While it is somewhat seen as the “Holy Grail” of desktop 3D printing, full color FDM technology is not easy to achieve. There have been attempts and it seems that the grail is almost within reach, although it will take some considerable R&D investments to make it into a reality. While botobjects is chasing that dream with the support of 3D Systems, Polish open source manufacturer Pirx3D is going to finance it by launching a single color version of its cool looking PIRX one 3D printer.
Available for pre-order since January 21st (with first deliveries expected in early March), the PIRX is a desktop 3D printer with a full metal casing and a new automatic leveling system for its heated bed. The auto-leveling system relies on a sensor that measures the bed position in three different spots, sending complete information about the bed’s position to the 3D printer. The machine’s brain automatically compensates for the calibration errors and 3D prints normally. Which means no more bed leveling, ever.
Priced at $/€ 1,199 (with the heated bed), the PIRX one weights only 10 Kg – which has been optimized for a 210 x 270 x 210 printing volume and metal casing – and can be shipped worldwide. Along with the care for its external appearance, the PIRX one has all of the features that users have come to expect, including the possibility to print directly from an SD card (not connected to a computer), USB connectivity, and compatibility with ABS, nylon, Ninjaflex and other “difficult to print” filaments (as well as all PLA and PLA-based mixtures).
As it is built with top quality components, custom-made linear guides and optical Z end-stop, the PIRX team says their new 3D printer is capable of achieving 10 micron precision, with resolution (layer height) down to 300 microns. “Thousands of users gave our first printer a try,” said Piots Lipert, PIRX’s CEO. “Thanks to their feedback, we’ve had the opportunity to to learn what major challenges 3D printing posed to the users. Not only have we been able to improve existing solutions, but we have also come up with completely new features. The holy grail of the design process was to make a printer that would be as trouble-free a device as possible, and using it would be as easy as using a TV. But without a remote control.”
“Our customers’ feedback has been one of the most important things we relied on while designing our new model,” Piotr continues, “and it will continue to be so, since we consider our customers to be the crucial element of the development of our products.” From the onset PIRX has always been a “visionary company”, seeing 3D printing as a means of bringing positive change to the world. While the full-color 3D printer and the molecular 3D printer they dream of one day building will take some more time, they have already put 3D printing to good use: for example by helping one of their customers build a “custom cookie cutter” e-business and by creating a custom prosthesis for a crane. A small step for a PIRX, but certainly a huge step for the crane.
Why on Earth did you mention “Botobjects” in the sub title??? I’ve seen their product up close. The author makes it known that he has zero real experience or knowledge of 3DP when Botobjects is described as innovation. It’s not.
There’s nothing described in this article that shows that this bot is any more special then many others already on the Mkt. If there really is some differentiating tech in a bot please be explicit about what it is… right away.