Printing outside the box is the new concept that makes things go forward in the 3D printing industry. How? By taking the 3D printing technology and attach it to a mobile platform. This simple idea is the only way we can have boundless 3D printing possibilities. It is the method to replace the stationary, bulky and large 3D printers with a small and mobile platform that can print on almost endless surfaces.
Robert Flitsch is a mechanical engineer who designed a mobile 3D printing platform and launched the startup named Addibots to hit the market with this robot.
It’s easy to understand that without workspace limitations, we can print a wide range of products and open the field to new applications. Is like switching from fixed to mobile telephony. We can print anywhere without box limitations.
The wheeled 3D printer works in two modes: remote-controlled and autonomously. In front of the platform is attached the additive manufacturing printheads engineered to work with different materials.
When I think of printing objects, especially to build robots, I need to know the printing resolution, the materials used to print or if support the standard filament spools, how I’ll download the 3D model into the printer, how fast is the printing process and how much will cost to buy such a printer.
For this mobile printer prototype, all of these features are unknowns. If for some of these features I’d be able to get an idea, I can not wait to know the printing resolution and price. In his interview, Robert Flitsch plans to release the Addibot to market within one to three years, so I have to wait a little bit longer.
Back to the Addibot prototype, the future plans are big. The designer works on a new Addibot platform that would move along a road and resurface the road with different materials. This is a new application for a 3D printer, and things definitely will not stop here.
