I love 3D printers, but this is the third one I've seen this week in addition to MakerBot and Form 1. I'm really not understanding what the differentiator is after seeing the video except a slight change in price.
This is a FDM printer that is a lot cheaper than the MakerBot ($800 vs $2100). The Form 1 is a SLA printer, which means it is better at making small, precise parts; but worse at making parts that are durable enough for actual testing in assemblies (as opposed to just looking pretty).
It is interesting to see competition to the MakerBot, since $2k is still a bit high, and if the PandaBot's "calibration-free" design works as well as they claim, the ease-of-use factor is still a big thing to exploit.
If it has even moderately good print quality, a commercial, fully-assembled FDM printer for under $1000 is an interesting prospect.
The basic thought was to get it to a point that we could provide it to designers and university students with little to no engineering experience and they could start printing their 3d models right away. Hence, the heavy emphasis on self-calibration and ease-of-use.
The price range just works because we also designed it from the start to be a manufactured product, so we get an economy of scale very quickly as more people pick it up.
We think price is important and that the true power of 3D printing will come when we break out of the niche and into the mass market. Beyond price, we're designed from the start as a manufactured product, which led to much different component selection and engineering choices. These different design decisions gave us a much more rigid, robust, and quiet machine, while also allowing us to leverage the economies of scale and manufacturing skill of the global supply chain.
It is prototype hardware and some elements are not where we'd wish them to be. We have a fully revamped design for the bed carriage and drive assembly.
Comments
I love 3D printers, but this is the third one I've seen this week in addition to MakerBot and Form 1. I'm really not understanding what the differentiator is after seeing the video except a slight change in price.
This is a FDM printer that is a lot cheaper than the MakerBot ($800 vs $2100). The Form 1 is a SLA printer, which means it is better at making small, precise parts; but worse at making parts that are durable enough for actual testing in assemblies (as opposed to just looking pretty).
It is interesting to see competition to the MakerBot, since $2k is still a bit high, and if the PandaBot's "calibration-free" design works as well as they claim, the ease-of-use factor is still a big thing to exploit.
If it has even moderately good print quality, a commercial, fully-assembled FDM printer for under $1000 is an interesting prospect.
Thanks.
The basic thought was to get it to a point that we could provide it to designers and university students with little to no engineering experience and they could start printing their 3d models right away. Hence, the heavy emphasis on self-calibration and ease-of-use.
The price range just works because we also designed it from the start to be a manufactured product, so we get an economy of scale very quickly as more people pick it up.
You can see print quality examples on ponoko, Derek swung by our office to see it close up in action yesterday: http://blog.ponoko.com/2012/10/04/pandabot-3d-printer-launch...
We think price is important and that the true power of 3D printing will come when we break out of the niche and into the mass market. Beyond price, we're designed from the start as a manufactured product, which led to much different component selection and engineering choices. These different design decisions gave us a much more rigid, robust, and quiet machine, while also allowing us to leverage the economies of scale and manufacturing skill of the global supply chain.
I'm running product at Panda Robotics.
Speaking of rigid - what's it with the heatbed (?) bending to the left as soon as it changes direction in the video (at around 0:50 - 0:55)
It is prototype hardware and some elements are not where we'd wish them to be. We have a fully revamped design for the bed carriage and drive assembly.