As we’ve seen over the course of a few months, 3D Hubs, the largest distributed network of 3D printers, has been installing its 3D print buttons all over the web. Users on Instructables, Thingiverse, and Sketchfab can all 3D print models and projects via the 16,000+ 3D printer network with the click of a button. It was only a matter of time before 3D Hubs opened that same API up to the public, allowing anyone to install a 3D Hubs “3D Print” button on their own websites. And that time is now, as 3D Hubs has just released its API to the public.
It’s called Teleport and it essentially allows anyone to link 3D printable content directly to 3D Hubs network of local 3D printer owners. That way, customers need not download and upload 3D models for 3D printing on the printer closest to them. For owners of 3D content, such as those with printable consumer goods, spare parts or technical designs, or app and game developers that want users to be able to bring digital content into the real world, integration into the 3D Hubs network opens up a whole new world of possibilities.
Via their partnerships with Autodesk, Thingiverse, Sketchfab and Instructables, almost 1 million 3D models are now available for 3D printing. And, now that anyone can install a 3D Hubs print button on their own websites, printer network is just beginning to open the doors to true distributed manufacturing. 3D Hubs explains, “With the launch of Teleport we are determined to disrupt manufacturing as we know it and materialize the promise of 3D Printing to the world. Our API is just the start of distributed manufacturing, where there’s no need to think about minimum order quantities, keeping supply, shipping and production capacity anymore. Digital designs can be made anywhere in the world, on demand, for a competitive price.”
For those already familiar with 3D printing and its possibilities, it’s not difficult to imagine how, as digital fabrication is perfected, web shops might shift to such technologies to make products locally and, almost, instantly available. For those less familiar,t he concept might take some getting used to. Rather than purchasing an item from an e-retailer, only to wait several days for it to be shipped to your door, distributed manufacturing would make it possible to have the item produced by a Maker just down the street. This reduces the need for the overseas shipment of goods by CO2-producing vehicles, as well as the material waste of unused stock items, and reliance on unsafe factories around the world. There’s still a lot of work to be done towards this end goal, but 3D Hubs may be taking steps in that direction. If you happen to think so, you can begin implementing the Teleport API on your site here.
