I wish Objet had sent me a working unit of their new “desktop-sized” Alaris 30 3-D printer, but instead I got a box with a tiny car that had been printed on the machine inside. It’s pretty impressive, though, with working gears and moving parts that were presumably all printed in one piece, not reassembled after the fact.
Despite asking, Objet wouldn’t send me a unit out with which to print a few thousand 3D duplicates of my face with penises for eyes, so if your Christmas morning has been diminished you can blame them. They also probably don’t just ship out $40,000 rapid prototyping machines to just any random pervert.
That 3D printers are getting smaller and relatively less expensive is exciting, though. It’ll be another decade — barring DIY solutions like Rep Rap, of course – before we’re really using these in homes, but it’s coming!
Alaris30 Desktop 3D Printer product page [Objet.com]
We keep trying to get you to pay attention Big Blue Saw, but I guess 2D is not enough.
Somehow I doubt that car was fabbed as-is. If it was, color me extra impressed.
It was totally fabbed as-is. That’s the thing about all Objet printers. You can print moving parts without having to put them together afterwards. Check out the video here : http://www.objet.com/alaris.aspx . Make sure you watch at least until the middle – there’s a very cool pop up toaster.
Man, I tried to get Cray just to loan me or even give me access to processing power on their new desktop system, but they shut me down too.
Where did you get the $40,000 figure? I’ve been looking all over their website for a price.
I can’t wait for 3D printers to reach prices around 1000$, with the ability to print using varied materials, from rigid plastic to softer materials, such as rubber or silicone.
I would gladly pay 2000$ for a 3D printer and a 3D scanner that can scan and reproduce objects at around 300 dpi.
As long as the “print cartridges” don’t cost more than the printer!
Shutz, I asked them. I’m not sure there is a price on their website.