Samantha Snabes, Author at re:3D | Life-Sized Affordable 3D Printing

Filament Testing – 3D Fuel Advanced PLA

Material Tested: 3D FUEL/APLA

Manufacturer: 3D Fuel

Filament Diameter: – 2.85mm

Color Tested: Bright green

Date Tested: 2/29/2016

OBSERVATIONS

Ease of use: Extremely printable with excellent adhesion.

Appearance: The green filament was vibrant with a smooth texture. Prints yielded a slightly “shiny” surface.

Size consistency: Average, within .1mm within roll.

Color consistency: Great, consistent throughout roll.

SETTINGS

Print temperature: 210 C (nozzle) / 55C (bed)

Printer Used: Gigabot

Speed: 45 mm/s

Layer Height: 0.3mm

Infill: 30%

Type(s) of print surface used: PRINTnZ

List of test files printed: re:3D’s test files 1, 2, and 3 (logo, vase, airplane gear piece)

You can watch a video summarizing our testing:

FINDINGS

Odor: None

Bed adhesion (1: terrible – 5: fabulous!)

5 (only the settings listed above were tested, but the manufacturer’s recommendations seemed to be accurate)

Stringing (1: lots -5: none!)

5 – None!

Shrinkage (1:lots-5: none!)

5-None!

Interlayer adhesion (1:terrible-5:fabulous!)

5- Perfect!

NOTES:

The promise of a more heat resistant PLA is super enticing to the 3D printing community.
- After testing, the landing gear was exposed to high temperature heat via a hair dryer and showed little warping.
  - Further controlled testing would need to be implemented to investigate this claim, but it does initially appear to be stronger and more heat resistant than traditional PLA.
NOTE: this filament was tested 4 months after receipt, however, for many users a 4 month shelf life is necessary.
- Testing fresh filament is expected to yield similar or even better results.
Filament size consistency was about on par with most filament.
No delamination or curling was observed.
All testing was conducted at the midpoint of the temperature and speed range that the manufacture provided. It’s likely that the outcome would have been even better had the ranges had been explored in more detail.
The unboxing experience was well done and the recommendation sheet was highly professional.
We appreciated the Made in America reference, and date stamp of quality control on the box & insert.
Manufacturer recommended settings were easily referenced on the enclosed documentation.

RECCOMENDATIONS:

This filament is extremely impressive and more than exceeded it’s claims.
Upon review, we would highly recommend that this filament be submitted to ASTM testing by evaluating coupons at multiple temperature and infill settings.

Want to chat? Join our forum where we have initiated a thread about our experience!

https://re3d.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/205198503-TESTING3D-FUEL-APLA

~Happy Printing!

Samantha

Filament Testing: Printing with Algae!

Material Tested: 3D Fuel/Algae-Fuel

Manufacturer: Algix3D

Diameter : – 2.86mm

Color Tested: Slightly green/brownish

Date Tested: 2/28/2016

OBSERVATIONS

Ease of use: A little tricky due to the brittle nature of the filament, however, once you get started you are good to go!

Appearance: Aesthetic, reflects sustainability, “rough texture”, definitely not smooth!

Size consistency: Average, within .1mm within roll.

Color consistency: Great, consistent throughout roll.

SETTINGS

Print temperature: 175 C (nozzle) /55C (bed)

Printer Used: Gigabot

Speed: 30mm/s

Layer Height: 0.3mm

Infill: 35%

Odor: Earthy, smells like algae

Type(s) of print surface used: Print n Z

List of test files printed: re:3D’s test files 1, 2, and 3 (logo, vase, airplane gear piece)

You can watch a video summarizing our testing:

FINDINGS

Bed adhesion (1:terrible-5:fabulous!)

4 (could have been optimized by adjusting cooling/ temperature)

Stringing (1: lots -5: none!)

4 (could have been optimized by adjusting speed/ temperature)
- Only noticed slight stringing in vase

Shrinkage (1:lots-5: none!)

5-None!

interlayer adhesion (1:terrible-5:fabulous!)

5- Perfect!

NOTES:

A renewable filament that reduces the environmental footprint of production is highly appealing to the 3D printing community.
The biggest limitation is the brittle nature of the filament, making initial setup a little tricky. NOTE: this filament was tested 4 months after receipt, however, for many users a 4 month shelf life is ideal.
Filament size consistency was about on par with most filament.
Little delamination and no curling was observed.
All testing was conducted at the lowest temperature and speed range that the manufacture provided. It’s likely that the outcome would have been even better had the mid to high range temperature ranges had been explored.
The unboxing experience was well done and the recommendation sheet was professional.
We appreciated the made in America reference, and date stamp of quality control on the box and insert.
Manufacturer recommended settings were easily referenced on the enclosed insert

RECCOMENDATIONS:

Not all users may appreciate the aroma, however if you are looking for a more sustainable 3D printing alternative and doesn’t require a smooth surface, this materials may be for you!

Want to chat? Join our forum where we have initiated a thread about our experience!

https://re3d.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/206091996-TESTING-3D-FUEL-ALGAE-FUEL

~Happy Printing!

Samantha

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re:3D & SXSW 2016!

It’s almost here! That time of year where Austin embraces global creatives during the two week whirlwind we call SXSW. We love being so close to the action and can’t wait to see you out and about. If you’re in the area, please stop by any of the events below to say hi!

SXSW Create

Dates/times: March 11-13th, 11am-6pm
Location: Palmer Events Center
Cost: Free!!
Website: SX Create, They also have a SX Create Facebook event as a handy way to share the event.
Description: Exciting hands-on pavilion as well as a number of wonderful STEM sessions. Gigabot Generation 3.0 and OpenGb will be printing live for onlookers while the re:3D team gives high-fives.

News & Schmooze: A SXSW Media Mixer for Startups and Investors

Dates/times: March 11, 5:30pm
Location: Capital Factory
Description: We’re bringing Gigabot to print live at this invite only event hosted by our friends at Own Local! The re:3D gang will be out in full force while Jeric presents our mission and product!

Capital Factory - “Austin Goes Global” Pitch

Dates/times: March 11, 3-5pm
Location: The Hilton Startup Village
Website: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2016/events/event_PP58415
Description: Capital Factory will spotlight several startup and early stage companies already having big impact across borders, and several more on the threshold pondering what to do next…where to go…how to do it? In this conversation Katy will share re:3D’s reach.

IEEE Tech for Humanity Official SXSW Party 2016

Dates/times: March 13th, 8-10 pm
Location- The Driskill
Website: http://www.cvent.com/events/ieee-tech-for-humanity-official-sxsw-party-2016/event-summary-fcfd9489c2a54a739252ae5356e427ce.aspx
Description-Party like an engineer with IEEE and world-renowned technologists & body computing brainiacs! Join us at The Driskill with Gigabot and the re:3D team to let loose with a few drinks at the open bar and enjoy great music!

SXSW Hardware House - Hardware on Kickstarter

Dates/times: March 14, 9:30-10:30am
Location: Courtyard Marriot
Website: http://schedule.sxsw.com/2016/events/event_PP58037
Description: The exhilaration of the pitch isn’t just for Venture Capitalists anymore! Consumers, geeks and fans are tuning in each week for shows like Shark Tank (and others). How do inventors take a great idea to the airwaves and stay on task to become a great company? What are the pros and cons? Why are so many people watching and how do you capitalize on it? In this session Katy will explore how hardware innovation and entrepreneurship is being showcased and celebrated on prime time and how to make the most of it if you decide to go on the air.

Hubs/RE:3D / Draught House Pub 3D Printing Meetup

Dates/Times: March 14th 12-2pm
Location: The Draught House Pub
Description: Come meet Hubs, re:3D communities and other 3D printing enthusiasts in a laid back environment on March 14th! This is a great opportunity to share your love of 3D Printing and see 3D Printers live. Feel free to bring your best prints and ideas!
Want more? After March 14th Gigabot and the team are super flexible if you’d like to request their presence:)
Email: info@re3d.org

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Made in America: Rapid Prototyping with “GiggleBot”

Below is a re-post of a blog women-owned small business Acoustics First wrote about their Gigabot experiences in Virginia. More information about Acoustics First is available on their website. We’re also honored to feature them on the stories tab of our website. The original post can be accessed here.

As the summer of 2015 winds down, we here at Acoustics First thought we’d share our latest acquisition with our readers.

Meet the Gigabot™ (or as we call him “Gigglebot”).

This amazing large format 3D printer was developed by re:3D, an outstanding company whose principals come from varied backgrounds which include experience working at NASA, among other things.
The eight cubic foot build volume of this beast makes it ideal for the rapid development and prototyping of our industry leading sound diffusers! We look forward to using this wonderful device on many projects in the years to come.
Watch this short video we made during one of our trial runs. For this calibration test we chose to print a scaled down version of our patented Model D Art Diffusor®.

Who said manufacturing was boring?!?!

~Acoustics First

info@acousticsfirst.com

3d printing 3dprinter 3dprinting acoustics america Design engineering gigabot gigglebot prototyping virginia

2016: Stories Made in America

Over the past 3 years our company and community have seen a ton of changes. Through a shared vision to make industrial 3D printing more accessible, our team rallied from multiple locations across the US, scaled our idea in Chile, and later established headquarters in Texas. Since launching in Santiago, we’ve opened two offices in Houston & Austin, which is complemented by a remote sales presence in San Francisco. Although our team is centralizing operations in the USA, re:3D remains thankful to our Chilean roots and the $40K in funding that gave us the opportunity to make an idea a reality.

Our Austin office is christened by Mike's 3D printed guardian squirrel

We also recognize that through our 2 crowdfunding campaigns that Gigabot’s reach has expanded to new frontiers around the world. We will always attribute our 2013 Kickstarter success to the thoughtful insight, organization, and advertising enabled through the Start-Up Chile program. However, since leaving Santiago after 7 months, customers and suppliers throughout both North America & South America have emerged in Texas and beyond.

With this in mind, we’ve invested considerable effort into analyzing how our community and resources have evolved over three years. For example, you can view a breakdown of where our customers are located in the map on our website. In our examination of where re:3D has impact, we’ve discovered that over 80% of the materials we source for Gigabot, 100% of our labor, and 78% of Gigabots in the field are in North or South America.

In 2014 & 2015 we also sent out surveys to our community, interviewed over 50 customers in person and attended events throughout the US that allowed us to engage with up to 500,000 people to hear your thoughts on human-scale 3D printing. Undeniably the biggest request of all of our road-trips was that we share stories of our personal adventures printing huge and those of the 300+ Gigabots worldwide. We’ve also had a strong demand for a more robust forum, which Mike is hoping to launch next month- more to come!

Katy & Patrick Launch OpenGB live on Kickstarter at SXSW Create in March

Sam reunites w/Start-Up Chile Alums & Staff after speaking on their SXSW panel

Ernie travels w/Gigabot to share his insights at SXSW, the Austin Mini Makerfaire and UBM Minnesota

Lara pitches at the National Hardware Cup Semi-Finals in Austin

Matthew tours the US teaching onsite classes to Gigabot customers such the Boy Scouts at E-Motion

Tammie, Mike, & Customer Micah exhibit w/Gigabot at the Seattle Art Faire

Katy preps for her talk at DoUSA in California. Credit: Justin Tyler Close

Mike’s 3D printed bench is featured at the Big Medium East Austin Studio Tour (self-driving car for scale:)

Matthew publishes our 1st peer reviewed paper on filament grip

As we’re still proudly bootstrapping, it struck us that we have an enormous opportunity to immediately leverage the dense community around us to photograph, video, and document the customers we encounter. We’ve devised a list of questions to capture information we’re told you want to hear:

Longest print
Biggest print
Application/ reason for printing huge
Materials tested
Favorite print
Challenges, feedback and requests
Cost and Time Savings
Your Gigabot Workspace
Your workflow

We hope this is only the beginning of building stronger relationships with all of our customers personally. We aspire to eventually meet all our customers, and are focusing first on sharing the stories of those closest to our operations first. We’re hoping to socially engineer affordable ways to ultimately canvas the globe, but for the short term we’d like to intentionally focus locally.

With this in mind, we’re pleased to announce our Made in America campaign. Each week, beginning next week, you can anticipate a blog, video and photographs that share the experiences of pioneers like you, who #dreambigprinthuge as we hit the road to engage with our American clientele.

To ensure we are fulfilling your requests for more curated content, we’d love your input. What questions would you like us to ask customers? Who would you like us to visit? Are there any National Parks we should check out enroute? We welcome your suggestions at marketing@re3d.org as we embark on an adventure to explore what’s being #madeinamerica on Gigabot.

Happy Printing!
~Samantha & Katy

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re: thinking Buoyancy – Hanging 10 on a 4pc PLA Surfboard

The Big Idea

Like most start-ups intent on exploring the intersection of tech and sheer awesomeness, the vision to 3D print a surfboard was cast over beer, at a co-working space (Capital Factory), subsequent to a lack of sleep. Disregard the fact the nobody physically present at our Q2 re:treat had actually surfed, we were still proudly penny-pinching, and had few Gigabots available for extended personal print marathons. Instead, Marketing Co-Leads Katy and I corroborated with our Gigabot Ambassadors Rebecca, Morgan and Todd to develop a list of “use cases” to demonstrate functional 3D printing to be executed by a cadre of summer interns. Buoyancy made the shortlist, and a surfboard was an obvious case study.

Our leadership team cultivated job descriptions, which Katy hosted under a tab she designed at re3d.org/careers. The response to our unpaid internship postings were higher than anticipated, and ultimately we selected Akshay as our 2015 Design Intern focused on 3D Printing a surfboard. Despite still being in High School, his confidence, professionalism and experience modeling through his high school FIRST Robotics team convinced me he was up for the challenge. He also had a glowing recommendation from his coach Norman.

The Design

Within just a couple weeks of on-boarding and conducting research on surfboard 3D printing, Akshay presented his concept. He had identified others who had been successful including a Father & Son, as well as professional 3D printed surfboard companies. Those that have gone before had done an amazing job curating surfboard designs that truly exhibit the benefits of 3D printing, whether it be enabling custom designs or geometries not easily produced in traditional manufacturing. However, due to the small volume of many affordable printers, we noticed multiple parts were required to later be stitched together like a jigsaw puzzle or they depended on expensive SLS printers to produce a monocoque body.

Knowing that we had the benefit of leveraging one of the largest affordable industrial printers at our disposal, we set out with Akshay to investigate if we could make a FFF (Fused Filament Fabrication) design in the fewest pieces possible. We also wanted to challenge notions of material strength. Akshay’ s research unveiled that our desktop 3D printing peers used ABS, a plastic despised by many for its stinky smell during printing, but stronger than it’s as readily accessible counterpart PLA. Being bootstrapped, we work from a small office, so we decided to use PLA to print our board to see if the sweet smelling, accessible filament could support the weight of a human in the ocean repeatedly, thus challenging the assumptions of PLA’s limited value in functional, life-sized 3D prints. You see, we didn’t choose PLA because we thought it SHOULD be the material of choice, rather we wondered if it COULD be used in a functional application.

And if it worked (even limitedly), we wondered…..what other applications would you and other members of the open-source community cultivate that could expand on our buoyancy experiment?

To develop the initial concept, Akshay paired up with our Summer Stand-up Paddleboard Design Intern Evan, who was also exploring the possibility of supporting a load on water. During Katy’s Thursday Design meetings they evaluated each other’s models in Solidworks, discussed stress points, and analyzed the best way to join components. They also ran a series of experiments to deduce not only if PLA floated, but also if it could be water tight. While they initially pursued similar concepts involving a series of rods conjoining dense pieces, they later opted for separate methods. The stand-up paddleboard included a series of hollow segments, filled with Great Stuff, bound with Gorilla Glue, and fiber wrapped. The surfboard, Akshay decided, would be four, 6% honeycomb-filled segments held together by a series of 50% infill 3D printed bricks. Like Evan, his instrument of choice for sealant included copious amounts of Gorilla Glue.

This was our first foray into a “formalized” summer intern program and the weeks flew by. We learned a ton about setting deadlines, procurement delays, accounting for R&D or marketing inventory in our budgeting & bookkeeping, and how to better mitigate bottlenecks in Gigabot availability for multiple, multi-day crazy prints.

As June turned to July, the scaled-models and sketches transformed to full-scale experiments. Katy’s design meetings became increasingly important as the group collected feedback from the team and data from real-world tests which influenced model adjustments.

Fin Design

Throughout the summer, the surfboard fin underwent as significant an evolution as our scaling team using input from experts, the open source community, and our own failures. Askhay’s first design included two tabs to be glued into the frame, which floated and appeared to have the infill & form required to be successful based on our initial tests. However, after delving into the minutia of surfboard design, Akshay discovered that most fins are supported via a T-slot in the surfboard body. For this reason, he later designed a fin to be inserted into a groove. Unfortunately, we later learned we needed screws holes on either side to mount into the T- nuts. Mike responded to the challenge and mocked the final design, which included the re:3D logo as well as fixtures for the screws to mount into Akshay’s conceived T-nut slot. Mike also suggested that the fin be printed in black to complement Akshay’s silver board.

Final Construction

By the time the 1.5 long week print was ready for the final piece, July had morphed into August and Akshay had to return to high school. A couple of weeks into September we attempted to resume the project and he modeled the 4th piece using feedback I relayed remotely. Despite my best efforts, the measurements provided were a little off and the 4th piece wouldn’t align. Both Jeric and Mike supported a redesign and during a long weekend, Mike ultimately generated the final component to Akshay’s vision as well as some much needed “deckholes” our research revealed was required for a surfboard leash, which we purchased from SUP ATX as we figured the extra length on stand-up paddleboard leashes offered might be needed later. With the body complete, we encountered a new set of challenges. During a commute between our Houston and Austin offices, our almost finished 3d printed surfboard took a tumble on our high-strength 3D printed bicycle designed by Patrick, leaving a rather impressive hole. Determined to make it work, I filled the crevice with silicon prior to using Bondo to level the uneven Gorilla Glue texture.

Jeric did a stellar job capturing a time-lapse of the final piece!

The Test

While touring an untested BETA experiment 7000 miles might sound crazy, for our team it made perfect sense. We had won 2nd place at Websummit last year for pitching our vision to 3D print from trash and 1st at their US event, Collision which granted us free passes for our team to return to Ireland. It therefore seemed natural to transport a untested ambitious print across the sea in front of thousands of media & startups in the name of challenging assumptions around 3D printing. Upon reflection on the flight to Ireland, it became evident that our success to date and win at Collision, was truly a testament to community support. For this reason, we decided it would be an honor to recruit as many stickers as possible from Web Summit attendees willing to affix their brand to our untested experiment. We humbly collected 150+ logos, including StickerMule, a popular vendor.

Katy poses with a sticker she collected at the START exhibit on Day 3

Matthew poses with a start-up as he walked around collecting stickers.

We weren’t the only ones who dressed up for the event!

Shaun the Sheep

If you followed us or Web Summit/Surf Summit on social media in the past month, you might be a little confused by the multiple references to sheep, Shaun, Gigabot, Irish shepherdesses, and surfing sheep.

The idea to 3D Print Shaun the Sheep was conceived by a female Sheppard & blanket maker named Suzanna of Zwartbles Ireland. Suzanna maintains an active community via social media (@ZwartblesIE) and during our flight over suggested #Gigabot could #3dprint a #sheep in #ireland. The initial Tweet inspired a lively conversation and I found myself Googling open-source sheep stls while flying past Iceland. When Katy & I landed, Matthew suggested this Wooly Sheep by pmoews to test out on Gigabot, which had been created using a 123D Catch, now ReCap Pro, scan of a garden ornament. Three days of continuous sheep printing and ewe puns soon began. Katy christened the first small-scale sheep as Dolly before making a larger 14 hour sheep. The downside of running large prints is that Gigabot has to work throughout the night. The 3rd shift security team had the pleasure of watching our biggest sheep complete and informed us one morning that they had named him Shaun. It wasn’t until later the next day that we learned Shaun referred to a popular show titled Shaun the Sheep. Shaun quickly garnered a small fan club, and we decided to take him to Sligo, Ireland for Surf Summit as the prize for the 1st surfer to successfully catch a wave on the surfboard.

Surf Summit: The Moment of Truth

As soon as Web Summit concluded, we crated Gigabot for the return to Texas, them scrambled to pack our bags, the surfboard, and sheep for the bus ride to Sligo, the host of Surf Summit. Surf Summit is an incredible post-summit event to cultivate friendships while experiencing the Irish countryside. As the video reveals, it was a breathtaking experience- our only regret being Matthew couldn’t attend in leu of a customer he committed to visiting in the UK. As complete surf novices, Surf Summit provided the perfect proving group for the surfboard test as several surf pros were in attendance to share their experience & wet suits!

Prior to surfing, we attended the kickoff festivities and allowed Shaun to circulate with the attendees before (he hoped) he would be gifted to a deserving surfer.

Session 1

The next morning we loaded the board, attached the fin, crossed our fingers for good luck and took off to Streedagh Beach. Upon arrival, we were greeted by a team of instructors from Surf World Bundoran, who helped us wax the board and taught birthday girl Katy & I to surf for our first time. The experience was unforgettable.

As our lesson concluded, SurfWorld Instructor Tony volunteered to take our stickered print out on the water. We grabbed our cameras and huddled with our new start-up friends from The Outdoor Journal to capture a mini photo shoot before take-off. The tension was palpable and we all lingered a moment discussing the project, for fear that the board was soon break or worse, sink, taking with it the evidence of so many peers who had supported the endeavor.

Tony proceeded with caution, first testing the buoyancy in shallow waters near the beach, then gradually paddling out further. After a few minutes, he headed out to see if he could catch a break. It wasn’t long before a series of rolling waves emerged and, as luck would have it, he was able to ride one in!

Tony’s bravery and success earned him the coveted Shaun the Sheep. Photo by Lorenzo at Outdoor Journal

After Tony broke the seal, two other brave instructors also offered to take the surfboard out, despite loosing a fin!

Session 2

Wanting to optimize our wave catching, we headed back to the hotel, then caught a cab to Strandhill beach to join another surf instruction course after lunch. There we met the crew at iSurfIreland who agreed to try her out and broke personal records in distance traveled (which complicated picture taking)! Four surfers tested the board, and gave us valuable improvement ideas.

Feedback

In total 7 instructors braved the board. The advice we received was pretty consistent:

The current board is too thick
- In the future it should be thinner and consideration should be given to reducing weight
The curve is not ideal
- The board should bow more at the top
We could have better leveraged the benefit of 3D printing
- The current design mirrors current manufacturing aesthetics and could have been sexier
- Surfers appreciate custom features (holds for cameras, grips, personalized lettering)
The absence of a durable fin made it hard to maneuver
- I should have printed the fin flat so it couldn’t delaminate, and/or used honeycomb for more density
A three or multiple fin design would be ideal
- Ours had only a single fin
Stickers made the board more slick, albeit cool!
Everyone seems optimistic that 3D printed has great potential in watersports, especially wakeboards and body boards

One Month Later

Currently the surfboard resides in our Austin office. What began as an idea, transformed into a internship, that took us 7000mi and introduced us to new friends around the world. As we reflect on the people we met through Akshay, sheep printing, sticker collecting, and trial by water we are struck by the creativity & vision that the community shared. We hope this is the first of many use cases that will expand our perspective on what is possible through affordable, life – size 3D printing. We welcome your ideas on where we go from here!

Happy Printing,

Samantha

~Special Thanks to: our Intern Akshay, Coach Norman, Mike Battaglia, Jeric Bautista, the makers of Gorilla Glue, SUP ATX, WakeBoard Graphics Austin, Sail & Ski Austin, to the ENTIRE Web Summit/ Surf Summit Staff, all the StartUps that shared their stickers, The Outdoor Journal, The city of Sligo, IDA Ireland for the rad T shirts, isurfIreland, Surf World, and our staff who all had a hand in this crazy adventure!

~~We’re still catching up on post-summit sleep. It’s possible I missed a credit or left a typo. Feel free to submit additional pictures, corrections, comments, or questions to @samanthasnabes

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re:turning to Web Summit!

Yep, that’s right- we’re returning to Ireland!

This time we’re showing up in full force with Katy, Matthew, Samantha, Gigabot and some exclusive 3D printed content!

Why Ireland?

It all began with Web Summit 2015 when our co-founder Lara identified the opportunity and we were invited to apply.

After being selected last year, Samantha had the pleasure of attending sans Gigabot as a female technologist representing the BETA program. While we didn’t win a pot ‘o gold, the experience left us richer in experience & relationships.

While exhibiting we met, WEVOLVER, which resulted in a collaborative effort to leverage their platform & community. They also sponsored this year’s Great Big Gigabot Giveaway.

In addition to making some new friends, throughout the week Samantha had the chance to pitch to thousand in the BETA PITCH category and was blown away to win 2nd place!

She also had the honor of meeting the “Prime Minister” or Taoiseach Enda Kenny who posed with our traveling 3D printed stool.

Fast forward 4 months later, Samantha & Matthew had a chance to meet up with the Taoiseach in on St. Paddy’s day during his USA tour for the IDA breakfast during SXSW. They brought the BETA trophy and, of course another 3D printed stool!

Shortly afterwards, Katy, Matthew and Samantha packed their bags and this time Gigabot for what promised to be an adventure on their self proclaimed #road2collison a.k.a. Collision in Las Vegas!

The group was trilled to demo Gigabot for the Summit crowd in the USA along with some pretty slick 3D prints. Again, we pitched….and this time won!

As part of the prize package, we were invited to be part of the 2015 START tour. This provided Matthew and Ernie the opportunity to head to CONVERGE/RISE. At RISE the duo re-connected with the Summit staff, launched our 2nd Great Big Gigabot Giveaway to give away a Gigabot to a group making a difference, learned a ton about Asian Manufacturing and Ernie took his first international trip!

Which leads us back to Ireland…

We can’t wait to meet you and to demo Gigabot for the friends we made last year. We hope you will look us up if you are across the pond next week!

Here’s where you can find us:

Attending the Kick-off Welcome Dinner on Sun? We are too!
We’ll be giving a live demo at the Machine Summit at the Main Hall Complex Tuesday, November 3 from 15:00 – 16:00, with a specific demo slot on our from 15:15 – 15:30
We are exhibiting Gigabot at stand number S-130 in the START Village Area on Day 3 of the event, Thursday, November 5
After packing up Gigabot, we’re hitting the bus with the group heading to Surf Summit the November 6-8
We return to Dublin on the 8th and plan to spend a day visiting customers and/or anyone we missed before heading out late the next day!

Shameless ask

This year we are hoping to connect with press and influencers who can help us tell our crazy story. If you have a friend we should connect with, please email samantha@re3d.org!
Also, we need a pro-surfer to take our 3D printed surfer out on the waves during Surf Summit. Email samantha@re3d.org for details:)

See you soon??!

-Matthew, Katy, Gigabot and Samantha

@chief_hacker
@Katyjeremko
@samanthasnabes
@RE_3D

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Gigabot Shapes Sound at Acoustics First

Acoustics First in Richmond, Virginia, USA

Acoustic Diffusers scatter sound and break up hard, contiguous reflections, allowing the sound energy to spread evenly throughout the space without interfering with the sound being produced. They are used in many different environments: recording studios, audio mixing spaces, loudspeaker demonstration spaces, high-end home theaters, school concert and rehearsal spaces, churches, music venues, and some of the most renowned listening spaces in the world, which have stringent demands on their acoustic environments. Our diffusers have been used in all of these and more.

We have created a streamlined approach to developing diffusers: we have a virtual design and development process which includes the virtual modeling and testing to determine if it’s meeting our specifications. However, it is invaluable to have a full-scale printed prototype in hand – allowing for real-world evaluation. This is where the Gigabot comes into play. It allows us to have designs in our hand at full scale, to verify our virtual development data under real-world observable and testable conditions. With live prototypes in hand, we can measure the sound direction and intensity being reflected off the surfaces, which tells us if our development processes were successful, even before we go to production.

"We are firm believers in the efficacy of rapid prototyping, and it integrates well in our model of virtualized design, testing, and geometry optimization before manufacturing."

Our Gigabot has allowed us to reach out further and work on designs that may have been too complicated to realize in any other way, as well as saved us time and money in the design process.

This process has helped the industry immensely, as we can easily prototype and test designs that would have been impractical — if not impossible — to create any other way. This allows for real innovation and process evaluation, which then evolves into designs we can offer to customers worldwide.

-Jim DeGrandis, Acoustics First

My Great Big Gigabot Summer at re:3D

While applying for summer internships last spring, I did not imagine I would be as involved or as integrated into the company team as I was during my time at re:3D. This past summer, I got to explore and expand upon some of my own passions while taking on the role as the project lead for re:3D’s Great Big Gigabot Giveaway.

As I read the job description for film/social media intern position, I was excited that I would be able further explore my interest in creating videos. This is exactly what I did! This summer I worked with a video editing software called Adobe Premiere Pro CC for re:3D. Having prior experience with only Apple’s iMovie and Windows Movie Maker, I was eager to learn a more versatile software. My role as a summer intern soon evolved to specifically revolve around the second giveaway competition. re:3D was approaching the milestone of shipping out its 300th Gigabot, and the tradition of celebrating such a memorable moment is to give back to the community by giving away one of their industrial 3D printers to some with a vision to make a difference through 3D printing. You watch this year’s announcement video that I developed to announce the contest here.

I had the opportunity to work closely with Samantha and so many other amazing individuals through helping organize this competition. We recruited several amazing judges and in-kind sponsors, and I was astounded by the amount of support we got to help make this project possible. Even members of Tunapanda, the recipient of last year’s giveaway Gigabot, were happy to judge and sponsor this year’s competition. Check out all of this year’s judges and sponsors here if you haven’t already!

Out of all the things I experienced during my summer at re:3D, my favorite was probably being one of the first to see the applicant submissions for the competition. Even though the applicants were very diverse in their backgrounds and ideas, I realized that they all had one key aspect in common: the passion to positively influence their communities. One thing I wish I could go back and change about the competition structure is the length of the submission period. We had several people with great ideas start their applications, but not as many people complete them. It was awesome to see all the people who put forth the effort to create a video to enter into the contest. We also were honored to see the story posted on several industry blogs: 3Dprinting Industry, 3Dprint.com, and techfortrade.

The purpose of the Great Big Gigabot Giveaway was to give back to the community by supporting an idea to impact society, and well, the 3D printing community certainly has a far reach. The recipient of the 300th Gigabot is Tochukwu, the man who is behind 3D Nigeria. This project plans to inspire a new generation of makers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Tochukwu and his team of makers hope to unleash the creative potential of these individuals and create value for consumers.

A big congratulations again to the winner and the runners up, Ability Maker and The Creator Program. You can view the incredible ideas of the entrants in the winner announcement video here or below:

All-in-all, I learned a lot this summer at re:3D from being directly involved on a project I could call my own. More importantly, however, I can definitely say that the best take-away was meeting such extraordinary people and cultivating those relationships. Looking forward to working on another project with re:3D in the future!

~Sanchana Vasikaran: @v_sanchana

3dprinting Austin award Education Events gigabot giveaway intern

Free 3D Printable of the Week: iPhone 6 Plus VR Headset

Last Month we had the honor of seeing @MikeBattaglia featured in 3DPrinting Industry! Below is a re-post of the content by Michael Molitch-Hou.

~FRI, AUGUST 14, 2015 · FREE 3D PRINTABLE OF THE WEEK, VR

Many Google Cardboard headsets, and variations thereof, just don’t quite fit iPhones properly. And they certainly don’t fit the new iPhone 6 Plus. So, unless you’re planning on shelling out for a complete 3D scanner/VR system from Occipital, re:3D, the makers of the large format Gigabot 3D printer, has designed a 3D printable headset.

re:3D designer Mike Battaglia instructs you to, “Take your lenses and magnets from Google cardboard and port them over to this way sexier headset! Print with a raft, no support.” So, what are you waiting for?

~Michael Molitch-Hou

About the Author: Michael Molitch-Hou is Editor-In Chief of 3D Printing Industry and the founder of The Reality™ Institute, a service institute dedicated to determining what’s real and what’s not so that you don’t have to. He is a graduate of the MFA Critical Studies & Writing Program at CalArts, and a firm advocate of world peace. Michael currently resides in San Pedro with his magical wife, Danielle.

Mike Battaglia

Blog Post Author

@mikebattaglia

3d printing 3dprinting Austin Design headset iphone Open Source VR

Below are our notes that respect our new open source filament testing. ASTM test samples are being created and in the upcoming months you can anticipate a summary on our website that reflects our adventures in 3D printing material science.

Material Tested: 3D FUEL/APLA

OBSERVATIONS

SETTINGS

FINDINGS

NOTES:

RECCOMENDATIONS:

Below are our notes that respect our new open source filament testing. ASTM test samples are being created and in the upcoming months you can anticipate a summary on our website that reflects our adventures in 3D printing material science.

Material Tested: 3D Fuel/Algae-Fuel

OBSERVATIONS

SETTINGS

FINDINGS

NOTES:

RECCOMENDATIONS:

SXSW Create

News & Schmooze: A SXSW Media Mixer for Startups and Investors

Capital Factory - “Austin Goes Global” Pitch

IEEE Tech for Humanity Official SXSW Party 2016

SXSW Hardware House - Hardware on Kickstarter

Hubs/RE:3D / Draught House Pub 3D Printing Meetup

The Big Idea

The Design

Fin Design

Final Construction

The Test

Shaun the Sheep

Surf Summit: The Moment of Truth

Session 1

Session 2

Feedback

One Month Later

Why Ireland?