3D Printers

Desktop Metal - remember the name. This Massachussetts company is preparing to turn manufacturing on its head, with a 3D metal printing system that's so much faster, safer and cheaper than existing systems that it's going to compete with traditional mass manufacturing processes.

​Last week, the BlackBelt launched on Kickstarter, a 3D printer that catered for continuous printing thanks to a conveyor belt instead of the usual print bed. Opencreators has also kicked off a crowdfunding campaign for a system that feeds in new build plates for each object from a stack.​

At the heart of many of today's 3D printers is a stationary print bed, meaning if you want to print a really, really long object like hollow tubing, it would likely take several print runs and some glue. The BlackBelt replaces the print bed with a conveyor belt, which allows for continuous printing.

This MIT robot can already 3D-print a concrete dome structure in 14 hours. But the development team has plans to have it roaming the land on its own, selecting and clearing building sites, designing homes, gathering building materials and completing construction without any human intervention.

​There are now a good many desktop 3D printers vying for dominance in the home office, making it difficult for newcomers to stand out from the crowd. 3DRap is looking to make its mark with a 3D-printed 3D printer that makes use of open source software and will retail for just over $250.

German startup Next Dynamics has unveiled the NexD1, a multi-color, multi-material 3D printer for the home that can use a conductive resin to create custom electronic circuit boards.

MakerBot has unveiled the Replicator+ and Replicator Mini+ 3D printers, which are faster and quieter than their predecessors, with bigger build volumes and a new build plate. The company has also detailed a new Smart Extruder, a tougher PLA filament, and updates to the MakerBot web and mobile apps.

While companies like Local Motors are dabbling with the idea of a fully 3D-printed car, Mercedes-Benz Trucks is harnessing the on-demand benefits of producing spare parts in this way, using an environmentally friendly 3D printing process.

French startup Pollen has introduced a capable-looking, high resolution machine for the professional market called Pam, which can handle up to four different materials and comes in at a fraction of the cost of the Objet500 Connex3 multi-material printer from Stratasys.

The da Vinci miniMaker is an education-focused 3D printer that's aimed at encouraging the next generation of designers and engineers to get to grips with additive manufacturing. XYZ Printing has married beginner-friendly features with a bright, colorful and fun design.

​​A Dutch contracting firm hopes to replace the construction crew with a flexible 3D printer mated with robotics from the auto industry. The 3D Builder will start by creating a 1:4 scale version of the so-called "Landscape House​."

One of the benefits of 3D printing is the ability to do rapid prototyping, simply by printing a copy of a design and then tweaking as necessary. A new kind of printing system speeds up this process even more, by allowing for designs to be edited as they're being printed.