Rapid Prototype Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Solid’

Rapid Prototyping Comes of Age with This Solid Freeform Fabrication Kit

We’ve been waiting a long time for a product like this and now it has arrived. For the home user and those who don’t have ,000-,000 to drop on a high end rapid prototype unit, the Fabber gives the tools to build your own home manufacturing system that can build just about anything as long as you can design it. Designed by a guy who got tired of losing Lego pieces, the Fabber lets anybody have a desktop Rapid Prototype unit that can manufacture pretty much anything – let’s have a look at this dynamic hobby tool.

Solid Freeform Fabrication or Rapid Prototyping has been around for quite a long time now. Many commercial companies offer various type of machines that can manufacture high precision parts out of both plastic or metal to exating tolerances. The downside, they cost anywhere between ,000 and upwards of ,000. Some machines can even run up to 0,000.

The Fabber is a joint project started in the Computational Synthesis Lab at Cornell by Dr. Hod Lipson. He initially visualized the Fabber as a tool to reproduce lost Lego pieces. It is a low cost reasonable detail sold freeform modelling or fabrication tool with a build volume of about 512 cubic inches. or an 8″ cube.

What the Fabber really represents is a grass-roots approach to what has been a niche product for more than 20 years. As they explain, they are comparing the Fabber to the Altair 8000, one of the first microcomputers and one of the things that triggered the home computer boom back in the mid 1970′s. The Fabber even costs about the same with inflation, at about 00 for parts, whereas the old Altair would have cost about 00 in today’s dollars.

The real beauty of the tool is that it is all made from off-the-shelf components. For a little over ,000 you can buy the complete kit and put it together, or buy a fully assembled unit from a company called Koba Industries, which has partnered with Fab @ Home to build and sell the product at only a little bit above assembly prices.

The Fabber will take a standard STL file format used by any of the 3D design applications and produce an actual model based on that file. They have used the Fabber to produce a watch with embedded electronics, a working flashlight with circuitry injected, as well as some other really cool things.

This is a brand new technology and certainly not as refined as the high end production machines that can be bought for multi-thousands of dollars. But as a concept, it’s something that can be developed and evolved. All it takes is ingenuity and a desire to see how far you can go.

What the Fabber is specifically, is a Solid Free Form Fabrication tool. It uses a lifting table combined with a XY axis stepper motor that guides a print head or engine that contains a number of syringes. Each syringe can hold a different fluid material, and depending on the size of the nozzle, you can potentially use the Fabber to build very small and detailed objects.

Demonstration of the rapid, history-free 3D editing capabilities of Kubotek KeyCreator using a simple 3D solid model

As the implications for 3D solid modeling and rapid prototyping continue to grow the impact for consumers and small businesses to manufacture products continues to grow as well. If a new product is needed by a business of customer a CAD file can be purchased, uploaded and the 3D solid modeling can reproduce it. Maybe a plastic ABS buckle needs replacing or a new product appeals to the consumer, 3D solid modeling has the capability to produce replicas, models or prototypes quickly and easily. Advancements in fabrication materials allow an almost unlimited potential for products with 3D solid modeling technology.

3D Solid Modeling Applications

3D solid modeling technology is on the brink of enhancing product availability for everyone. The technology once used only by manufacturing industries is becoming available for general use and not just for large manufacturers. 3D solid modeling will provide enhanced capabilities for production techniques to be used by the average person. Just imagine that you have a broken fan in your computer and you have no time to purchase another. What to do? With 3D solid modeling technology you can produce an exact replica of the part needed. Once produced you replace the old one with the new and your back in operation. 3D solid modeling can apply prototyping technology in a variety of applications. The technology for 3D solid modeling is computer assisted design software instructing a 3D printer to build models layer by layer on a platform until an exact reproduction according to specifications is produced.

Everyone with kids has games and toys needing repair or replacement parts. These parts could be replaced as 3D solid modeling technology would manufacture a brand new toy or just the piece that needs repairing. 3D solid modeling along with 3D printers has opened up a whole new set of options by allowing consumers to play a role in the design and manufacture of products they wish to purchase. Because of 3D solid modeling consumers will not have to purchase products in colors and designs they don’t want or need. 3D solid modeling will eventually allow the customizing, designing and manufacturing of many products by the same individual who will be purchasing them.

3D Solid Modeling Advantages

The use of 3D solid modeling for businesses is also one of many applications of 3D solid modeling technology. In this application the small business would produce a custom product for the consumer by purchasing or downloading a (CAD) software package for the item they wanted and produce it exactly to the specifications of the customer, many times while they waited. One of many 3D solid modeling printers would then begin to manufacture the customized item for the purchaser.

3D solid modeling offers options such as customizing colors and product materials would be available to the consumer with a 3D solid modeling program. In a short period of time a customized product would be ready for the consumer to take home and use. Think about purchasing a gift and having it made in the store while you wait. Maybe that special train or model car for a grandchild as a gift could be produced by 3D solid modeling technology.