Stratasys [still Objet to me – and I can’t help wondering how long it will be until Stratasys comes naturally?] has, once again, 3D printed the wow factor! They’re good at that!
The Israeli division of Stratasys are masters when it comes to devising applications for their 3D printing tech that make people sit up and take notice. Probably born of necessity, because most of their client projects (usually equally as wow!) are under NDA.
The latest 3D print off a Connex machine, with its multi-material capabilities, is a moving ferris wheel model. In this particular case, the model is printed with three materials — rigid white, rigid black and a grey rigid ‘Digital Material’ (formulated by mixing the black and the white material during the printing process).
This is a clever model that grabs the attention and very effectively demonstrates the capabilities and the advantages of the Connex 3D printing process for those that have never seen it before. This is not really for the product designers and the industrial engineers — I can hear you already, but go for it in the comments section — who would much prefer to see functional, prove out models for effective NPD.
It’s important to remember — all of us — that there are still lots and lots of people out there that have not seen or understood 3D printing yet. This sort of application demonstrator is fantastic for getting their attention and helping them to understand it.
As Sam Green of Objet says, “It never ceases to amaze people that you can actually grow things like this Ferris Wheel, from nothing, with all the moving parts already assembled together.”
