveness. One example provided by 3D Systems in its eBook “The Benefits of Traditional and Additive Manufacturing from a Single Source” shows how various AM and CM methods have been combined to create a full car prototype in just eight weeks.

The combined force of both AM and CM has only recently been realized and as efforts continue to integrate these once segregated systems, a new hybrid system will emerge. At present both AM and CM are developing together, with both offering specific capabilities to manufacturers.

To find out more about how additive manufacturing could be complementary to your traditional manufacturing methods, contact us today.

The post Will Additive Manufacturing Replace Conventional Manufacturing? appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

What is rapid prototyping?

Rapid prototyping, to put it simply, takes you from napkin sketch to final product rapidly. A major bottleneck in the product development cycle is in prototyping. Traditional prototyping workflows often include outsourcing the creation of each prototype, waiting weeks — and spending significantly — for every new iteration, however tweaked or overhauled design changes may be. With rapid prototyping, those weeks between iterations may become days, taking months or years for standard prototyping cycles down to weeks, and getting your new product to market in a much more agreeable timespan.

What Is 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing / Rapid Prototyping?

Rapid prototyping today often means bringing in 3D printing technologies — or are they rapid prototyping processes, or is that additive manufacturing? It may help to understand just what additive manufacturing is (and Shapeways has a guide for that!) and how these technologies fit into the prototyping workflow.

What Is Additive Manufacturing?

Additive manufacturing (AM) is a digital manufacturing process in which a CAD model is used to create a solid object. A variety of technologies are defined as being additive, as these processes add material over the course of the build, rather than subtracting it as seen in many traditional manufacturing methods (e.g., CNC milling). Materials are deposited, often in a layer-by-layer process, using a 3D printer to build up the geometry of the model in three dimensions. AM processes can handle a variety of metals, from simple plastics to various metal alloys, from food pastes to biomaterials.

What’s The Difference Between 3D Printing, Additive Manufacturing, and Rapid Prototyping?

There are several ways of referring to these technologies, most commonly “3D printing” or “additive manufacturing,” though “rapid prototyping” is also used. For a fuller explanation, we dive into technology terminology in this article, but in short:

3D printing and additive manufacturing are often used interchangeably to refer to effectively the same processes. Additive manufacturing is recognized as a more industrial term, and tends to encompass expensive professional machinery being used in applications from prototyping to end-use product production. 3D printing can refer to the process of layer-by-layer building of an object, or more generally to refer to any usage of this technology, from hobbyists using inexpensive desktop systems to professionals using industrial equipment. Rapid prototyping was one of the first terms used for these technologies, which in the 1980s were geared toward the rapid production of prototypes and for a few decades so dominated usage that this application was synonymous with the tech itself.

For the purposes of this guide, 3D printing is a technology suite used for the application of rapid prototyping.

Rapid Prototyping Materials

Now that we know what rapid prototyping is, a good follow-up question is straightforward: What are some of the material options for rapid prototyping with 3D printing?

When using 3D printing from prototype to production, the same technology can be used throughout the product development cycle. That does not, however, mean that the same materials are necessarily the best choice at every step. Early stages of prototyping may focus more on speed and rough idea than on a “final look” quality, so inexpensive plastics are often the best fit here, when several iterations may be made in fairly quick succession. Each refinement in prototype may call for a better-quality material, and staging material selections can help cut costs, keeping the finer-detail options for only later-stage planning.

During initial prototyping stages, a low-cost material can be used with low infill and thicker layers, lowering material costs and speeding print time to create a rough-and-ready first look at a new design. Whether plastic or metal, 3D printing can quickly fabricate a product that will come to look and feel just like the desired end result.

By starting with a low-cost plastic material and moving after a few iterations to metal, for example, a product that will eventually be conventionally fabricated using metal can come to market much more quickly than would be the case by machining each iteration — a traditional pathway that ultimately costs much more in terms of time, money, and labor.

Material options in additive manufacturing may not run the full gamut available in traditional technologies, but new formulations are becoming available all the time.

Among Shapeways’ broad 3D printing materials portfolio, the most commonly used for rapid prototyping is Nylon 12 (Versatile Plastic). This material is a durable nylon plastic that can be used for a wide range of applications, both for prototyping and for end products. The SLS material can be 3D printed thin for flexibility — think hinges and springs — or thicker to build up structural components. Nylon 12 is affordable, has the fastest lead time (shipping as quickly as three business days from order), and is available in a wide range of colors. It can also be bonded with other materials, electroplated, or otherwise adaptable to your specific application’s needs.

Other well-suited offerings for rapid prototyping include Multi Jet Fusion Plastic materials (PA12 and PA12 Glass Beads) for added stiffness and durability, and SLA (Accura 60, Accura Xtreme, Accura Xtreme White 200) for fine details.

For more in-depth information on any of these materials, see Shapeways’ Materials Guide (pdf).

Benefits Of Rapid Prototyping

That’s all well and good, but when it comes down to it, is there an actual business case for prototyping with 3D printing?

This question gets a resounding YES! Using 3D printing from product concept to creation can help reduce the time and costs needed to get your new idea to market and into the hands of your eager customers.

In broad strokes, the product development cycle includes the need for physical prototypes at several stages of design including:

• Concept
• Assembly / Fit
• Functional
• Life Test
• Regulatory

3D printing these different iterations offers the benefits of digital manufacturing — think speed, agility, and lowered costs for one-off production — to every stage of product development.

Taking a 3D model directly to a 3D printer for fabrication speeds the process of prototyping. Digital models can be made quite quickly using a variety of 3D printing technologies, removing the needs for many steps in other, more traditional fabrication technologies. No tooling is needed, for example, nor is there a waiting period while molds are made and filled. It’s also much faster and more precise than hand-fabricating.

Following review of each prototype for the parameters necessary, subsequent versions can be made quickly to get to just the right look and fit before moving into more finessed prototypes. Tweaking a digital file to adjust for better look, fit, appropriate scale, or other needs can be done quickly, with a next iteration 3D printed potentially same-day.

Some 3D printing options, like HP and Carbon, enable the capability of prototyping and producing on the same system or family, as different materials and parameters can move ever closer to a market-ready product. By iterating on the same system that will be used for the final product, quality control can be kept in-hand every step of the way, meaning there are no surprises when the first end-use production begins.

When working with a service bureau like Shapeways, additional expertise and access to different technology suites comes into play for a high-quality experience every step of the way.

Shapeways’ rapid prototyping services offer:

• Fast Turnaround
• Variety of Materials
• Reliable Quality

We go over the full business case for 3D printing prototypes in this article for more depth.

Rapid Prototyping Pricing

Once the decision has been made to rapid prototype using 3D printing by engaging a service bureau, one large question remains: pricing.

Shapeways lays out clearly its pricing structuring, from engaging a designer to simply uploading a model for an instant quote.

Among the considerations for our pricing are:

• Materials:
  • Material Volume
  • Machine Space
  • Number of parts
  • Production
  • Bounding Box Volume
  • Support Volume
• Manufacturing Speed:
  • Priority
  • Economy
  • Rush
• Shipping cost
• Taxes

Bulk pricing is also available for large orders. For full details, see our pricing overview here.

Customer examples

As popular wisdom holds that “show, don’t tell” is the best way to prove a point, we’d like to share some examples of customer rapid prototyping achieved through the Shapeways platform.

Just a few of our customer successes include:

Atlas Games

Innovative tabletop gaming mainstay Atlas Games has plenty of decades of experience in creating card games, board games, and roleplaying games. The company turned to Shapeways to bring its new dice-based game to fruition for a release through Kickstarter, creating a realizable visual of Dice Miner for potential backers to see prior to sale. The 3D printed prototypes of game pieces helped carry the new game from early design through a playable final product.

Jeff Tidball, Chief Operating Officer of Atlas Games, says of working with Shapeways: “Dice Miner’s Deluxe Edition will have a plastic PVC mountain, so we used Shapeways to prepare early prototypes of that component. We used Shapeways for two purposes. First, to playtest using components as close as possible to the final version, to make sure they performed as we expected at the table. Second, to evaluate their producibility while holding physical objects, as opposed to needing to evaluate them only on screen, or in our imaginations.”

LuminoGO

Using 3D printing to prototype a comfortable, reusable new face mask helped the LUMINO team quickly respond to pandemic needs. Developing the LuminoGo mask for full facial visibility as well as wearer safety features including UVC light or an integrated filter to sterilize breathing air was no mean feat, requiring significant prototyping — and the team turned to Shapeways to 3D print almost every part of the mask to get it all ready for safe wearing on the market.

LUMINO CTO Bernhard Neuwirth says: “Almost all parts are 3D printed. The main reasons for us have been fast prototyping, fast production, choice of materials and colours, which is important for branding and personalization. The big difference with competitors is that we have already working prototypes.” And: “Shapeways was helpful in every way from early on in the project. I especially liked the very fast production options, the choice of materials and the amazing quality of the product. Traditional production methods would be injection moulding. We will certainly do that in the future. Meanwhile we produce already, while optimising the product. We use 3D-print as a production method.”

SNOOZ

Working with Shapeways to 3D print dozens (and dozens and dozens) of designs to reach the ideal sound system, the SNOOZ team cut substantial time and costs in their production process by rapidly prototyping. The savings over traditional machining was major enough that this Las Vegas-based startup has now been working with Shapeways for more than five years — and still has more product work with us in the pipeline for the next devices.

SNOOZ CTO and Co-Founder Eli Lazar explains: “Without 3D printing, I am not sure we could have ever developed a viable product, or at least one that people actually liked. Our fan blade is entirely custom, and small details make a huge difference. A 1-degree extra twist in the blades or 1mm extra length or width of the blades, and it generates a whole different set of tones. You can use software to simulate the acoustics for a fan blade design, and we did do quite a bit of this. However, these simulations can take up to a few weeks to run, and they are really not accurate enough to predict the subtleties that we were interested in. The best way I can explain this is that a stringed piano is always acoustically superior to a digital keyboard, because the timbre (perceived sound quality) of real sound is just better than any digital replica. With that said, we had to make actual parts. Having parts machined was always an option too, but from our experience, that is 10-25x higher cost, and perhaps 10x slower, which was just not an option for us.”

Please contact us today to learn more about our offerings and how we can help you every step of the way for your next project.

The post What is Rapid Prototyping? – A Complete Guide appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

SLA was an earlier form of the 3D printing process, and since its conception over 30 years ago, has undergone rapid and advanced development. Over this time frame, improvements to the 3D printing process have allowed manufacturers from a variety of industries to design and make products faster, improve the efficiency of product design, fabricate parts on demand, and improve how tools are made. In this article, we will provide a brief overview of how the design of products has changed with AM.

Design and Redesign Freedom

3D printing, which is also known as additive manufacturing (AM) is the “process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually layer-upon-layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing methodologies, such as traditional machining” as defined by the ASTM International Committee F42 on Additive Manufacturing Technologies. Compared to traditional manufacturing processes (subtractive manufacturing (SM) and formative manufacturing) which can either involve material removal by machining, drilling, or grinding or by casting into molds, AM allows for a greater level of design freedom. The entire process incorporates a range of manufacturing techniques including powder bed fusion, directed energy deposition, material extrusion, binder jetting, curing, lamination and more. This variety has allowed a vast array of technologies to be developed that may be of interest to worldwide industries. AM has enabled complex geometries to be incorporated into the design of products which would otherwise not be possible with traditional manufacturing.

The redesign of parts has been made more efficient with AM. If a change in the design of a particular part is needed on a production line, the computer model used to print the part can be remodeled and redeployed for printing. The standard file used for 3D printing is a standard triangle language file (STL). This STL file usually contains a triangulated representation of a 3D computer-aided design (CAD) model for a given part. The modification of this design step in the production process for AM systems allows parts to be produced without the change in tooling or mold required, which would be costly and more time-consuming than with traditional manufacturing.

Speed of Production

In terms of large-scale manufacturing, companies and organizations working across a number of different industries have been able to use AM to speed up the time it takes to manufacture a product in order to get it to the market ahead of time. This can provide companies a competitive edge and help to satisfy consumer needs.

In a production line that is integrated with AM system processes, improvements to machinery, change in print speed and change in product design can be altered much more easily than with conventional manufacturing methods. A change to product design that could once have taken several months can be cut down to weeks or even days.

One example of the rapid movement of a product to market and its production on a larger scale can be seen in the design of medical equipment during the earlier stages of the year 2020. During the initial stage of the coronavirus pandemic, Texas A&M University and Houston Methodist Hospital entered into a partnership. Texas A&M created and provided 3D-printed spacer/diffusers for metered-dose inhalers (MDI) used by Houston’s medical staff. The MDIs were used to treat patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and those suspected of having the virus.

Material, Process, and Energy Cost Savings

By eliminating the need for material subtraction and additional tooling as required in conventional manufacturing, AM has been making the process of production more material-efficient. With regard to the low volume production of products, AM provides more substantial savings for manufacturers as the actual processing methods and metal powder production are quite high on energy-consumption.

In a review article centered on AM for the aircraft industry, one of the greatest benefits of AM has been the ability to manufacture more light-weight parts. The reduction in weight of parts incurs tangible savings on fuel across the full lifespan of an aircraft. A Bleed Air Leak Detect (BALD) bracket used in the hot side of the engine on Lockheed Martin’s Joint Strike was created using an AM technique known as electron beam melting. This process has been shown to reduce the buy-to-fly ratio to 1:1, instead of 33:1 attributed to traditional methods. This corresponds to a saving of 50% with regard to the titanium alloy used. The buy-to-fly ratio is a term used in the aerospace industry that refers to the weight ratio between a finished component and the original raw material.

Further cost savings have been made through the implementation of AM where multiple parts have been produced together within a single, complex piece. This is in contrast to traditional manufacturing, where it is customary for multiple parts for a specific product to be made individually. Other features required for assembly of the end product such as brazing or welding and fasteners have now been removed from the process with AM, further cutting production costs.

Product Customization

Looking to the medical sector, AM has been a revolutionary force in the construction of truly customized prostheses for patients suffering from a variety of maladies. MT Ortho, an Italian supplier and manufacturer of medical devices combined CT imaging and AM to create such innovative patient-centered devices.

The company began its exploration with AM in 2014, and have developed its range of products from customized prostheses for neurosurgical applications and oncological orthopedics, to maxillofacial surgery and more. One of the company’s most recent developments has been the manufacturing of cancer prosthetics for bone carcinomas or chondrosarcomas. Following demolition surgery where a tumor is removed, medical and design experts have been able to combine forces and completely reconstruct the bone anatomy of individual patients. CT scanning is an essential initial stage in the AM process which is able to capture the specific anatomical characters of the patient to build an accurate 3D model for their prosthesis.

AM has and continues to change the way products are designed and manufactured through continued research and development of the process. For some 3D printing technologies, the successful printing of a part relies on supports that maintain its structure and integrity. Without supports for the creation of certain structurally unstable parts, end products can fail due to deformation and collapse during the printing process. Despite the need for part supports, they require more time and cost to integrate into part designs, can cause damage to parts during post processing, and limit the geometric complexity of part design.

A recent development in AM technology known as support-free AM is a process that involves the removal, reduction or optimization of support structures to overcome such issues. This mode of manufacturing could enable a new wave of 3D printing that promotes successful part design and production as well as minimize challenges concerning the verification of part functionality in the future.

To find out more about how additive manufacturing can be beneficial for your project contact us today and we will help guide you on your journey.

The post How Additive Manufacturing Changed the Way Products are Designed appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Reaching far into the depths of mammalian physiology, as well as neurotechnology, Wipprecht has been collaborating with the Institute for Integrated Circuits at JKU / Johannes Kepler University Linz and g.tec (a medical technology company from Austria) to create an animatronic dress that also reacts to human brain waves.

“The dress is printed out of nine parts. Together with collaborator on this project and 3D specialist Igor Knezevic from Los Angeles, we have been working on the dress and little connector parts,” explains Wipprecht.

Most of Wipprecht’s dresses (harkening back to the Spider Dress with an array of sensors, as well as the Intimacy 2.0 dress which becomes more revealing as desire increases) have been manufactured with 3D printed upper parts. For her latest dress, the visionary designer sought to create new fashion that was not only body hugging, but also suggested the complicated form of an exoskeleton with electronics ‘hosted on the 3D printed legs of the dress.’

“I worked with Anouk on several of her projects and it is always a great learning experience,” said Igor Knezevic. “The difference in this particular project is that I used Blender3D to do design and modeling of the whole piece, where in the past I usually would use 3D Studio MAX.”

“Blender evolved a lot in recent years and now has some distinctive abilities related to 3DP workflow, such as very good Boolean procedurals enabling some advanced geometries to be able to be created in one piece. But yes, in the end, the whole piece was divided in symmetrical parts to be able to fit it into printing volume.”

Ultimately, the 3D printed dress lights up in a display of brain data, surpassing novelties of the 70s like the mood ring by about 86 billion neurons. While the electroencephalogram (EEG) is usually associated with complex medical procedures meant to examine head injuries or test for serious disorders, here Wipprecht brings us to the intersection of brainwaves and glamorous garments produced via digital fabrication, culminating in what she has named the Pangolin Scales Project.

Since humans discovered the idea of covering themselves up in creative ways, fashion has been one of the most basic ways to express oneself. And while wearing fur coats may not be socially acceptable in most evolved circles today, with technology like 3D printing (and 4D printing in many cases too, with materials morphing to their environment or user requirements), designers now have unlimited options open to them for dressing everyone from svelte runway models to the average consumer looking for affordability, accessibility, and most importantly—comfort. The Pangolin dress is a far cry from normal haute couture or any type of clothing though, integrating a new spin on the EEG too, which usually consists of metal electrodes being applied to the scalp in a sterile clinical setting.

“The PA-11 + PA-12 combination and printing in Stereolithography (SLS) makes the dress both architecturally stunning I think, but also as light as possible,” says Wipprecht. “Developing this dress with 64 actuators (32 servo motors, 32 LEDs) I was a bit afraid of the final weight of the dress, but I was super excited once I integrated all the servo motors and LED’s and wires within the 3D printed mounts, that the dress has a very comfortable weight ratio—all due to the SLS technique in PA-11 / PA-12 combination.”

As the name of the project would suggest, the futuristic dress was inspired by the small animal usually found in Africa or Asia. The pangolin subsists on fare like ants and termites and many may be surprised to hear that it is also one of the most heavily trafficked mammals, exploited for its sturdy scales, body parts, and even its meat—considered a delicacy in some of the far reaches of the world. It is also considered to be critically endangered at this point.

With the ability to 3D print complex and detailed textiles, one of the greatest benefits is that no animals are endangered in creating materials that mimic the wonders of nature. Throughout the centuries, animal structures and natural designs have been behind much substantial research, as well as the development of complex materials that may later play a critical role in development of functional parts. Ultimately though, while the opportunity to delve into industrial techno-fashion obviously plays a large part in the design process, Wipprecht, JKU, and g.tec are centered around learning more about how the brain sends signals to the human body.

Science, art, technology, and fashion are fused together in a combination certainly never seen (or worn) before, with Wipprecht drawing from the inspiration of the unusual scales to create modern, mobile EEG sensors streamlined enough for human wear outside the hospital, allowing brain waves to be recorded and studied.

Wipprecht continues to reveal the magic of 3D printing, as well as the freedom—and science—of expression emerging from modern fashion. Throughout the past decade especially, new technology has allowed artists and fashion designers to work from a new, often highly industrial, medium. At first, much of the 3D printing in fashion involved flashy appliques or smaller, bulkier parts accentuating haute couture produced via conventional technology. As printing with textiles, polymers, metal, and more has continued to evolve, along with robotics, fashion designs have become much more fluid, and aesthetically pleasing to consumers. For many highly-customized pieces, sewing may not even be necessary at all.

“I like to refer to this as a ‘high-tech dress that builds up like an IKEA kit. It was much fun assembling the dress this way, using tiny M2 screws,” said the designer.

Wipprecht’s one-of-a-kind body system was recently on display at the ARS Electronica Festival, ‘a global journey mapping the world,’ held from September 9-13 in a virtual event from JKU Campus in Linz, Austria, including 120 other locations from around the globe.  

From industrial components to futuristic wearables—and whether you need prototypes or functional parts 3D printed quickly—you will find an inspiring world of opportunity available at Shapeways. Enjoy the benefits of our advanced technology and wide range of materials for printing your creations with accuracy, complex detail, and no minimum or limits in terms of mass customization or single part orders. Read more case studies, find out more about our solutions, and get instant quotes here.

The post Anouk Wipprecht’s 3D Printed Mind-Reading Dress Builds Up Like an IKEA Kit appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

With the cost and time efficiency that 3D printing offers, each of these parts can be optimized, customized and upgraded to suit the exact needs of the business it is serving. If you are using or considering using drones for your business, 3D printing has the potential to substantially enhance your drone’s function.

Cut Time and Costs By Turning to 3D Printing for Customized Drones

Commercial drones can be highly expensive and out of reach for smaller businesses that rely on the use of drones to grow their business. 3D printing cuts costs in many different areas including prototyping, customization and manufacturing and therefore makes specialty drones more accessible. It also speeds up the design and prototyping process so that changes can be implemented and the design can evolve more quickly. Kespry, a company that specializes in drones for mapping and surveying, were able to successfully grow their business thanks in part to the affordability of 3D printing their drone parts. Prototyping and printing the covers for their drones’ electronic components cost substantially less than traditional manufacturing methods like injection molding.

Design a Drone that Suits Your Business Perfectly

Even with the wide range of drones already out there, why rely on a ready-made drone that only suits some of your needs? If you need drones to transport supplies and other cargo, to perform reconnaissance in tight spaces or remote areas, or to catch stunning video footage from the sky, 3D printing can allow you to upgrade drones to suit your business specifically.

Optimize Your Drone Based on its Function

A drone transporting cargo would need a much sturdier, reinforced frame, for example, whereas an FPV drone carrying a small camera might benefit from a more lightweight body. Perhaps your drone needs to be weather resistant and be able to continue flying in unpredictable conditions. No matter what your business’s unique set of needs is, 3D printing allows you to make specific design choices.

Take Advantage of a Higher Level of Geometric Complexity

3D printing technology allows designs to incorporate a higher complexity, allowing parts to be produced more efficiently. Using 3D Printing, companies like Quantum Systems are able to consolidate their drone parts by taking advantage of the ability to produce more complex designs that integrate multiple functions into one part. This not only saves time and materials but also gives them the opportunity to add any needed features to their designs without compromising on the drone’s weight.

Prototype Your Drone Parts

Prototyping with 3D printing helps make customizing drones accessible even to smaller businesses. The process allows for unprecedented speed and cost reduction in making sure your drone is the best it can be. Instead of waiting months to test new iterations, changes can be made to 3D designs within hours, then printed and shipped to you in days. Implementing changes quickly allows for a faster evolution of a design and to find exactly what is right for your business.

Print Your Parts with the Appropriate 3D Printing Method and Materials

Selecting the right 3D printing technology and materials will depend on the drone. SLA printing provides a high level of precision and a wide range of materials to choose from. The material should be tough and versatile and be able to handle stretching, bending and impact. Nylon is another option as it is strong, temperature resistant and is also good for printing drone fuselages that resist collision damages.

Partner Up with a Service To Achieve the Highest Level of Quality

For the most efficient printing process, it is important to have dedicated support and access to the highest quality results. Our services at Shapeways enable businesses of all sizes to develop specialty drones without incurring high equipment startup costs and navigating the trial and error of adapting to a new technology. That way your focus can be on your needs and your unique drone design while the production of prototypes and parts is taken care of.

            Drones are used for such a wide range of projects and functions that having specific enhancements to suit its purpose are hugely beneficial. Traditional manufacturing methods would have made unique alterations inaccessible to many smaller businesses but thanks to 3D printing, updating a drone’s design has limitless opportunities. Whether your business uses or produces and sells drones, customization will become more and more important and 3D printing is the best suited technology to facilitate it.

See how Shapeways can help you produce the best drones to grow your business.

The post Customize Drones with 3D Printing to Suit Your Business appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Partnered with Shapeways, the makers of MTT were able to use 3D printing to cut substantial time and costs in their production process by rapidly prototyping designs and printing strong, end-use ready parts that can resist the elements.

We interviewed Michael Martel from MTT to find out how MTT has utilized Shapeways’ 3D printing technology to ramp up production with speed and efficiency.

What is your name and your role at My Track Technology?

My name is Michael Martel and I’m in charge of the MTT product development.

How did My Track Technology start?

10 years ago my father and I were discussing a product that can enhance human power but as small as possible to be able to go where a person can walk. The main goal was to be able to get someone that is injured out of deep forest and at the same time bring reduced mobility persons to extreme places.

What kinds of customers can MTT benefit?

Our customers are very broad. First, there is the military for rescue and material carrying. Mining for carrying material underground without any fumes and CO2 that has to be ventilated out of the mine. Wildfire suppression help, carrying water pumps and equipment. Also fat bike trails grooming, for agriculture use on wet fields or carrying a freezer in the field for fruits and vegetable harvesting. Replacing a generator on construction sites with MTT-154 onboard 2000W inverter, and much much more. 

How did you find Shapeways?

Four years ago one of my electronic employees bought a cheap FDM printer that he assembled himself. At that time I was very skeptical of 3D printing, I was thinking it was only for toys and figurines. Nevertheless I let him try some joystick parts. I was at the time building it with a laser cut aluminum sheet, bent and welded to make an enclosed case. His part with FDM (PLA) was so successful that we used it for our vehicle for about a year, very amazing. The problem with this part was the surface finish, time to print and resistance to wet environments. I was so impressed by this test that I decided to learn more on 3D printing methods, suppliers and more. This is when I came to Shapeways’ website and was very impressed by the technical information and production capabilities.

I then decided to manufacture a couple of parts at Shapeways and I have never been disappointed since. Shapeways is not the least expensive but I tested many suppliers over the years and I did a lot of cold temperature testing. Shapeways always has the strongest and nicer finished parts. 

Unless you have $100,000 or more to invest in an SLS or HP printer you will never have the quality, robustness, precision and surface finish of a Shapeways part.

What are the benefits of using Shapeways over an in-office printer?

When buying a printer you have an amazing amount of choice offered to you. The problem is to have a printer for all of the applications. The size of the parts, the surface finish, the resistance and the productivity of this printer are all to be considered. Unless you have $100,000 or more to invest in an SLS or HP printer you will never have the quality, robustness, precision and surface finish of a Shapeways part. Shapeways is a one-stop shop for 3D printing projects. They have multiple machines to accommodate all the requirements of all special projects. So for us Shapeways has been a great partner to reach all of our goals, present and future.

What are the benefits of 3D printing with Shapeways over other manufacturing methods?

Speed, cost and simplicity. When our 3D drawing is finished we don’t have to produce fabrication drawings. We just upload the 3D file on Shapeways’ website. Very simple. We also do not have to build a mold for 1 up to 50 parts. It’s very great cost saving. Later when the design is perfect we can build a mold and be confident that the mold will meet our requirements. We are also not limited to a particular shape with 3D printing, practically every shape is possible. Finally, the precision, repeatability and tolerances are better than most of the others manufacturing methods.

“The precision, repeatability and tolerances [of 3D printing technology] are better than most of the others manufacturing methods

What aspect of My Track Technology production do you use 3D printing and Shapeways for?

We are right now moving to production and most of the parts that had previously been tested with 3D printing are now thermo or injection molded. 3D printing saves us an amazing amount of money by testing different designs quickly. When the design is confirmed the mold can be built with the peace of mind that this part works perfectly well.

The other 10 parts that are needed for an MTT-154 2020 will continue to be built with 3D printing technologies. Up to about 100 MTT-154 units per year it totally makes sense to print parts in Nylon. We save the initial cost of the mold and we can design parts that are impossible to manufacture with a traditional mold.

What materials do you use?

Right now we mostly use SLS, with Nylon PA12 (Versatile Plastic), dyed black. We also use rubber like TPU to create custom grommets.

How does working with Shapeways affect the speed of your manufacturing?

In our MTT machine there are about 20 plastic parts. Last year we were in a very big rush to do a test with the US military and we had no time to build 20 molds for every single part. We saved at least 6 months (concept, drawing for molding, mold building and parts production) by 3D printing with Shapeways.

How about any cost savings?

For 20 plastic parts the average cost of a mold is $3500 * 20 = 70,000 USD. This money would have been a very big gamble knowing that we were unsure if these parts would meet the functionality, design and resistance we needed. $70K is a lot of money for a startup. It’s manageable, but $70K without any guarantee that this mold will be useful in the future is unacceptable.

What is the most important aspect of working with Shapeways for you?

First, when we want a strong part I know that Shapeways will not disappoint us. Also the website is very easy to use, and I like the freedom to choose the shipping you want depending on the requirement of a particular project. The quality control is also excellent because I never return a part. Finally, the service when I need information is excellent.

Can you share any current or future goals for My Track Technology?

The goal right now is really to move to production and send machines to the customers that have reserved these vehicles in the past. The product we sell right now is our MTT-154 2020, with the possibilities to have only one unit with a trailer/sled or with the flip of a switch multiple units coupled together for special military and industrial applications.

Finally, we have orders for some small MTT-like robots. The frame will be built entirely in SLS printing at Shapeways very soon.

The next stage in 2021-2022 will be remote control with satellite or 4G and autonomous capabilities.

Efficient Manufacturing with 3D Printing

My Track Technology’s vast range of potential applications will see it become an essential tool for assisting humans in navigating challenging terrains and environments. Using 3D printing has made MTT’s production process much more efficient and affordable and shows how 3D printing can contribute to smarter manufacturing.

Find out how Shapeways can help with your rapid prototyping and robotics manufacturing needs.

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While most news about the 3D printing industry focuses on advancement in hardware and materials, software has played a crucial role in the democratization of 3D printing. Companies like Shapeways have delivered software to generate 3D files, prepare and optimize them for printing, and manufacture and distribute.

This article was written by Matt Boyle, VP of Architecture at Shapeways, for Stack Overflow. See the full blog post here. 

A decade or two ago, getting a custom part manufactured required you to have your own workshop or to make a visit to a factory floor. Today, you can create your own 3D model, upload it to a website, and have a functional product delivered to your door within a few days—a turn around time unimaginable just 20 years ago.

While most news about the 3D printing industry focuses on advancement in hardware and materials, software has played a crucial role in the democratization of 3D printing. Companies like Shapeways have delivered software to generate 3D files, prepare and optimize them for printing, and manufacture and distribute.

Shapeways’ primary technology offerings can split into two categories—the ability to upload, repair, price, and purchase 3D models in a variety of materials, and back-end systems driving the manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment of our orders at a global scale. I’m going to discuss three distinct pieces of software that occur in separate steps in the buying process: one that help customers upload designs and make purchases: Model Processing; one that securely shows the customer the final printable model: ShapeJS; and one that helps us manufacture, distribute, and fulfill those design purchases: Inshape.

Processing customer models

Our first contact with a customer’s order is when they upload a 3D model. We have no control over the quality and printability of the model, so our software repairs errors during model generation where it can and analyzes their printability in a wide variety of materials. This is a very compute-heavy process—we calculate the model surface area and volume, determine the number of parts that the model is composed of, and examine the model for errors and attempt to repair them, all within a mean time of 25 seconds.

In order to deliver these results, we needed to build a system that leverages parallelism and provides easy scalability to handle fluctuations in load without breaking our SLA. To start, we decided to build individual services that are each responsible for evaluating different components of printability. These services fall into three categories: model validation, model pricing calculation, and model repair.

continue reading

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In your shoes, in your car

It’s everywhere! Mass-manufactured 3D printed products are finally getting into customer hands… or onto their feet and into their garages. That’s because adidas’ long-anticipated Futurecraft 4D shoes with 3D printed midsoles finally dropped this week. And MINI announced that in 2018, customers can personalize their rides through the new MINI Yours Customized program. Hopefully, this will show everyone what we already know: that 3D printing CAN MAKE (almost) ANYTHING.

Carbon tech, adidas hype

The Greatest Show on Earth (but not the only show in town)

CES is paradise for geeks, futurists, audiophiles, 3D designers — basically, anyone who is really into any technologies available to consumers. That’s why it’s a good place to spot the kind of 3D technology that could one day (soonish) be in your house. There were a couple of standouts at this year’s CES, which ended last Friday: Ethereal Machines’ “5D printing,” a 5-axis 3D printer with a rotating build plate, and the HP Z 3D Camera, which turns an easily-mountable camera into a scanner and facial-recognition tool. Some very cool news also came from outside the consumersphere: Another rotating 3D printer part, this time the printhead, was demonstrated by Harvard researchers to increase the strength, stiffness, and resistance of 3D printed parts. And in another leap forward for really, really big 3D printers, a new printer from CEAD is already contracted to print ships. We’ll see that one in action at CES 2030.

The HP Z 3D Camera (source)

Breathe easy and break a leg

It might not solve all our problems, but I mean, 3D printing can now print structures that could regrow lung and brain tissue, plus titanium bone replacement meshes that are often better than bone grafts. It’s not a license to live dangerously, but it might just be there for us when we inevitably do.

3D Print Your Medical Needs

Learn how you can utilize 3D printing for medical use. Contact us today to let us know how we can help.

The post The Week in 3D Printing: Kicks and Cars, New Tech Alert, and Medical Miracles appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Jonathan Monaghan grew up on the shores of the Atlantic in Rockaway Beach, Queens. Each morning, he awoke to a distant view of the New York City skyline, reduced to a circuit board of activity. It’s no wonder he developed a fascination with architecture — and technology’s effect on modern society. Today, Monaghan is an artist, animator, and sculptor based out of Washington, DC. We had the chance to sit down with Jonathan to discuss his current exhibition Disco Beast, on view at bitforms Gallery in New York and how he is using 3D printing to bring his animations to the physical world.

Disco Beast, 2016, Video still

What is the focus of your work?

As an artist, I maintain a wide-ranging practice including animated video installations, prints, and computer fabricated sculpture. All my work tries to personify underlying fears and anxieties we tend to have about the future and technology. To do this I re-interpret historical works of art, architecture, and ancient mythologies, combining them with elements from a modern commercial age in humorous or subversive ways.

Has your work been a way for you to overcome your own fears and anxieties about the technologies surrounding modern day life?

I think it is important that many artists are using these powerful creative technologies, like 3D printing and 3D animation. It gives artists a lot of power to tell their unique stories and express their perspectives. So when I see what amazing things artists are doing with technology, it certainly makes me less worried about the future.

“All my work tries to personify underlying fears and anxieties we tend to have about the future and technology.”

The Unicorn in Captivity, 2017

Which media do you use? Do these media lend themselves to your work’s focus?

I make 3D animated films using essentially the same processes and techniques used in a lot of mass-media entertainment. I am quite conscious of the seductive aesthetics used in commercial media, which I maintain in my work, but then with absurd imagery and disjointed narratives my films become more challenging or critical.

I like working with gold for similar reasons. Gold has always been representative of power and desire, and so by creating porcelain and gilt sculptures of airport security checkpoints or bikeshares, I try to challenge us to rethink how aristocracy and power operate today.

Escape Pod, 2015

Did one medium influence or develop the use of another medium?

All of my videos, prints, and sculptures originate in the virtual space of 3D software. With my different bodies of work, it is like a hermetic universe of imagery and symbols, which can manifest in different media. So imagery appearing in a video can emerge as a 3D printed sculpture.

“…by creating porcelain and gilt sculptures of airport security checkpoints or bikeshares, I try to challenge us to rethink how aristocracy and power operate today.”

What are you currently working on or thinking about?

I am always seeking new ways to push these creative technologies to make something that can’t be made any other way. I want to challenge people’s expectations and raise some critical awareness about how technology affects us.

You’ll Like it Here, 2017

Can you tell us about your current exhibition, Disco Beast, at Bitforms Gallery in New York City?

Disco Beast is a solo exhibition featuring new sculptural, video, and print works. The works in the show draw on a range of aesthetic references, such as surveillance technology and historical artworks.

“By mixing 3D prints and 3D renderings, I am trying to blur the boundary between the virtual and the real.”

You’ll Like it Here detail

There is a series of work entitled Police State Condo, which are like sculptural reliefs; there are 3D printed parts mixed in with flat images rendered using 3D software. With a photographic realism, the works depict completely imagined spaces which seem like a chic luxury condo or a high-end corporate lobby, but have more ominous elements, like security checkpoints and surveillance cameras. By mixing 3D prints and 3D renderings, I am trying to blur the boundary between the virtual and the real.

The Unicorn in Captivity, 2017

There are also sculptures. The Unicorn in Captivity references the iconic tapestry of a fenced-in unicorn. Produced in 3d printed porcelain and 3d printed gold plated brass, a unicorn is enclosed in an airport security checkpoint. As the Metropolitan Museum of Art states about its piece: “The unicorn could escape if he wished but clearly his confinement is a happy one….” I thought this was a relevant metaphor for our apparent comfortable relationship to technology and the increasing security state.

The Unicorn in Captivity (from the Unicorn Tapestries), 1495–1505 (Collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art)

“The unicorn could escape if he wished but clearly his confinement is a happy one….”

Monaghan’s exhibition Disco Beast is on view at the Bitforms Gallery in New York City through December 10. bitforms gallery was founded in 2001 and was a pioneering space in that it represented artists working in digital, internet, time-based, and new media art forms.

You can also find Monaghan’s work at the The Walters Art Museum in Baltimore in his solo exhibition entitled After Faberge. Monaghan’s work will be on view until June 24, 2018.

For more on Jonathan Monaghan, visit his website and Instagram @jonmonaghan

After Faberge, 2015

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Software

Stratysys is debuting the J750 3D Printing Solution software, which allows users to design for printing in specific materials, while Sigma Labs is releasing web-based quality assurance software PrintRite3D INSPECT, and Hexagon Manufacturing Intelligence is tackling improving print quality with a stable of software tools like Simufact Additive, a simulation tool for predicting and reducing distortion in powder-bed printing.

Machines and Manufacturing

EOS is going after mass additive manufacturing in plastics with its new EOS P 500 polymer printer, while Mimaki and Verashape are both bringing promising innovations to the show. Mimaki’s 3DUJ-553 will be the first full-color 3D printer that can print up to 10 million color combinations, and Verashape’s VSHAPER has a 5-axis kinematics system and a rotating working platform, allowing users to print in multiple materials and on top of what was previously printed. And EnvisionTEC will premiere a set of upsized printers, including the Perfactory 4 LED XXL, which features the largest build area on the market for DLP 3D printing.

Metal and Multi-Material Printing

Do four lasers equal 4x print speeds? That’s the promise of Renishaw’s RenAM 500Q metal 3D printing system. Meanwhile, XJet, Optomec, and ACEO are all releasing multi-material 3D printers at the conference. XJet’s Carmel printers rely on NanoParticle Jetting Technology that layers nanoparticles of either metal or ceramics, Optomec’s LENS 3D Hybrid Machine Tool can mix aluminum, titanium and other reactive metals, and ACEO’s “drop on demand” technology is a multi-material silicone 3D printing process.

There will be so much more to see and do at formnext, but these are the booths we’re starting with. If you’re at formnext this week, stop by and learn more about how Shapeways brings additive manufacturing to all at Hall 3.0 Booth H73. We’ll see you in Frankfurt!

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