Before diving into your next 3D printing purchase for Rapid Prototyping (RP), let’s put your product development process in focus. The product development process, which transforms a concept into a market-ready product, plays a critical role in both the functional and economic success of your product and parent company. It is therefore crucial for firms to effectively measure the performance of their product development cycle – using factors including lead time (the calendar months/years that pass from concept development to the end of pilot production) and engineering effort (the person-months/years required to go from concept development to the end of pilot production). Then consider that over the last few years consumer demand for product variety and customization has only increased. On top of that, consider that product lifetimes are constantly falling. To stay competitive, not only do you need to develop more and more products, but you need to be prepared for the fact that they stay in the marketplace for shorter and shorter windows. Designer frames prototyped with color and patterns on the Stratasys J750 full-color, multi-material 3D Printer. This means your product development cycle must be smarter, more agile, more productive and more efficient. In addition, the decisions you [...]

The Stratasys F123 series  of 3D printers offers a more capable, more affordable professional rapid prototyping solution for your entire office. No matter what your previous 3D printing experience, you can quickly master any of the three F123 models. The series has been designed by BMW Designworks, one of the world’s leading industrial design firms, and Stratasys to blend in with any office environment. The enhanced user experience includes a sleek touch screen interface, remote monitoring on portable devices, practically noiseless operation, and the integration of GrabCAD Print to eliminate any wasted time on file conversion and STL preparation. The new Stratasys F123 series has many things to offer: It is easy to operate and maintain for all levels of experience. It’s adept at every prototyping stage, from concept verification to design validation to functional performance. You can import the most commonly used CAD file formats directly into the software. A broad range of capabilities and budgets are supported for every stage of prototyping. Minimal setup means you can simply plug and play to give your entire office access to professional 3D printing. Auto-calibration ensures you spend less time troubleshooting and more time prototyping. Fast and easy material swaps to help maximize your design team’s [...]

Can embedded electronics be combined with 3D printing in a high-temperature environment to produce a super heat-resistant drone? Ido Elyon and Stanley Leung of Stratasys Asia Pacific approached PhD student Phillip Keane, who had already successfully launched a CubeSat company, to try to answer this question. Keane is researching applications of ULTEM 9085, Stratasys’ traceable, aerospace-grade, high-strength FDM 3D printing material, at the Singapore Centre for 3D Printing at NTU (Nanyang Technological University) Singapore. The drone that he designed, a quadcopter, was 3D printed with embedded electronics. Embedded electronics are not a first, but the temperatures involved were very high; when 3D printing ULTEM 9085, the material requires a print chamber temperature of a minimum of 160°C and an extruder temperature in the region of 300°C. The 400mm class drone 3D printed using Stratasys ULTEM 9085 material. Transmitter shown for scale. The end result was an incredibly tough quadcopter that can, in principle, survive in temperatures that exceed the limits of commercially available drones. Additionally, the project has determined some best practices to be employed if engineers should wish to embed electronics hardware mid-print. Watch the video below for more information. For more information on our full line of 3D printers, [...]