3D Printing and Robotics Combined in a Life-like Spider
I was already a big fan of the T-800, T-850 and the liquid metal shape-shifting T-1000. But last week, I bumped into the T8. This one is not a Terminator, but a bio-inspired high resolution 3D printed spider that uses a total of 26 servo motors, and it’s powered by the Bigfoot™ Inverse Kinematics Engine. Believe me, it has written ‘WANT’ all over it.
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Meet the designer: Guido Mandorf
Step into the fantasy world of Guido Mandorf: a mini world full of scaled models.
Since it’s ‘prime gray month’ at i.materialise, Guido is the perfect designer to feature on the blog. For his models he 3D prints in this material and paints the models afterwards.
Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
«I live with my family in Düsseldorf. After my studies- Mathematics and Informatics I started working for the university of applied science in Düsseldorf. Next to that I’m the head of an education center in Düsseldorf.»
When did you start being interested in scaled models?
«I started 3d modelling about 2 years ago. Before that I made scratchbuilt models and models made of brass.»
«I get the inspiration for my models from historic cars in Düsseldorf and around. But also from books and old pictures. »
«The community of model tram enthusiasts is not very large. Here in Germany many people know each other. Via Facebook I met people from other countries, who have the same
Meet the (train) designer: Ed de Bruijn
There are so many beautiful scaled train and tram models in our gallery that we couldn’t wait any longer to put them on the blog. Meet one of the specialists: Ed de Bruijn.
Where did you grow up?
« I grew up near and in Haarlem, the Netherlands. I had a relaxed childhood being the youngest of 5 children. In 1986 I met my wife and we got married in 1994. In 1999 we moved to Bussum, where we still live. We have two kids, Ewout (16) and Rozemarijn (12).»
What do you do in your everyday life?
« I used to be an Interim Manager, but unfortunately the crisis hit hard so I tried to find a new way of living. I’ve been building train models for many years and people were always very enthusiastic about my design skills. They asked me so many times to build them a model too, but there was a big problem: I used to build in metal (brass) and the number of hours to get the result was too big. The price of the model would become enormous so luckily I heard about 3D printing! Now I can order th
3D printing a GoPro Scuba Mount
Described as the world’s most versatile camera, GoPro has sold over 3 million cameras over the past three years. It’s a camera that is quite unlike what you are used to. A GoPro is not meant to be handheld but to be mounted on surfboards, skateboards, helmets, bikes, and so on. And if the standard sold mounts are not your thing, you just design one and 3D print it. Just like Felipe De La Torre, a high school senior/scuba diver from Pacoima, California did.
“This was my first 3D printed design. I always found the technology really interesting… thought I’d give it a go. Honestly, it was a bit difficult for me to design this, considering I didn’t have much experience going into this. However I got ideas from similar mounts and figured I would make a derivative composed of multiple ideas. Luckily, it worked out in the end… the design was everything I thought it to be.” – Felipe De La Torre
Why a tool for his camera? Well… the real reason is that he just didn’t have the heart to dri
A 3D printed coin with a story
What’s more special than 3D printing a gift for a wedding anniversary? Alice Salmon created, with her father, a high detailed stainless steel design. the coin represents the perfect blend of two families: you can clearly see the print of both Family Crests.
Alice Salmon: “Salmon is the name of my fatherand Kallenthe name of my mother. They are together since more than 40 years. My father offered the coin to my mother and is planning to give one to each of his children (we are four) because he was very pleased by the result and the very tiny details.”
Feel like designing in high detailed stainless steel yourself? Follow the guidelines on the material page.
Tired of boring birth cards? Use 3D printing!
Roman Plaghki, a product developer at Materialise, had one hell of an idea to surprise his sister with the most original birthcards ever: a card with the face of her baby in 3D.
What do you do when your pregnant sister asks you to design a birthcard for her future baby? Roman Plaghki wanted to use all his skills so started thinking about combining 3D printing with regular printing. “After some hard thinking work I finally came up with an idea. I asked my sister to send me an ultrasound where you could see the face of the baby when it was 5 to 6 months old. I uploaded the design up in Mimics and after some designing I finally got the face right to send it to the printer.”
OVEN
He printed 5 faces in polyamide to use it as a mold for his birth cards. “I put the faces under a thin sheet of polystyrene in the (kitchen) oven and used the technique of vacuum forming to create the 3D design. After hours of work I finally got 120 faces for the birth cards.”
We must say: it looks gr
Stunning 3D Printed Bioscope
Once more, designers are pushing the boundaries of photography, film and 3D printing technology. Simon de Bakker and Jon Stam designed their ‘Bioscope‘ during the V2_ SummerSessions and 3D printed it at i.materialise: a digital movie viewer in the shape of a Fisherprice camera. (more…)
3D Printing Toys & Figurines: Recreating Lost Action Figures
Today we have an intriguing blog post by special guest writer Mike de Coninck, a Belgian visual effects supervisor. He’s with us today to share the story of his long journey that ended up bringing his lifetime dream toy to life with the use of 3D printing. It’s a story that shows true dedication and an unquestionable passion for realizing a lifelong dream. (more…)
Meet the Designer: Josh Azevedo
Meet Josh Azevedo, a man who’s driven by love and decided to use 3D printing to translate his deepest feelings for his wife to be, Heather. We met Josh last year when he came to use with the idea of 3D printing a lovely set of gnomes in multicolor. Ever since that moment, we kept on seeing more of his lovely work come to life through our printers. Today we would like to share Josh’s story with our community and highlight his magnificent 3D printed work that (we can safely say this) comes from deep down in his heart.
Here’s what Josh has to say…
Tell us a bit about yourself? Who is Josh Azevedo?
I was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. After high school in 1996 I attended Clackamas Community College for some general education courses. On my own, I played with some 3d programs, just cause it looked cool and so I fell in love with 3d modeling. After a short break from the community college, I enrolled in the Art Institute of Portland were I graduated with a Bachelor of Sc
Meet the Designer: Ulrich Schwanitz
Today I’d like to introduce you to our beloved friend and designer Ulrich Schwanitz. A man that continued a vision of his son through 3D printing and managed to bring adorable stainless steel characters to life in the name of love. He also just started an interesting funding campaign on Indiegogo (see video below) where you too can play a part in the realization of 3D printed love.
So for this lovely occasion we thought it would be interesting for our readers to get to know Dr. Ulrich Schwanitz a bit more ans the ideas and thoughts behind his latest project, The Scrappies. Here’s his story…
Tell us a bit about yourself… Who is Ulrich Schwanitz?
I am everything but a typical designer. I grew up as a scientist in the 1970’s and 80’s, and I still remember the times when computers were controlled by punch cards, typewriters and without undo buttons. I have worked in the IT departments of multinational manufacturing companies in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. During that
