Printing out robot parts

[Brandon Holley]

Originally Posted by thefro526

We're also looking at getting a Fortus Machine at work that can print in Polycarbonate along with some high strength ABS blends. From what I've seen, the Polycarbonate is strong enough for some FRC uses. The machine starts around 80/90k or so.

The Fortus machines are nice, but do escalate in price quickly. You have to specify a single material that it will print when it comes from the factory (ABS, ABS+, ABSi, ULTEM, PC, etc.) and then for the ability to print in each additional material its about an additional $15K/material.

Objet (http://www.objet.com/) makes some seriously cool machines. The surface finish and resolution is absolutely incredible, you need to see the parts to really appreciate it. They also allow you to print in "rubber-like" materials of varying durometers (and even blend materials to really tune the softness). I've been told New Balance uses these machines to print out entire sneakers and wear them around to get a feel for the rubber souls of the shoes. These machines are expensive as well, on par with the Fortus style printers.

Just some more fun 3D printing info.

-Brando