Open Gigabot By re:3D

Some of you may recall approximately two years ago when Austin-based company re:3D launched their gigantic GigaBot 3D printer. The machine, which the company claimed could print items which were 30 times larger than most traditional 3d printers, was priced rather affordably and has been a relative success.

Now, re:3D, the company behind the Gigabot is using Kickstarter as both a crowdfunding and crowdsourcing platform. They have launched a Campaign to raise money and attract Alpha and Beta testers for the Open Gigabot, a completely open source large-scale 3d printer. More details on the company's plans and this new upcoming 3D printer can be found here: http://3dprint.com/51218/open-gigabot-3d-printer

http://3dprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/o1.png

I saw the Gigabot recently, at the Brown Symposium on 3D printing and art at Southwestern University in Georgetown Texas. The Re:3d team, which is located nearby in Austin, brought one to demonstrate live 3D printing during the event. I was favorably impressed by its ability to maintain a cohesive, highly detailed print quality over a larger volume than usual.

The printer they were showing off was pretty large - about 24 x 24 and almost that high, and it seemed solidly built, which becomes more important as the volume of one of these machines increases. It only had a single extruder, but they said they were currently testing a dual-extruder version. The open printer seems like an interesting idea, and they can probably still monetize it by coming up with a good kit to make one.

Andrew Werby
www.computersculpture.com