MakerBot Industries

MakerBot Industries
MakerBot Industries
Industry Open source hardware, 3D printing
Founded January 2009
Founder(s) Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach "Hoeken" Smith
Headquarters Brooklyn, New York, United States
Website www.makerbot.com

MakerBot Industries is a Brooklyn, New York-based company founded in January 2009 by Bre Pettis, Adam Mayer, and Zach "Hoeken" Smith producing open source hardware, specifically 3D printers. MakerBot builds on the early progress of the RepRap Project with the goal of bringing desktop 3D printing into the home at an affordable price.

Contents

History

Smith had previously been one of the founding members of the RepRap Research Foundation,[1] a non-profit group created to help advance early research in the area of open-source 3D printers.[2]

The company started shipping kits in April 2009 and has sold approximately 3,500 units as of March 2011. Demand for the kits was so great in 2009 that the company solicited MakerBot owners to provide parts for future MakerBots from their own MakerBots.[3] Seed funding of $75000 was provided by Jake Lodwick ($50000) and Adrian Bowyer and his wife Christina ($25000).[4]

In August 2011, venture capital firm The Foundry Group invested $10 million in the company and joined its board.[5]

Products

A MakerBot printing a cylindrical object

Contrary to the non-commercial RepRap project, MakerBot Industries is not focused on an end-goal of self-replication. Their products are designed to be built by anyone with basic technical skills, and are frequently described as being about as complicated as assembling IKEA furniture.[6] The current printers are sold as do it yourself kits, requiring only minor soldering.

MakerBot printers currently print with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) , high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polylactic acid (PLA), and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA).

Cupcake CNC

The Cupcake CNC was introduced in March 2009.[7] The source files needed to make the devices were put on Thingiverse, allowing anyone to build their own from scratch.[8] The Cupcake CNC features a usable build area of 100 mm × 100 mm × 130 mm (L/W/H) and has outside dimensions of 350 mm × 240 mm × 450 mm.

Because of the open source nature of the product, many suggestions for improvements came from the existing user base, and printing upgrades and replacement parts both became popular projects for learning to operate the units. During its primary production run (April 2009 to September 2010), the Cupcake CNC had numerous upgrades so each 'batch' of new units would be slightly upgraded as time went on. The early model Cupcake CNC units shipped with a Plastruder MK3 and both acrylic and foamcore build platforms. All Cupcake CNC units shipped with DC motor extruders and Generation 3 electronics. Serial numbers for Cupcake CNC printers start at #1 and end around #2625.

Thing-O-Matic

Introduced in September 2010 at Maker Faire NYC,[9] the Thing-O-Matic is MakerBot's second 3D Printer kit. Built on a similar sized chassis (300 × 300 × 410 mm) and with a slightly smaller build envelope (96 × 108 × 115 mm), the Thing-O-Matic shipped with many of the common upgrades that had been built for Cupcake CNC printers previously. The stock Thing-O-Matic shipped with a heated, automated build platform, a MK5 plastruder, a redesigned z-stage, and upgraded electronics (Generation 4). Later batches of Thing-O-Matic printers shipped with a MK6 Stepstruder, a stepper motor-based extruder instead of the DC motor unit used previously as well as the parts to print using smaller 1.75 mm filament stocks.[10] Thing-O-Matic serial numbers start at #3000 and as of March 2011 are up to approximately 3850. Orders placed as of September 15th, 2011 include the Stepstruder MK7.[11]

Upgrades

As the MakerBot Operators have printed more items, alternatives to early designs have prompted updates by MakerBot, so many kits shipped with 'upgraded' parts right from the factory. Many of the upgrades are redesigns or improvements on other people's work, and MakerBot has credited those early innovators in their documentation,[12] and even on some of the PCB silkscreen layouts.[13]

Accessories

In addition to selling just the electronics used to power a MakerBot (which can be used on RepRap Project printers),[14] MakerBot Industries produces the following items related to 3D printing:

  • Frostruder MK2: for printing in frosting / toothpaste / nutella / other substances
  • MakerBot Unicorn: for mounting a pen and plotting on a MakerBot printer
  • MakerBot 3D Scanner

Services

MakerBot Industries hosts an online community called Thingiverse where users can post files, document their designs, and collaborate on open source hardware. The site is a collaborative repository for design files used in 3D printing, laser cutting services, and other DIY manufacturing processes. In November 2011, MakerBot begins its first retail sales of Thing-O-Matic through AC Gears in New York City with a permanent display. [15]

Media coverage

Makerbot was featured on the TV show The Colbert Report in August 2011. They sent a bust of Steven Colbert, printed on a Makerbot 3D printer, into the stratosphere attached to a helium filled weather balloon.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ Make Magazine Online. "Reprap Research Foundation: get yer Reprap parts here". http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/06/reprap-research-foundatio.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  2. ^ Fosdem.org. "Interview: Adrian Bowyer". http://archive.fosdem.org/2010/interview/adrian-bowyer. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  3. ^ MakerBot is pioneering distributed manufacturing! Get paid to make parts for future MakerBots., http://blog.makerbot.com/2009/08/06/makerbot-is-pioneering-distributed-manufacturing-get-paid-to-make-parts-for-future-makerbots/ 
  4. ^ http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/08/23/all-star-lineup-invests-in-makerbot
  5. ^ Feld, Brad (August 23, 2011). "Foundry Group Invests In MakerBot Industries". Business Insider. http://www.businessinsider.com/foundry-group-invests-in-makerbot-industries-2011-8. Retrieved August 24, 2011. 
  6. ^ The Daily Mail Online Online (2011-03-02). "Tested, the photocopier that'll one day make a Stradivarius". London. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1362049/Makerbot-thing-o-matic-Photocopier-thatll-1-day-make-Stradivarius.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  7. ^ MakerBot Blog. "Hello world!". http://blog.makerbot.com/2009/03/15/hello-world/. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  8. ^ Thingiverse (2009-04-19). "CupCake CNC". http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:457. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  9. ^ MakerBot Blog (2010-09-25). "MakerBot's New 3D Printer: The Thing-O-Matic!". http://blog.makerbot.com/2010/09/25/announcing-makerbots-new-3d-printer-the-thing-o-matic/. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  10. ^ MakerBot Store. "MakerBot Thing-O-Matic Kit". http://store.makerbot.com/featured-products/makerbot-thing-o-matic.html. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  11. ^ MakerBot Blog. "MakerBot Stepstruder MK7 Announcement". http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2011/09/15/announcing-the-highest-numbered-extruder-ever-to-be-released-by-makerbot-lucky-number-stepstruder-mk7/. Retrieved 2011-09-15. 
  12. ^ MakerBot Blog (2010-03-22). "MakerBot Cupcake Heated Build Platform v2.0". http://blog.makerbot.com/2010/03/22/makerbot-cupcake-heated-build-platform-v2-0. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  13. ^ Thingiverse (2010-03-22). "MakerBot Cupcake Heated Build Platform v2.0". http://www.thingiverse.com/image:10838. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  14. ^ RepRap Wiki. "Generation 3 Electronics". http://reprap.org/wiki/Generation_3_Electronics. Retrieved 2011-03-09. 
  15. ^ http://www.free-press-release.com/news-ac-gears-x-makerbot-nov-2011-launch-party-1320035661.html
  16. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/18/makerbot-stephen-colberts-head-space_n_930468.html

External links

Coordinates: 40°41′1.37″N 73°58′53.88″W / 40.6837139°N 73.9816333°W / 40.6837139; -73.9816333


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