One great thing about rapid prototyping, and the new streamlined nature of many companies working in – and with – 3D printing, is the possibility to just hit restart. Sure, you wasted some time, some materials, and some money, but nothing that can not be undone and rapidly replaced by something better. That is more or less what is going on with Buzz Technology. Shortly after launching a Kickstarter Campaign for their IR3 robotic assembly system, they had to face the fact that the actual support has been far less enthusiastic than the media attention they had raised. They, thus, decided to change course, candidly admitting to their initial incorrect evaluations.
“Amazingly, since launching our Kickstarter, we became aware of two superior, affordable solutions that enable people with even basic single nozzle machines to print in multiple materials. Automated filament jointing offers a plug and play for the majority who own single nozzle printers whilst multi-filament print nozzles offer the added benefit of blending for a wider choice of colors,” a sposkesperson for the company said in a statement.
“These developments – and the lackluster take up of our own printer – have led us to reconsider our approach,” the company went on. “The retrofit option that we previously dismissed is now back on the table. Our affordable kits which will be available for a wide variety of existing Cartesian and Delta printers – target price under $250 – can be seen prototyped on a Rostock Max delta printer in the pictures and video below. There is still development and testing to do, so the kits will be released in a forthcoming Kickstarter planned for later this summer.”
Basically the new system will be developed to be used with any printer, thus effectively leveraging the current and growing installed 3D printer base. One thing that has become apparent, is that unlike other consumer hardware, 3D printers don’t just get replaced. More than a single piece of hardware, they are platforms, which can be constantly and regularly improved with new options for version 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc. The actual generational jump is going to take place every few years, when the actual paltform is no longer able to effectively support improvements.
That is why the team at Buzz Technologies is going to revert to the retrofitting option, following the recent example of a – perfectly set up and rapidly successful – Kickstarter campaign by The Palette, which aimed at improving current generation 3D printers’ performances with a low-cost solution from the onset. Buzz Technologies had initially focused on multimaterial and multicolor 3D printing. Their IR3 machine needed to be able to home manufacture a deconstructable product that included electronics. This meant that it needed to be able to print in 5 materials – 3 colours, conductive material, and a support/separation material. However, that turned out to be too expensive and not entirely convincing from a purely mechanical point of view
Nevertheless, IMHO there are no wrong ideas in 3D printing, just ideas that are too early or too late. The concept of a home assembly robot is not so far-fetched in terms of home 3D printing evolution and there will come a time for it. In the meantime, Makers can work with Buzz Technologies and follow the evolution (or the involution, in this case, although the terms does have a negative connotation that is not entirely accurate) of the IR3 project, as it finds the right asset and prepares for re-launch.
