Sharebot, the largest cartesian FFF/FDM 3D printer manufacturer in Italy has seen booming demand lately. They have recently stepped up to close to 120 Sharebot NG’s (their second generation machine) built and shipped monthly with demand continuing to increase and, while the five founding partners are being literally swept away by it, they love it. They also want to keep the momentum going. So, while the NG is being sold mainly online and in 3D print shops, they felt they needed a new machine specifically targeted at FabLabs and at teaching new generations about desktop 3D printing: that machine is the Kiwi. It was presented at the latest 3D Print meet up in Parma and is now being shipped.
3D Printing manufacturers and top academic institutions alike are now fully realizing the importance of a 3D printing education. Makerbot Academy showed the way (seems like a lifetime ago and it it has not even been six months!) and many followed. Recently we told you about MIT’s latest summer course as well as Solidoodle U. Sharebot has its own Academy program for Italy but the Kiwi is pitched as being something a little different.
While all Sharebot’s 3D Printers have always been sold as assembled, the Kiwi is being shipped only as a kit to target those who want to understand the basics of 3D printing assembly while using a product that was developed through the company’s in depth knowledge of the technology. This is something that will particularly suit FabLabs and that is exactly why the machine will be distributed through the FabLabs that adhere to Sharebot’s program, in Italy as well as abroad, which means they will be able to sell the machine along with a course to teach exactly how to put it together.
The Kiwi will come with a steel case and most of the options (print from SD Card, ball bearing on all axis, adjustable plate, LCD panel) of its NG sibling, with a printing area of 100 x 140 x 100 mm. The control panel allows control of many different aspects such as speed, extrusion temperature, fan speed, flow rate, printing process pause and restart, and PLA pre-setting. To try to keep a more green outlook on it, the machine will only support PLA.
I recently visited Sharebot’s factory, which is in Nibionno, a tiny town on the hills about half an hour from Milan. The entire team is extremely excited about the new Kiwi and about all the latest developments in the 3D printing arena. They are working constantly and the team has already grown to 23 people and they are still hiring, which, at a moment when many parts of the Italian economy are struggling and a growing number of people are unemployed, seems like a bright ray of hope in an otherwise grim outlook for the local community and for the entire regional economy. Sharebots’ R&D team is constantly working to make sure that it stays that way.
