An Atmel-powered MakerBot in every school

The MakerBot crew has announced a new educational mission to put an Atmel-powered MakerBot Desktop 3D Printer in every American school.

According to Ben Millstein, the first MakerBot Academy initiative includes 3D printing bundles for classrooms, an awesome Thingiverse Challenge along with generous support from both individuals and organizations.

“[You can help] get the word out. Tell the teachers you know to register at DonorsChoose.org. Support a school [and] contribute to the effort by choosing a teacher; help get them set for the Next Industrial Revolution,” Millstein wrote in an official MakerBot blog post detailing the initiative. “[You can also] participate in the Thingiverse Challenge, develop models that teachers can use to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.”

Millstein also pointed out that the rapidly growing 3D market had caught the attention of US President Barack Obama who stated during a recent State of the Union Address that 3D printing “has the potential to revolutionize” the way we make almost everything – with America ready to host “the next industrial revolution in manufacturing.”

“We’re inspired by the President’s commitment to keep America at the forefront of the Next Industrial Revolution and we’re eager to do our part to educate the next generation of innovative makers who will keep our economy strong,” Millstein noted. “[We want to] get thousands of [Atmel-powered] MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printers into K-12 public school classrooms across the country — by December 31, 2013!”

Interested in learning more about putting an Atmel-powered MakerBot in every American school? You can check out the official MakerBot Academy page here.

15-year-olds code mobile 3D printing app

A number of 3D printers currently on the market require some form of a connection with a PC to operate or configure. However, fifteen-year-olds Gerhard de Clercq and Pieter Sholtz recently decided that they wanted to interact with their Atmel-powered RepRap 3D printer using a smartphone.

So the duo went ahead and coded a basic app for a Microsoft Windows phone. According to Daniel O’Connor of Prsnlz.me, users simply upload an STL, press a button to slice the file into G-Code and then Bluetooth it to the printer.

In the video above, the two printed a case for a Nokia 820 from a Nokia 920, showing how numerous functions can be easily controlled by a smartphone, including temperature and z-axis.

Pieter and Gerhard told Prsnlz.me that their aim is to make 3D printing more accessible for individuals in developing countries who own smartphones but lack access to more traditional PCs.

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the DIY Maker Movement has been using Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for some time now. However, 3D printing recently entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces including the medical sphere, architectural arena, science lab and even on the battlefield.

Indeed, the meteoric rise of 3D printing has paved the way for a new generation of Internet entrepreneurs, Makers and do-it-yourself (DIY) manufacturers. So it comes as little surprise that the lucrative 3D printing industry remains on track to be worth a staggering $3 billion by 2016.

CNBC analyzes open source hardware

Writing for CNBC, Tom DiChristopher confirms that the rapidly evolving open-source hardware (OSHW) movement is currently in the process of migrating from the garage to the marketplace.

As DiChristopher notes, companies that follow an open-source philosophy make their physical designs and software code available to the public. By doing so, they engage a wave of Makers, hobbyists and designers who don’t just want to buy products, but rather, offer a helping hand in developing them.

“Patents still work as an incentive for some people, but for a growing number of companies, sharing is more lucrative and fulfilling,” Alicia Gibb, executive director of the Open Source Hardware Association, told CNBC.

Gibb specifically highlighted Atmel-powered Arduino boards as an example of popular open hardware, pointing out that one of the biggest assets open-source hardware manufacturers have is the communities they’ve built among users who share their values and their roots as Makers.

“[For example], one of the things that the Arduino has that cannot be duplicated no matter how cheap you make it is the community that surrounds it,” said Gibb. “Even if somebody else comes along and tried to sell something cheaper I don’t think it would matter.”

According to Catarina Mota, research chair at the Open Source Hardware Association, the rise of open-source hardware companies can be attributed to a number of cultural and technological trends. Indeed, hardware makers have built on the open-source software movement that gained steam in the ’90s, while the ubiquity of the Internet allows hobbyists to collaborate on physical products. The barriers to making hardware and other equipment have also fallen, says Mota, thanks to cheaper prototyping tools such as the Atmel-powered MakerBot and RepRap 3D printers.

The rapid growth of the movement is also reflected in the success of marketplaces for DIY developers and open-source enthusiasts like New York-based Adafruit Industries, a company which uses Atmel microprocessors (MCUs) in a number of its platforms, including FLORA and Trinket. To be sure, Adafruit’s revenue has tripled year over year, with the company expecting full-year revenue for 2013 to reach $20 million. Of course, customers are not just limited to hobbyists and isolated Makers.

“Our customers are moving more and more towards commercial endeavors and a very large portion of our orders are from professionals at very large companies,” Limor Fried, founder of Adafruit, told CNBC.

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, perhaps the greatest success to date in OSHW (open-source hardware) has been the Atmel-powered Arduino, primarily because it established a vibrant ecosystem. Writing in Electronic Design, David Tarrant and Andrew Back note that all the hardware design files were made available – so both Makers and engineers could study the design and extend it for their own purposes in a commercial or non-commercial context.

“These files were combined with an accessible and equally flexible software platform. [Clearly], Arduino has benefited from derivative and complementary third-party hardware and is today a growing brand with a strong reputation for quality,” the two explained.

“Following its example, hardware companies are increasingly seeing OSHW as an opportunity to seed the market and educational establishments with their technology. Development kit design files are increasingly available under open-source licenses. And as was the case with software, more reusable components are becoming available.”

According to Tarrant and Back, another key product example of the OSHW revolution is the Atmel-powered MakerBot 3D printer, the initial generations of which were entirely based on open-source design.

“Although open-source hardware has to date largely been seen as existing at the simpler end of the electronics design spectrum, it embraces two major assets within the engineering community—goodwill and collective intelligence—and is being recognized as an important movement with increasing opportunities across both industry and education,” the two added.

How 3D printing empowers Makers

Chelsea Schelly, assistant professor of social sciences at Michigan Tech, says 3D printing can be used to help empower individuals.

“When you produce something yourself instead of purchasing it, that changes your relationship to it,” Schelly explained. “You are empowered by it.”

As Dennis Walikainen of Michigan Tech News notes, the principle might sound simple at first, although its ramifications are wide ranging, especially for middle and high school educators. In fact, that’s where Schelly’s 3D printing research began – at a teacher workshop coordinated by 3D printing guru Joshua Pearce.

During the workshop, one local high school teacher designed and printed a snowblower part that typically retails for $200.

“Instead, he made it himself and saved the money. And he saved the hassle of bringing the machine to the shop to get it fixed,” said Schelly. “The early feedback from the teachers is that the students are more engaged. They take pride in making these things for themselves. This could be seen as part of the larger ‘Maker’s Movement,’ where people are doing their own production processes.”

Joshua Pearce concurred, noting that more individuals are likely to begin designing and creating their own products as 3D printer prices drop significantly.

“As 3D printing [is] open-sourced, the costs plummeted from tens of thousands of dollars to $1,600 for assembled printers today, and the new RepRap printers are down to $500 in parts. As the price drop continues, they will become household items, like desktop printers. This has the potential to disrupt the way we manufacture,” he explained.

“The number of designs is exploding. There are a lot of helpers out there. Give us what you’ve got, and we’ll build on it and give you what we’ve got—and we all benefit. [For example], an open-source Chinese smartphone, made with a 3D printer, was [recently] posted online for $130, and 100,000 sold in 90 seconds.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the DIY Maker Movement has been using Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for some time now. However, 3D printing has clearly entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces including the medical sphere, architectural arena, science lab and even on the battlefield.

Indeed, the meteoric rise of 3D printing has paved the way for a new generation of Internet entrepreneurs, Makers and do-it-yourself (DIY) manufacturers. So it comes as little surprise that the lucrative 3D printing industry is on track to be worth a staggering $3 billion by 2016.

Spooky MakerBot PLA filament glows in the dark

With Halloween quickly approaching, the MakerBot crew is adding a little glow to All Hallows’ Eve festivities with its new glow-in-the-dark PLA filament for the Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer.

Like all MakerBot Filament, Glow-in-the-Dark PLA Filament is manufactured and in-house tested, with the company mixing in a special dye mixture that glows a ghostly green in the dark.

“You don’t need sunlight to power up your Glow-in-the-Dark PLA Filament, any light source will do the trick in just two to three minutes,” MakerBot’s Ben Millstein explained in a recent blog post. “The brighter the light source, the more powerfully it will glow. We’ve found that charging MakerBot glow-in-the-dark PLA filament with a UV LED flashlight packs a potent punch.”

In addition to the glow-in-the-dark PLA filament, MakerBot has also debuted a new line of warm gray and cool gray filament. According to Millstein, the nuanced colors are ideal for professionals who use the Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer to prototype, iterate, and innovate in the workplace.

“We’re particularly excited for architects, who can use these shades of gray to propose a structure’s look without drilling down into specific material choices,” said Millstein. “[Our] example model, a gothic cloister [see picture above], shows the presence of two materials and how they might look together, without having to specify what those materials will be.”

Video: 3D printing a 1927 Miller 91 race car

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, the Maker Movement has been well acquainted with Atmel-powered 3D printers like MakerBot and RepRap for some time now. However, 3D printing has clearly entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces including the manufacturing industry, the medical sphere, architectural arena and science lab.

Recently, Cideas, a Rapid Prototyping consulting company based in Crystal Lake, Illinois, created a rather impressive replica of the 1927 Miller 91 race car using 3D printing technology – with the entire process completed in just 6 short weeks.

According to the folks at 3Ders, the 40% scale model car was created with 100% 3D-printed parts, including frame rails, wire wheels, body, steering wheel and grille.

“The CAD model was created with SolidWorks software by designer Bill Gould, one of Fallbrook Engineering’s most talented Senior Associates. His friend Mike Littrell, CEO of CIDEAS, saw it and together with his team, they created a scale version of the car using 3D printing,” said the 3Ders crew. “Some of parts were sent out to be chromed and finished in a shiny fashion, and the final version of this replica of the 1927 Miller 91 model car is truly amazing.”

Printing a prosthetic hand with the MakerBot

Over the past week, Bits & Pieces has gotten up close and personal with the versatile Atmel-powered MakerBot. Indeed, the 3D printer is routinely used for a wide variety of projects, including helping NASA explore the final frontier and creating the physical objects that power CG-animated movie magic.

Today we’ll be taking a closer look at how the MakerBot printed a prosthetic device for two-year-old Huntsville, Ala. toddler Kate Berkholtz who was born missing four finger on her left hand. Although the toddler is unfazed by the absent digits, Kate caught the attention of engineers at Zero Point Frontiers who had recently purchased a MakerBot 3D printer.

“When Kate was first born and we realized she was missing her fingers,” Michael Berkholtz told WHNT. “We went to a lot of other places like Baltimore, Philadelphia and Atlanta to kind of find out what type of options we had.”

However, the Berkholtz family didn’t want to go the surgical route and Michael says he never would have imagined a bio-plastic made from corn known as Polylactic acid would be a viable option for his daughter to potentially have a 3D printed fully-functioning hand.

“What’s exciting about this is if you can get one design and it works really well then potentially there are other people out there who may have other ideas who could take what we’ve seen on Kate and make that a whole new design,” Berkholtz explained.

Shawn Betts of Zero Point Frontiers expressed similar sentiments, noting that the scalability and affordability of a 3D printing approach addresses the issue of kids constantly outgrowing their fitted prosthetics.

“The cost of one of these hands is under $5,” said Betts. “[Plus], we can do a couple of designs by changing little parts that cost 50 cents or less… This technology is just amazing.”

Kate’s dad Michael concurred.

“You know it’s really cool to get in on the front end of this and try to eventually help other who have more challenges than Kate does.”

Understanding the 3D printing revolution

Christopher Barnatt, author of 3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution, recently noted that a number of Ford engineers have Atmel-powered MakerBots in their workstations. As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, 3D printing has clearly entered a new and important stage in a number of spaces including manufacturing, the medical sphere, architectural arena and science lab.

“The question for manufacturers will therefore increasingly be not whether they are using 3D printers in their product design, but where and how frequently. Just as computers escaped from corporate data centers in the 1980s and 1990s and started to be used by non-technical staff, so today it is time for 3D printers to invade a great many offices,” Barnatt opined in an article published in 3D Printer earlier this month.

“Personal 3D printers can now be built or purchased for a few hundred dollars. As such hardware enters the mainstream, more and more people will have at least the potential to start 3D printing things at home, and smart businesses are already starting to recognize this fact.”

In addition to helping customers modify, repair and personalize products, many organizations could very easily start to offer promotional 3D object downloads.

“Today free apps or screensavers are common in the entertainment industry, and within a year or so any marketing campaign that does not include 3D printable content will be missing an easy trick,” he continued. “In retail, there are also opportunities to start selling both consumer 3D printers and consumables, as well as 3D printing and scanning services. In 2013 some of the first 3D printer stores opened around the world.”

However, says Barnatt, while 3D printing will drive a revolution, it probably won’t replace most traditional manufacturing methods.

“Rather, I estimate that, within ten years, 3D printing will be used directly or indirectly in the manufacture of about 20 per cent of products or parts thereof. I would also stress the ‘indirect’ bit here, with the use of 3D printing to produce molds, cores and patterns being very significant over the coming decade,” he explained.

“The desire to achieve material savings will [also] drive the adoption of 3D printing in many industries. This is due to the fact that 3D printing is an additive rather than subtractive process that can achieve minimal wastage. Within a decade, scanning and digital inventory will have a big impact on spare part availability and product repair. [As] natural resources continue to deplete at an alarming rate, increasingly we will need to repair rather than replace broken items, and it is 3D printing that may well actually allow this to happen.”

Barnatt emphasized that software development will determine competitive advantage for many pioneers of fully or partially 3D printed products, with everybody having access to the same industrial 3D printers.

“Successful companies will therefore be those that create the best interfaces between their customers and 3D printing hardware. The future is not about everybody learning CAD, but about smart companies creating a wide range of customized customer apps.”

Last, but certainly not least, Barnatt said he believed bioprinting would become a standard medical practice sometime in the 2020s and 2030s.

3D Printing: The Next Industrial Revolution can be purchased on Amazon for $13.50.

Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator goes to the movies

Jason Lopes of Legacy Effects routinely uses an Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer to create the physical objects that power CG-animated movie magic. In fact, Legacy Effects uses 3D printed parts in all of its productions – ranging from simple proof-of-concept models to actual production-ready props.

“This is where knowledge of 3D printing comes in handy. It’s one thing to make a 3D printed part great looking and another to make the strongest possible 3D printed part,” the lead systems engineer told the official MakerBot blog. “The value to be able to prototype on a small scale is priceless. It allows us to make a physical piece out of a creative thought at any point.”

After meeting MakerBot CEO Bre Pettis at last year’s 3D Print Show in London, Jason said he decided to “take the plunge,” giving the MakerBot Replicator 2 a ten-day trial at Legacy Effects. Unsurprisingly, the Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator 2 produced fast, high-quality builds that won Jason over in just two short days.

“People were amazed while I was handing over versions that were produced on the Replicator 2 within minutes,” he said.

Most recently, Jason used his MakerBot Desktop 3D Printers to produce test fittings on costumes for the upcoming “Captain America” sequel.

The lead systems engineer also noted that he was an active participant and educator in 3D printing communities, using the influx of new enthusiasts as motivation to “up his game.”

“Five years ago, I could not have the conversations that I do today. We haven’t [really] seen anything yet, in my opinion,” he added.

Video: MakerBot helps NASA explore the final frontier

MakerBot’s Atmel-powered 3D printers have been helping innovators and DIY Makers transform their ideas into physical objects for quite some time now. Of course, it isn’t every day that 3D printed objects or components make their way into space.

However, when NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope launches in 2018 it will carry parts made with the help of an Atmel-powered MakerBot Replicator2 Desktop 3D Printer. That is definitely one small step for MakerBot – and one giant leap for mankind.

“In 1993, four years after the launch of the Hubble Telescope, NASA began contemplating the next generation of space observatory. 20 years later, the James Webb Space Telescope has come a long way towards meeting its 2018 launch date, with MakerBot playing a growing role in the development process,” MakerBot’s Ben Millstein wrote in a recent blog post.

“The new telescope promises never-before-seen images of our universe using the NIRCam (near-infrared camera), the first space telescope camera optimized for near-infrared light. That means the Webb Telescope will be able to capture infrared wavelengths that cut through cosmic dust and gas clouds.”

According to Millstein, NASA enlisted Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Center (ATC) to build the device, with the ATC team using a MakerBot Replicator 2 to get the job done. John Camp, a former mechanical engineer at ATC, led the initiative to streamline 3D printing for the NIRCam development process. After Camp acquired his first MakerBot Replicator 2, he was flooded with requests from engineers interested in (3D) printing various parts.

“Many of the systems for the Webb Telescope have to go through lengthy cryogenic testing to make sure the machinery holds up in the freezing vacuum of space,” Millstein continued. “MakerBot gave John the ability to test part ideas using 3D printed replicas, while the actual metal components being sent to freezing vacuum of space were put through their paces in a cryogenic test chamber.”

The Webb Telescope is currently slated to kick off three years of intensive testing and tweaking at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, TX before its eagerly awaited launch later this decade.

“Come 2018, we’ll be on the lookout for spectacular new images of our universe as they beam down from the Webb Telescope’s orbit – 1.5 million kilometers above Earth,” Millstein added.