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cooperhewitt · 7 years ago

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R/GA’s Bob Greenberg Guest Curates “Selects” Exhibition

As guest curator of the next exhibition in Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum’s acclaimed “Selects” series, Bob Greenberg, founder of the international design innovation company R/GA, engages his singular creative eye to uncover compelling design lineages and make thematic connections within the museum’s expansive collection of 210,000 objects. On view Feb. 23 through Sept. 9 in the Nancy and Edwin Marks Collection Gallery, “Bob Greenberg Selects” is the 16th installation in the series in which designers, artists, architects and public figures are invited to guest curate an exhibition. For his presentation, Greenberg brings together 42 innovative works from Cooper Hewitt’s holdings to explore creativity in the age of technology.

“A 2003 National Design Award winner for Communication, Bob is a true original—revered in his field as an iconoclastic thinker with a prescient understanding of the creative and strategic possibilities of interactive design,” said Caroline Baumann, director of Cooper Hewitt. “An enthusiastic collector of industrial design, Bob plunged into Cooper Hewitt’s important holdings of wired and wireless tools and pulled forth a fascinating visual narrative of technology’s seismic impact on design. And as per Bob’s way, the installation will be an immersive, interactive experience involving animation, audio and video.”

The exhibition illustrates how technology has propelled design innovations in form, style and function over the past 65 years. The collection of pivotal multi-disciplinary objects explores how design and technology have augmented and revolutionized modern human life.

It is presented in four groupings: “Connected Devices” focuses on groundbreaking communication tools, ranging from the Henry Dreyfuss-designed Model 500 telephone (1953) and the early fax machine Qwip 1200 (1976–78) to the first-generation iPhone (2007) and Google Glass (2013); “Disruptive Innovations” shows objects that have been industry game changers, such as the Edison Voicewriter Dictaphone (1953), the Sony TV8-301 Portable Television (1959) and the MakerBot Replicator 2 Desktop 3D Printer (2012); while “Measurement and Calculation” features a historical range of calculators, watches and thermostats, addressing themes of computation and notation in design. In “Dieter Rams Ten Principles for Good Design,” Greenberg presents 11 objects that he considers best embody these principles including usefulness, honesty and unobtrusiveness, such as Rams’ HLD 4 No. 4416 Hair Dryers (1970), ET55 Calculator (1980) and AB 21/s Alarm Clock (1978).

“Design has always been a powerful force for innovation and progress, but never has it been more important than it is today,” said Greenberg. “I’m honored to partner with Cooper Hewitt to explore the intersection of human achievement, technological advancement and design thinking as seen through the evolution of objects from the atomic age through the connected age.”

Architect Toshiko Mori serves as exhibition designer and has envisioned a “room within a room” in the gallery. The former ornate drawing room of the Carnegie Mansion has been transformed to create a modern and neutral white background, facilitating intimate observation of the objects on view. The viewing is complemented by a streamlined OLED lighting installation by Kaneka OLED, the first time it will be employed in an American cultural institution.

In place of traditional museum labels, visitors are encouraged to download and use an interactive app developed by R/GA. A “scan and learn” component uses the image recognition software Clarifai, which allows users to take a picture of an object and discover explanatory and related materials.

The app also includes an audio guide feature with commentary on the objects by Greenberg, Mori, industrial designer Thomas Meyerhoffer, Cooper Hewitt curator Ellen Lupton and Cooper Hewitt National Design Award-winner Michael Bierut, a partner in the international design consultancy Pentagram. Moreover, the exhibition will contain video commentary on design by Greenberg, animating his own 10 Principles of Design with objects included in the exhibition and drawing visual connections between them. The audio for the videos will be transmitted to visitors’ devices by LISNR, a communication protocol that uses inaudible sound to broadcast information.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Greenberg will participate in a panel discussion March 27 with Cooper Hewitt Trustee John Maeda, head of computational design and inclusion at Automattic, and Debbie Millman, designer, artist, author and host of the podcast “Design Matters,” along with other leaders in design and technology.

“Bob Greenberg Selects” is made possible by the Marks Family Foundation Endowment Fund.

ABOUT BOB GREENBERG

Bob Greenberg is the founder, chairman and CEO of R/GA, the worldwide digital advertising agency, product and service design innovator and business consultancy. Along with his brother Richard, he founded R/Greenberg Associates (R/GA) in 1977 with the idea of combining design, motion graphics and live-action film and video production. A 2003 winner of the Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Communications Design, Greenberg has been a pioneer in the advertising and design communications industry for four decades. He is also a noted collector of art and design, from office equipment by Dieter Rams and Eadweard Muybridge photographs to Outsider Art and ancient Buddhist sculpture. His industrial design collection, lining the walls at R/GA’s New York City office, traces the advancement of technology.

about cooper Hewitt, smithsonian design museum

Founded in 1897, Cooper Hewitt is the only museum in the United States devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. Housed in the renovated and restored Carnegie Mansion, Cooper Hewitt showcases one of the most diverse and comprehensive collections of design works in existence. The museum’s restoration, modernization and expansion have won numerous awards and honors, including a Lucy G. Moses Preservation Award from the New York Landmarks Conservancy, a Gold Pencil Award for Best in Responsive Environments and LEED Silver certification. Cooper Hewitt offers a full range of interactive capabilities and immersive creative experiences, including the Cooper Hewitt Pen that allows visitors to “collect” and “save” objects from around the galleries, the opportunity to explore the collection digitally on ultra-high-definition touch-screen tables, and draw and project their own wallpaper designs in the Immersion Room.

Cooper Hewitt is located at 2 East 91st Street at Fifth Avenue in New York City. Hours are Sunday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Arthur Ross Terrace and Garden, accessible without an admissions ticket, opens at 8 a.m., Monday through Friday. The Tarallucci e Vino café is open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The museum is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Public transit routes include the Lexington Avenue 4, 5 and 6 subways (86th or 96th Street stations), the Second Avenue Q subway (96th Street station), and the Fifth and Madison Avenue buses. Adult admission, $16 in advance via tickets.cooperhewitt.org, $18 at door; seniors, $10 in advance via tickets.cooperhewitt.org, $12 at door; students, $7 in advance via tickets.cooperhewitt.org, $9 at door. Cooper Hewitt members and children younger than age 18 are admitted free. Pay What You Wish every Saturday, 6 to 9 p.m. The museum is fully accessible.

For further information, call (212) 849-8400, visit Cooper Hewitt’s website at www.cooperhewitt.org and follow the museum on twitter.com/cooperhewitt, facebook.com/cooperhewitt and Instagram.com/cooperhewitt.

from Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum http://ift.tt/2Gu0o47 via IFTTT

#cooper hewitt #design conversations

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jesse-ben-israel · 5 years ago

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For just $444.72 Engineered to provide redefined usability, quality, performance , dual extruders It can provide you an unforgettable step-by-step learning experience of the 3D printer from scratch. As long as you have a passion for creativity, you can not afford to miss this product Suitable for a wide range of customers, young or old, professional or amateur etc. Multiple 3D printing filament supportable, support ABS / PLA / wood / nylon PVA / PP / luminescent Type: Complete Machine Platform board: Aluminum Alloy Nozzle quantity: Double Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm Nozzle temperature: 220 - 230 Degree Celsius Product forming size: 225*145*150MM Layer thickness: 0.15-0.4mm Memory card offline print: SD card LCD Screen: Yes Platform temperature: Room temperature to 110 degree Supporting material: ABS,Flexible PLA,PLA Material diameter: 1.75mm Language: English File format: G-code,STL Model supporting function: Yes XY-axis positioning accuracy: 0.011mm Z-axis positioning accuracy: 0.02mm Voltage: 110V/220V,110V/230V Host computer software: ReplicatorG Packing Type: Assembled packing System support: windows xp windows7 8 10 Connector Type: SD card,USB Certificate: CE 11.000 Package weight: 11.085 kg Packing Contents: 1 x CTC 3D Dual Extruders Desktop LCD Screen Printer Disclaimer: 1. Please read and follow the user manual carefully before you assemble or operate the 3D printer. 2. Modification and customization of the 3D printer is strictly forbidden. We will take no responsibility for any problems resulting from modifications. 3. Always use the correct AC voltage for your region. 4. Please do not place the the 3D printer near flammable/combustible materials, or any heat sources. 5. Use the 3D printer only in properly ventilated areas. Maintain a safe distance from the printer.

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paulbradleybc-blog · 8 years ago

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3D Printing

On display at this year’s Immersive Education Summit in Lucca, Italy will be several forms of Immersive Education. One form that will be featured at Immersive Italy from November 16-19, 2017 will be 3D Printing. 3D Printing has been a part of the Immersive Education Initiative since 2014, when Dr. Aaron Walsh introduced the phrase “inversion of immersion” to describe 3D Printing at the summit in Los Angeles that year.

3D Printing can be a great way for students to learn about things they are studying by allowing them to produce an accurate model. 3D printers use a computer generated image which it can then produce by “printing” layer upon layer to make a real life model of that computer image. There are several different types of all sizes available today.

The first one is the MakerBot Replicator+. It costs $2,500. It has a 100 micron resolution. It can print on a relatively large area. And can print via USB, WiFi, Ethernet, and from a thumb drive.

The next 3D printer available is the Flashforge Finder. It costs $400. It is cheaper because it works with only one type of filament material. It is relatively simple to use. This is a good 3D printer for beginners.

The Lulzbot Mini Desktop 3D printer is geared more toward professional users. It costs $1250. It can print with several different types of filament materials. It is also compatible with multiple 3D printing software platforms. It is easy to use and has automatic leveling and cleaning features.

The Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printer is another high-end option. It retails for $2500. It prints very high quality objects. However, it is not as versatile as some other printers as it is only capable of printing from SD cards. Below is a video showing how 3D printing can bring high end art to the home or classroom, a theme at this year’s Immersive Italy.

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#i2017

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metropolicity · 6 years ago

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Day 17 | What I am working on. #marchmeetthemaker I am constantly trying to streamline my workflow, either tools, techniques or organization. I am currently 3D printing a series of modular small tool organizers that will interface with any of my machines or tasks. . I’ve thrice tried to learn 3D printing and be knowledgable about this addictive additive manufacturing. The first time was back in 2014 when I bought a MakerBot Replicator 2, it was on sale at a Winners in Calgary, a buddy picked it up for me and I got it transported back to Winnipeg. I tried to get along with it but when the print failed for the 5-6 time, I gave up and put it aside. . The second time was when I was redoing my shop, and I noticed the Rep 2 sitting in a corner. In a fit of wanting to use what I have…I tried again. This time with a bit more success and a project in mind. I printed a slingshot or two (which was what I was making at the time) and it was ok. Again, with limited knowledge, online resources I set it aside. . Fast forward to about…a month ago. I had already moved out to my awesome basement studio space and my old studio was now empty. I set up the Rep 2 (by now is Stone Age tech in 3D printing) and I was determined to make it work. With limited success, but success overall. I decided I would learn much more about the fine tuning of 3D printing. I had previously purchased a Prusa I3 kit but never actually assembled it. Why? Not sure…it was a 7-8 hour project I hadn’t consider until now. Needless to say, the Prusa i3 MK3 is a lightsaber compared to the hammer that is the Replicator 2. . With the internet at my finger tips, open source software in my eye sockets and an unlimited supply to functional objects to print…I was set. Add another skill feather to my cap. I might need to get ta bigger hat…. #makersgonnamake #3dprinting #prusai3MK3 #prusa (at Winnipeg, Manitoba) https://www.instagram.com/p/BvHaVqUhLzN/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=128nmqdoo3gp4

#marchmeetthemaker #makersgonnamake #3dprinting #prusai3mk3 #prusa

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whichlights · 8 years ago

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Witch Lights Work Diary, Monday; April 17, 2017

Last time, I had just done a full-scale test of the new Witch Lights harness, only to find that the voltage on the far end of the harness was 3.6 volts, too little for the cheap PIR sensors I was using to work properly. I had my hopes pinned on a new set of PIR sensors from SeeedStudio, which are rated to operate with 3-5 volts.

Last week, the new sensors arrived. The Witch Lights are still snaking down my house's stairwell and into the living room, so I took the time to hook up the new LED strips I had just soldered. And on turning the lights on… they browned out.

Great.

Slowly disconnecting and reconnecting each LED strip informed me that two of the four LED strips were bad somehow, and will need to be re-soldered. Somehow, both of them passed my QC testing, but still fail when they're hooked up to the actual harness. Fantastic. Spare LED strips were dragged out, and the offending strips set aside for further punishment investigation.

With LEDs hooked up and running, I was able to confirm the results from the earlier test: the 5 volt PIR motion sensor on the far end starts to go berserk within a few seconds of boot-up, and the lights animate constantly. OK, fair enough.

Time to do some surgery: I extracted the circuit board from the far-end motion sensor housing, and wired the new motion sensor into it. Moment of truth time. Turn the lights on, and…

It worked!

The new 3 volt motion sensors operate just fine in the 3.6 volts provided by the wiring harness, as advertised. The lights no longer trigger randomly, they trigger when a heat source (like my cats) walk by either motion sensor.

Hooray!

Of course, the new PIR sensors are a funny shape, and don't fit into the housings I designed around the original sensors. The next day, I spent a few hours in Solidworks with a pair of calipers, and designed a new housing. Some hours later, I had a new housing sitting on the bed of my original Makerbot Replicator. The new sensor press-fits into the housing. I installed the new housing with no problems, and now I have a fully-assembled, functional set of Witch Lights in my living room.

Which only left the bad LED strips. Grr. Fine, off we go to the workbench. Now, what worries me is, I have an Arduino Uno with a cable hookup that connects to the LED strips once the wireless cables are soldered on. That Uno runs a test animation on the strip. I've been operating under the assumption that if there's a short circuit, the LED strip will brown out when connected to the Uno, and the animation won't play. I used this to test all my strips after soldering.

Turns out, nope. The bad LED strips pass that test just fine. That does not give me the warm fuzzies, let me tell you. So the only real test of the LED strips is to connect them to a fully-deployed wiring harness. Which means I don't get the living room back any time soon.

Update Saturday; May 13, 2017

OK so since I started this entry, I have re-tested and re-worked the LED strips. I ran them continuously for about 16 hours (two battery charges worth), with no problems. That's as good a test as I can devise, so I have to sign off on them, but I'm still wary. This means the second, new set of Witch Lights is fully functional, with its own set of LEDs, ready to deploy. I put away the LED strips and coiled up the wiring harness. It will stay that way until I start reprogramming the Arduino with new code, hopefully in the next month or so.

That left the original Witch Lights, which had the same wiring flaw as the second strand; at critical points, ribbon cable was used as a shortcut to pulling wire. That led to them malfunctioning and constantly animating at Firefly 2016. My goal is to fix this issue before Firefly 2017, on July 4th.

I pulled the wiring harness out from under the Makerbot table, and slowly, laboriously took it apart into segments. It wasn't until I had the conduit laid out on the floor, ready for the wire pull, that I found out that I didn't have enough wire left. Damn. So that was a delay of a few days waiting for wire to come from Jameco.

Once the wire came, I wasted no time in pulling the power lines through the conduit, and started to reassemble the harness. That's a slow process because every time you connect conduit to one of the 3D-printed housings, you have to continuity test the wires to make sure that there's an unbroken chain from the Arduino and power source all the way through the wiring harness. Well, after connecting a long, complicated segment of the harness, the sensor wire failed the continuity test. Somewhere in the harness, a wire had come loose from a screw terminal.

Well, fuck.

I resigned myself to a long search. Then I found the loose wire in literally the first place I looked. OK, I was owed a break on this project I suppose. I accept the good luck. After reconnecting the wire, the harness passed continuity tests. I was able to reassemble the rest of the harness without issue. When it was fully assembled, I plugged in a battery and turned it on, then measured the voltage at the far end of the harness: 5.17 volts.

Huh.

And the debug LEDs on the Arduino tell me that the Witch Lights aren't animating constantly, but are only triggered when I activate the infrared motion sensors.

That's without LEDs hooked up. I don't know what their power drain will do to the voltage at the sensor on the far end. So next up is to do a full-scale deploy of the original Witch Lights, down the stairs and into the living room. My long-suffering wife will love that, but with any luck it will only be for a day, until I can confirm that the lights are working as designed.

After that, I can focus on the software improvements. Right now, if the lights are animating, the Arduino processor is locked up, and it can't respond to any further motion until the lights are done playing their animation. My hope is that, with the help of my friend Jim (a much more experienced programmer who knows C++ and can handle complicated object-oriented code), we can have animation code this summer that can display multiple sprites at once, and respond to motion while animating the lights at the same time.

Both the current and in-development code for the Witch Lights are on github, at https://github.com/jdimauro/witch-lights along with documentation of the build process.

And now, it's time to test the Witch Lights and see if the re-wiring was successful. Wish me luck.

#witch lights #work diary #neopixel #electronics #firefly 2017

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americanbrightside · 3 years ago

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I remember working with the early generations of personal 3D printers, like the Makerbod Replicator, built out of laser-cut wood. They were very seat-of-the-pants, like super finicky, had to us SD cards 128 kb or smaller, and with a small build area.

Apparently the technology had been around a while, since the 80s, but the patent expired in 2009 and then Kickstarter happened. I think a lot of the boom has been thanks to that crowdsourcing mentality. Printers are very compatible and have open design specs. You can mix-and-match your filament, controller, slicing software, and even print parts for your printer thanks to the open specs.

Makerbot used to be the biggest name in the field, being the original crowdfunded printer, but they went the way of Apple, prioritizing sleek design, proprietary functionality, and high quality for high prices over availability and integratability, and they've lost ground to Creality and other more open designs.

I think the boom in makerspaces, communal workshops with pooled funds that could afford early 3d printers, also helped give them the kickstart they needed.

It's kind of weird how sometime around, like, 2012ish, 3-D printing went from not being a thing to being a thing with very little fanfare.

#Abs-replies

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azzyfree · 8 years ago

Conversation

There is a post going around about libraries and I just wanna say if you live in the Ottawa area these are some things the Ottawa public library has;

The Ottawa public library gives you access to ;

-2 - 3D printers (projet 1900, makerbot replicator +) you take an hour course on safety for it and then are allowed to book it when ever you want.

- 2 Lazer cutters, which you can also book after taking that course.

-Several professional film cameras, mics, and Editting software.

-Green screen.

-Lynda .com (a education site where you can learn how to do basically anything digital.)

-Borrow movies

-Borrow video games (Wii U, Ps4 and Xbox one, as well as some older console games)

- many computer labs. There is one in every building.

- software

- genealogy service.

-Lego

#Ottawa #public library #free stuff

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marco42james · 8 years ago

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The 10-Minute Teacher Show: Top Ten Shows for February 2017

10MT: The 5-day a week show for busy but remarkable teachers

From the Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis

Follow @coolcatteacher on Twitter

Thank you for your support of the 10-Minute Teacher Podcast. From the amazing guests to all of you listening and reviewing, thank you all so much for making this dream possible! Hear all of the past episodes of the 10-Minute Teacher Archive. And the top 10 shows for February are:

A Song for Teachers by Jim Forde (Episode #11)

5 Ideas for Improving Student Writing with Jennifer Serravallo (Episode #10)

Dave Burgess Talks Student Engagement (Episode #16)

Tech Tools to Try in 2017 with Jennifer Gonzalez (Episode #20)

Awesome Apps for iPads in the Elementary Classroom with Karen Lirenman and Kristen Wideen (Episode #1)

The 6 Most Motivating Sketchnotes in Education Today with Sylvia Duckworth (Episode #6)

Simple Ways to Find Your Teaching Blindspots with David Guerin (Episode #4)

The Breakout EDU Box: The Teaching Experience that Has Everyone Talking with Adam Bellow (Episode #8)

The Lemonade War that Motivated a Whole School to Read with Ryan Kaczmark (Episode #18)

5 Ideas for Using Game Based Learning in Your Classroom Today with Michael Matera (Episode # 5)

Remember that every show has links and a transcript. People are starting to use these transcripts and I hope it helps those of you researching, wanting to quote the shows, or those with accessibility needs!

Thank you to our sponsors for the month of February, SMART Learning Suite (see my demo with Smart lab), PowerSchool Learning LMS, the Makerbot Mini Replicator+ 3D Printer, and Bloomz.

GiveAway Winners

Thank you to the authors and my friends at MakerBot for giving away a Makerbot Mini Replicator+ 3D Printer.Thank you for all of you who left reviews for the show! I appreciate that you’re telling your friends. Here are the winners for February!

February 2 Frank @Mindful-Teacher winner of “Innovate with iPad” book by Karen Lirenman and Kristen Wideen

February 6 Casey @cjkorder winner of “Explore like a Pirate” by Michael Matera

February 6 Jenny @jennynitchals winner of Mystery Box Game Software by Michael Matera

February 7 Crystal @crystalia1 winner of “Sketchnotes for Educators” by Sylvia Duckworth

February 8 Susan @sneal winner of “140 Twitter Tips for Educators” by Billy Krakower

February 9 Sherri @SherriH75 winner of a Breakout EDU Kit by Adam Bellow and Breakout EDU

February 11 Sherry @sherryN2reading winner of “School Administrator to School Leader” by Brad Johnson

February 15 Tom @loudlearning winner of “The Writing Strategies Book” by Jennifer Serravallo

February 15 Jim @jim7962 winner of a MakerBot Mini Replicator+ by Makerbot!

February 24 Mike @mpetty39, Nicole @guysbride, and Lauren @LIS_Poncsak winners of a Dave Burgess book of their choice. See all of the books he has published here!

The post The 10-Minute Teacher Show: Top Ten Shows for February 2017 appeared first on Cool Cat Teacher Blog by Vicki Davis @coolcatteacher helping educators be excellent every day. Meow!

from Cool Cat Teacher BlogCool Cat Teacher Blog http://www.coolcatteacher.com/10-minute-teacher-show-top-shows-february-2017/

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daliences · 8 years ago

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MakerBot has fixed some major issues and upgraded some key aspects of its technology with the latest version of its flagship desktop 3D printer, the Replicator+.

The company claims the MakerBot Replicator+ prints 30% faster than its predecessor and that it has a 25% larger build volume -- an area of 11.6-in. x 7.6-in x 6.5-in. The machine's gantry and z-stage rails, on which the print head moves back and forth and side to side, were also redesigned for greater precision and reliability, according to MakerBot.

The Replicator+'s gantry and z-stage rails, on which the print head moves back and forth and side to side, were redesigned for greater precision and reliability.

While I did see some marked improvements in this sixth generation of the Replicator line of desktop printers, it still fell short of my expectations in both print quality and speed. But let's talk about some of the pluses first.

As with past MakerBot Replicator desktop 3D printers, this is one of the best-looking machines on the market. The Replicator+ and its Smart Extruder+ are well-designed products and have lots of bells and whistles, such as an onboard camera with 640p x 480p resolution that allows you to watch objects being printed from your desktop or mobile device.

The 40.4-lb. 3D printer is substantial. It has a smart look with its black plastic unibody and LED-lit interior. The filament reel loads onto a rack that slides down and disappears into a rear compartment, which also saves space.

The Smart Extruder+ comes with its own processor and has a sensor system that communicates with the MakerBot Desktop application (available for OS X or Windows) and the MakerBot Mobile app (for iOS or Android) to keep users informed about the status of a print wherever they go. For example, the filament detection sensor notifies users -- on their computer or smartphone -- when filament is absent and automatically pauses to enable print recovery.

The MakerBot mobile app (for iOS or Android) allows you to wirelessly print from a mobile device and monitors a print job as it happens, keeping users informed about the status of a print wherever they go.

Another attribute is how the Smart Extruder+, which I reviewed earlier this year, simply attaches itself magnetically to its mount for easy cleaning or change out.

MakerBot is also the founder of the industry's oldest and most robust user community website, Thingiverse, which offers makers the ability to download hundreds of thousands of printable designs.

As with the last MakerBot Replicator I reviewed, setup of this machine was a snap. I had it up and running in about 10 minutes.

After removing packing material and loading the PLA filament spool onto a retractable hanger bay, you simply follow the instructions on a startup menu on the MakerBot's 2.25 in. x 2.75 in. LED screen. The machine's build plate is also factory-leveled so the printer doesn't need to be leveled out of the box, as was necessary with its predecessor.

The Replicator+ has an easy-to-navigate LED screen.

You can also wirelessly pair the Replicator+, which acts as a Wi-Fi hotspot, using the MakerBot Mobile app, which allows you to print from your smartphone or tablet. The Replicator+ has an Ethernet port and is cloud-enabled so you can control it remotely with the MakerBot Print desktop app or the MakerBot Mobile app. I stuck to using a USB cable to import .stl files to the Replicator+.

With MakerBot Print -- the company's free CAD/slicer software -- you can import .stl files and auto-arrange models during print preparation, and then print them on one or more printers.

The Replicator+'s build plate was also redesigned so models now adhere to it far better than they did on the previous generation of printers. The last Replicator desktop I tested had big issues with model bases warping prior to print jobs finishing because they detached at the edges from the build plate. I even used masking tape to help models adhere -- to no avail.

The Replicator+ was able to easily handle printing multiple projects at the same time. Here's the result of printing four Pokemon-style chess pieces, which it was able to complete in relatively good time -- one hour and 50 minutes.

Another aspect of the new build plate that I really loved is that it's easily removable -- it simply slides forward and off -- and it's extremely flexible, which helps in removing models after they're finished. Just remove the plate, bend it this way and that, and the models more easily detach than they did from the previous machine.

Lastly, MakerBot claims this new printer is "28% quieter" than its past machines. I'll heartily agree with that statement.

Print quality

The first print job I completed was a five-link chain that came in the Replicator+'s onboard flash memory. It printed accurately and without problems.

Next came my litmus test for all 3D printers: The Eiffel Tower.

The last MakerBot Replicator I tested was unable to print my go-to, 5-in. tall model of the Eiffel Tower. It's an intricate piece with a great amount of detail in its scaffolding that's always a challenge for 3D printers to replicate. Some are more successful than others. The previous Replicator, however, was unable to complete the task and ended up extruding a spaghetti-like hairball atop the first stage of the tower.

The new Replicator+, however, was able to finish the task, though not as accurately as I'd hoped it would. While the model was decent, small details such as the tower's inner latticework and pedestrian walkways and handrails were far from accurate, in fact, the handrails wound up as a collapsed thread around the outside of the tower.

The Replicator+ struggled to create more intricate details on models. Here, a 5-in. model of the Eiffel Tower was completed in just under two hours, but the spire and lower pedestrian walkway and railing were not accurately reproduced.

MakerBot's technicians sent me another .stl file containing another version of the Eiffel Tower -- about 30% larger than the original job (or 6.5 inches in height) -- to print. That print job completed the pedestrian walkway and had some success with the scaffolding, but the detailed latticework was poorly formed. This, I believe, is mostly due to the machine's rather poor resolution. It also took about five hours to complete the task.

While the Replicator+'s specifications state it's able to create layers from 100 microns to 400 microns (0.001mm to 0.004mm) in size, it was sometimes not accurately extruded -- leaving finished models with more post-print cleanup than I'm used to.

As far as speed, the smaller Eiffel Tower took one hour, 55 minutes to complete. Compared to one of my more favored printers -- the $1,250 (Amazon price) LulzBot Mini that I reviewed last year -- the MakerBot Replicator took about 10 minutes longer to complete the task. The Lulzbot was also far more accurate in creating details.

The 6.5-in. tall Eiffel Tower during its build. The Replicator+ automatically deposited both the raft and the scaffolding to help support the tower's arches. While it built the tower sufficiently, the details were somewhat muddled.

Next, I printed a set of four Pokemon-style chess pieces. The print job tests how well the machine is able to build multiple objects at the same time. Again, the chess pieces were completed, and relatively quickly (in one hour and 50 minutes), but there was more post-print cleanup needed for filament that went astray or hung down from tails and ears.

Overall, I think the chess piece print job was a success. However, the pieces were no more precisely replicated than those I'd printed previously on a $270 machine - XYZprinting's da Vinci Mini. But the da Vinci Mini failed to accurately reproduce the Eiffel Tower -- so it did lack the level of precision for more intricate models that the MakerBot offers.

No longer a consumer player

With a comparatively high price point -- at least $2,500 (Amazon price) -- the MakerBot Replicator line was never a big seller in the consumer market.

In September, MakerBot CEO Jonathan Jaglom announced the company was "repositioning" itself away from the home and hobbyist market to focus more on selling machines to educators and small businesses -- the two leading arenas for desktop 3D printers, according to analysts.

The completed 6.5-in. tall model of the Eiffel Tower. The Replicator+ was able to complete the task in about five hours.

While the home consumer market isn't booming, 3D printers, materials and services in the U.S. are seeing double-digit growth year after year. 3D printer shipments are expected to experience a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 16% through 2020, according to IDC's U.S. 3D Printer Forecast, 2016-2020.

Revenue from 3D printing hardware alone is expected to grow from $815 million last year to $1.96 billion in 2020. The largest segment within the 3D printing market is fused filament fabrication, or fused deposition modeling (FFF/FDM) machines. Last year, FFF or FDM printers made up 76% of the 3D printers shipped in the U.S., according to IDC.

While the majority of those printers are at the low end of the market, the consumer segment "has clearly not materialized as many had predicted," IDC said. That's pushing many 3D printer makers to shift toward producing higher-end machines aimed at the education and professional prototyping markets.

So while MakerBot, which was purchased by commercial 3D printer manufacturer Stratasys Ltd. two years ago, is selling the right technology, it has struggled with sales and in the third quarter of 2016 suffered a 29% revenue decline year over year. Stratasys and its chief competitor, 3D Systems, have also struggled.

On the left is a Pokemon-style chess piece printed with the $270 da Vinci Mini 3D printer from XYZprinting. On the right is the same piece printed with the MakerBot Replicator+. While the Replicator+ was able to create better detail with more intricate objects -- such as the Eiffel Tower -- on less detailed pieces, the difference was not as noticeable.

FDM 3D printers aren't particularly fast in the first place, because they work with layer upon layer of thermoplastic filament, but some machines are markedly faster than others. The MakerBot Replicator+ isn't one of those. The machine sits squarely in the middle -- it's neither really slow nor really fast.

The MakerBot Replicator+ is also limited to one type of filament, the popular and biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA). Other consumer and commercial 3D desktop printers offer the ability to print with two or more common materials, such as acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or polyvinyl alcohol. It's simply a matter of allowing the extruder temperature to be adjusted for those other plastics.

Machine quality issues

I've encountered quality issues with MakerBot's Replicator desktop printers in the past. Their Smart Extruders seem to court problems, such as filament extruder jams. I've sent more than one head back to the company only to have another fail as well. This time, the print heads weren't a problem.

My first Replicator+ review unit, however, was still unable to print, even after troubleshooting it with MakerBot technicians over the telephone, so I ended up sending the machine back to the company. The problem turned out to be with the print head offset to the build plate; it kept positioning itself directly against the build plate, so it was unable to extrude filament. Instead, the print head scraped itself across the build plate, damaging it. (The print head must be positioned at the correct distance from the build plate or it won't work properly, if at all.)

MakerBot technicians discovered the machine I'd been using was missing its "Homing Pins" -- three small plastic cylinders that insert into the two front holes and a back center hole on the build plate. They're essential to calibrating the distance of the extruder to the surface, and without them some of the homing procedures may work, but printing will always be unsuccessful.

The issue, MakerBot stated in an email to Computerworld is known to affect "far less than 1%" of its printers, and the company thought it had already discovered and corrected the issue.

A few weeks later, I received a second review unit, which worked without problems.

Bottom line

Each time I receive a MakerBot 3D printer, I hold high hopes for its success. It's an expensive desktop machine that boasts a lot of thoughtful engineering and high-tech bells and whistles.

Unfortunately, in the two areas that count most -- print speed and quality -- I think this machine still falls short and MakerBot still has work to do to address this.

I have no doubt that the Replicator+ is a better quality machine with higher reliability than its predecessors. But if you're going to charge $2,500 for a desktop printer, I believe it had better produce some of the highest-quality print jobs around, and this machine simply doesn't.

Once again, I cannot recommend the MakerBot Replicator+. While it's nowhere near the bottom of the market in terms of quality, I believe it sits squarely in the middle -- and for the price, that's not a good place.

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socialpopme-blog · 6 years ago

Text

3D Printing-- Self-replicating 3D Printing Innovation and also More

The 3D printing phenomenon has actually existed enough time. Numerous markets have actually currently been employing the modern technology considering that the 1980s that it isnt also a new thing any longer, specifically in the corporate world. Nevertheless, this advancement in the field of mechanical engineering has actually not reached its full prospective right now, as well as better advancements are progressively taking place making an even more lovable development for premium business, and also residential individuals and enthusiasts alike.

One substantial advancement in the area of 3 dimensional printing is RepRap, or Duplicating Quick Prototyper. RepRap is all about self-replicating equipments, not just 3D printers. The RepRap 3D printer however, offered enough time and also the appropriate products, can generate its parts (a portion of the device is constructed from plastic) and also duplicate itself. This technology enables you to replicate the maker, therefore abandoning the demand to get a brand-new one. You may share it with your close friends or even market the new ones that you will certainly be able to make. This guarantees that the modern technology will survive on as its reproduction seems like a limitless cycle. Naturally, with the advancement of 3D printing, this approach did not at appear so unlikely at all.

Whats also far better concerning this maker is that it is among the most affordable 3D printers, making it accessible to practically any person. RepRap 3D printers are actually one of the most commonly used machines despite various other completing suppliers.

Another attractive function of this modern technology is the development of 3D scanners. If you are not into design software applications or if you just want to make reproductions of artefacts, figurines, or other products, then 3D scanners will most definitely come in helpful. MakerBots Digitizer is a recently created scanning system that entails placing your design on a turntable and scanning it for 3 minutes up until a digital version of it is created. Today, also life dimension objects can be scanned as well as duplicated. In U.K., an actual online horse was checked at somewhat smaller sized statuary of the stated steed is now standing outside the headquarters of the British Council.

MakerBot additionally supplies the public the MakerBot Replicator 2 which allows the user pause the printing midway so you can alter the color of materials made use of. Other devices featured multiple nozzles which enable them to publish at various colors with needing to pause at the procedure. Although the prices of 3D printers have actually greatly decreased in the current years, there are still printers that are fairly much more costly than the others. MakerBot Replicator 2 is amongst the less costly products which offer you multiple-colored manufacturings.

Various various other advancements flooding the field every single time. If you are a 3D printing modern technology lovers or if you employ this innovation to your company, it would to keep an eye out for these growths to capitalize as well as make to the most out of your 3D printing experience.

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