In an interview with Sculpteo, a company that 3D prints Nanoracing drones, one of the co-founders of Nanoracing explained that 3D printing is an outstanding tool for prototyping and short-run production. “That’s what we offered our first clients: an early bird short run of 320 products. And for us, 3D printing allowed us to do the tests, the crash tests, and adapt the product. All of this while avoiding the costs and delays that go along with injection moulding: rheology tools, moulds, injection, and the validations between each step.”
Another robotic venture worth a look is InMoov—an open-source, life-size robot made with 3D printed components and controlled by Arduino microcontrollers. Although it is now around five years old, it continues to excite the community. It’s amazing because you can download the designs and print your own robot too if you have access to a 3D printer!
Indeed, 3D printing opens up a world of opportunities, for everybody and every industry. In India, it might still be too costly for you to own your own 3D printer. However, costs are going down. There are 3D printers like the da Vinci Mini that are priced around ` 40,000, and organisations can invest in these for learning and innovation.
