Italy was stuck in a dark age of bad government, corruption and widespread ignorance that was making its social and economic structure obsolete. Then a new enthusiasm for all that is culture, creativity, art, science and technology began to spread and brought about a rebirth of society, that swept through Europe and changed it forever. This rebirth of creativity bloomed in Tuscany at the end of the 14th Century and it is called the Renaissance, or Rinascimento in Italian. Now many in Italy are hoping that something similar may happen again. Italy is burdened by years of bad government and corruption but a new way of creativity is starting to sweep through it, this time lead by a new way to express creativity through 3D printing and personal fabrication.
Italy has been at the forefront of industrial 3D printing adoption and in the past few years quite a few small companies have began to successfully develop, build and their sell their own small desktop 3D printers. Kentstrapper is one of them. The company is based in Florence, at the heart of the Italian “Rinascimento”, and its new 3D printer, the Galileo Smart, is named after one of the Renaissance personalities that most affected the way we see the World, by proving that the Earth goes around the Sun.
Galileo challenged the commonly accepted view of the world much like 3D printing, with the concept of personal fabrication, is challenging the current standard for production. Affordable 3D printers such as the Galileo Smart, that hit the market fully assembled and priced at €799, may contribute to help many small Italian artisan teams fully express their creativity through digital manufacturing.
The company prides itself in designing and assembling all machines in Florence, with the passion and skill of traditional Florentine artisan production along with new research and technological innovation. Kentstrapper’s RepRap based FFF machines are some of the nicest to look at too, in my opinion. The Galileo Smart specifically comes in three different colours (black, red and yellow) and its electric board can be customized with personal logos or phrases.
In fact the Galileo Smart will be highly customizable: potential buyers can add many other options, including a “Stand Alone Package”, with LCD screen and SD card module to print without a computer connection, and an “Advanced Mechanical Package”, that includes two stepper motors with trapezoidal screws, a nut, and a set of aluminium pulleys with their GT2 belts. A lighting system can also be added for 3D printing in the dark. Figuratively speaking it is nice to imagine it as a way to light the path out of the dark ages and into a new Renaissance of creativity.
