Topolabs Aims to Improve The Way FDM 3D Printers Print - Improved tooling paths..?

So it looks like a company named Topolabs has come up with a revolutionary new method of printing objects on FDM 3D Printers. It's quite amazing, and makes so much sense really. Instead of printing only utilizing the X & Y Axes (except when changing layers), they utilize all the axes at the same time.

Read the article (Topolabs Aims to Improve The Way FDM 3D Printers Print And it’s Quite Amazing) and check out the video of this new technology in action at http://3dprint.com/2140/topolabs-fdm-3d-print-method

This would be a monster change without new hardware or workflow.
Sign me up yesterday!

OK, so I studied engineering and I thought preparing moulding tools for the school ball's give_away ashtrays was cool.

I guess I had been waiting for that stuff to materialize from the beginning and I was oddly wondering if some arcane reason somhow made it impossible...

Topologcal tool paths. Thank you. Please don't sell your licenses / cloud something too expensive.

http://3dprint.com/2140/topolabs-fdm-3d-print-method/

I've read from someone on reprap forums that you can have the z move continuously via the firmware, I've never tried it or looked into it but isn't this the same concept?

I often wondered why the software for generating toolpaths for 3D printing were really only 2D (Moving X & Y axes simultaneously to complete a layer, then move the Z axis to go to the next layer). The Gcode generators for CNC routers can code for simultaneous movement of all axes.

Perhaps there is an historical reason - 2D coding might have been easier to do for the first experimenters and since it was found to work, no one bothered to explore control software anymore.

If Topolabs has developed a generator for multi-axis movement, then it will be a major advance in 3D printing.

Old Man Emu

My god, this is amazing. I sure hope that we see this in the near future. This could really make cheap 3D printers capable of doing a lot more than they do right now.

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Originally Posted by MeoWorks

I've read from someone on reprap forums that you can have the z move continuously via the firmware, I've never tried it or looked into it but isn't this the same concept?

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Hi Meow,
You are correct but there is a notable difference : the Z movement is continunous in their case. Which means it will produce a helicoidal trajectory on a cylinder profile for instance.

What topolabs aims for is what has existed for years in CNC machining : the tool path follows the components topology instead of arbitrarily defined planes.

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Originally Posted by Eddie

So it looks like a company named Topolabs has come up with a revolutionary new method of printing objects on FDM 3D Printers. It's quite amazing, and makes so much sense really. Instead of printing only utilizing the X & Y Axes (except when changing layers), they utilize all the axes at the same time.

Read the article (Topolabs Aims to Improve The Way FDM 3D Printers Print And it’s Quite Amazing) and check out the video of this new technology in action at http://3dprint.com/2140/topolabs-fdm-3d-print-method

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I hope they will release it soon and document compatibility.

That's a great way of visualizing it and it makes perfect sense that our current way of moving Z is not the most efficient. I'm looking forward to this development.

Incredible. I hope this will work with my Replicator 2!

Isnt this old? I thought i've seen this a year ago or something, Might be wrong as its been a while,

Well you might need a sharper nozzle tho, i aint sure if a Jhead would be able to get great degrees in the Z with it.

I don't think it's old. This software isn't out yet. I know they say that you may need to use a different nozzle. I'm not sure of the specifications. This has a lot of potential if they can get some of the larger 3D printing companies to start pushing it.

While a lot of this seems truly innovative, I am not sure that this is always the best or most efficient way of printing. It seems like the video shown where they 3d print the support material, and then have to coat it with a non stick coating, could be more trouble than it is worth. I could see that being rather complicated, and also requiring us to have to watch the printer, so that we can change put on the coating before resuming the print.

I personally believe that the support idea that they have used is quite brilliant. It allows you to make multiple prints faster, without having to print support material again. Also the prints come out more like they would if you were to print them on an SLA printer.

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Originally Posted by Razorette3D

While a lot of this seems truly innovative, I am not sure that this is always the best or most efficient way of printing. It seems like the video shown where they 3d print the support material, and then have to coat it with a non stick coating, could be more trouble than it is worth. I could see that being rather complicated, and also requiring us to have to watch the printer, so that we can change put on the coating before resuming the print.

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I believe that you can remove the need for coating/tape separation by using PVA (or similar soluble support) for the whole first step, no ?

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Originally Posted by LambdaFF

I believe that you can remove the need for coating/tape separation by using PVA (or similar soluble support) for the whole first step, no ?

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I would imagine that this would be the case. At the same time though, I don't know what the big deal about the taping off of the support is.

I hope this company has enough funding to really push this new method. I'm afraid it will get lost before it can gain traction :( I hope I'm wrong.

I can't find an announcement saying how soon this will start. I hope we'll see this before summer so I can try it during holidays...

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Originally Posted by LambdaFF

I can't find an announcement saying how soon this will start. I hope we'll see this before summer so I can try it during holidays...

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My guess is that they don't really know yet. They may be waiting on funding something else. They may also be awaiting confirmation of partnerships with 3D printer manufacturers.

Very nice.

Hi Eddy, any news on that one ? Have you planned a follow up article ? Now more than ever people would be ready for it.