There has been an awakening in the force…that is, in the force of people developing digital fabrication machines. It's seriously crazy. Earlier in the year there was a down-note when it was announced that MakerBot Closes Their Stores, Downsizes Staff, but that was a minor hiccup compared to the rash of new machines being developed.
A company called Carbon 3D produced a Radical, Layerless 3D Printing Technology "25 to 100 Times Faster" Than Standard 3D Printing. Their technology is called CLIP, for Continuous Liquid Interface Production, and their process looks a lot more like growing a part than printing one.
Another innovative 3D printer, and an absurdly inexpensive one at $179, arrived in the form of The Unibody Tiko. This triangular machine ditches the Cartesian system and instead goes with a delta-style mechansim, and the developers claim they can get accuracy without the expensive precision-machined parts required by going the X/Y route.
Also sporting an unusual form factor is this Desktop Robotic Arm That Can 3D Print, Mill, Plot, Carve, Etch, Assemble and More. This crazy column-and-cantilevered-arm approach features interchangeable heads that allow its ridiculously broad range of applications. They're calling it the Makerarm.
Meanwhile a Montana couple developed what might be the world's least-expensive 5-Axis Desktop CNC Mill. It's made in America, it retails for just $3,300, and it took them four years to perfect. Is it any surprise that it sold out after just one week on Kickstarter?
Turning to the world of lasers, this year saw the introduction of the Glowforge, which aims to democratize laser cutting/printing. The inexpensive machine was early-birding for as low as $1,995, yet seems almost absurdly easy to use, and can make a lot of cool stuff.
MIT's Mediated Matter Group developed a 3D printer that can handle freaking molten glass. And what's crazy is they plan to scale the thing up, to print glass for architectural applications. These guys ain't wasting time with like, funky flower vases.
While none of us have been clamoring for a more precise way to draw on eggs, it doesn't make the following machine any less cool: The EggBot is a CNC Plotter That Can Draw on Eggs, Lightbulbs, Golf Balls and More. You gotta watch the videos at the link, there's some cool stuff going on there, and sure to make Easter unforgettable for kids.
Lastly industrial designer Arthur Sacek developed a CNC Machine Made Out of Lego That Helps You Produce Stop-Motion Animations. I know, at first I didn't know what to make of it either. Then I watched the video, and understood that Sacek is like the Leonardo da Vinci of Lego.
Here's to hoping it keeps up like this in 2016!
______________
• 15 of Your Favorite Posts from 2015
• The Coming Age of Automobility and What It Means for Designers
• 10 Clever, Innovative or Bizarre Design Processes from 2015
• 10 Brilliant and Beautiful Objects from Our 'Designing Women' Series
• 12 Projects to Inspire Future Living
• Design Entrepreneurs Were Killing it in 2015
• The Year in Furniture Designs, Part 1: The Beautiful, the Innovative and the Unusual
• 15 Tools and Tool-Based Projects We Loved in 2015
Create a Core77 Account
Already have an account? Sign In
By creating a Core77 account you confirm that you accept the Terms of Use
Please enter your email and we will send an email to reset your password.