The firm uses the Z450 to create partial and full models of all types, including homes, outbuildings, and site master plans with land contours. Architects take 3D models of project variations to meetings with clients and public officials. “You always have a holistic view of the plan, Chary said.

A Machine to Call Your Own

3D printing service bureaus are sprouting up around the country as the technology grows in popularity — many offering 24-hour turnaround. For Chary, however, using a service bureau wasn’t an option.

Having a 3D printer in-house offers fast results for the firm and instant gratification for clients, Chary said. Plans are constantly evolving architects are continuously enhancing and updating designs, and the in-house machine can produce an updated model in mere hours. “I’m thrilled to have the ability to turn out models rapidly,” Chary said.

Once a client sees a model, “we usually get client feedback in a day or so,” he said, and recalled a time last year when the firm presented a model to a Lake Placid municipal review board and received rapid approval of a project proposal. Overall, Chary believes the 3D printer pays for itself in the credibility it brings the firm, the increased sales, and more.

The only time-consuming part of the process is preparing CAD files for the 3D printer, Chary reports. Perfecting textures and complex products such as windows, beams, planks, and shingles requires some time and effort.

Tangible Satisfaction

The advent of 3D visualization software was a giant step for architectural firms: “That was awesome,” Chary said. But they soon realized that many clients don’t fully understand what they are seeing in an on-screen walkthrough. For example, Chary explained, “The software doesn’t convey perspective, such as the relative size and locations of rooms. The walkthroughs don’t excite clients. Models do.

The fact that the Z450 can add annotations to a model such as text, arrows, and texture maps has led to another perk that delights Chary clients: seeing their name emblazoned on a model of their home to be.

Chary knows that in the world of 3D printing, he’s a leader among AEC firms. “We went to a Z Corp. user group meeting and found out we were one of only a few architecture firms using a 3D printer throughout the entire design process,” he recalled — for uses including master planning and site adjacency to opening model of a house including windows, furniture, etc. Architects even use the models in-house for roof checking.

Via: cadalyst.com

“The technology suits many different applications perfectly, as illustrated by the diverse range of industries represented at the event,” states Amos Libermann, Objet Geometries Regional Manager for France, “Visitors from the automotive, medical, architecture, education, footwear, aviation and design industries and of course, prototyping bureaux were all there, to see the unique benefits of multi material printing.”

The Connex350, introduced to the market in 2009, is the second 3D printer in the Connex range, which has the unique ability to simultaneously print multiple materials with different mechanical and physical properties. The resultant Digital Materials can simulate overmoulding or create different material characteristics such as variable shore hardness. The Connex350 offers these capabilities at a lower investment, through its build volume of 350 mm x 350 mm x 200 mm, while delivering the same performance as its larger counterpart.

Objet customers from product development company Société CAD indus and rapid prototyping bureau SD3D spoke of the benefits Objet technology has brought to their businesses. “The precision and surface finish of models produced on the Connex500 press is exceptional, that combined with the ability to produce Digital Materials™, allows our customers to test functions such as aerodynamics, joints, overmoulded parts and different shore hardness with reliability,” commented Thierry Schneider from CAD’indus.

According to Stéphane Daniel, the founder of SD3D and an Objet Eden250 user, other benefits in addition to the extreme precision provided by Objet technology, include the excellent surface finish and minimum finishing requirements, “The Eden250 allows me to provide customers with a turnkey solution, so that they can progress from prototype to production in the smoothest possible manner.”

Another highlight for attendees was a sneak preview in the form of a model produced on a Connex500 for the Jaguar’s sponsored GT in Schools Design Challenge. The model is based on the Jaguar RSR GT2 that will take the grid this year at the legendary 24 Heures du Mans event.

Via: tctmagazine.com

Launched in 2007, the Connex500 represents the first-ever system to allow 3D printing of several materials with different mechanical and physical properties simultaneously. Its patented PolyJet Matrix™ Technology jets materials in ultra-thin layers, immediately curing each layer with UV light – a process which yields models that closely emulate the look, feel and function of an exceptionally wide variety of end products. In addition, the system allows users to create composite materials that have pre-set combinations of mechanical properties, also a first for the industry. Today, the only other 3D printer offering these capabilities is Objet’s Connex350™, unveiled in June 2009.

About Instituto Tecnologico Y De Estudios Superiores De Monterrey (ITESM) Tecnológico de Monterrey was founded in 1943 thanks to the vision of Eugenio Garza Sada and a group of businessmen who established a non-profit association called Enseñanza e Investigación Superior, A. C. Tecnológico de Monterrey is a private, non-profit institution independent of and not related to any political party or religious group.

The work of the Tecnológico de Monterrey and of all of its campuses is supported by civil associations made up of a large group of outstanding leaders from all parts of the country, who are committed to quality in higher education. Each year, the trustees of these civil associations meet to establish the goals which will guide the important decisions needed for the Tecnológico de Monterrey to achieve its mission of becoming an engine for the development of local communities and the country.

Tecnológico de Monterrey enjoys the support of the national community, which participates in the lotteries the institution organizes to expand the scholarship program and the investment in infrastructure. To function as an educational institution, the Tecnológico de Monterrey operates under the statute of a Free University.

Via: objet.com

Granted, it will take time to learn the software which is going to help you use a 3D printer to make the objects you are after.  Computer Assisted Design software is going to be important to learn so that you can build a virtual model of the prototype.  You will also need to figure out what different materials are going to provide the best final product to come out of the printer, which will take some studying.  Figuring out which printing techniques are best used will also be important and could determine the type of printer you get.  In the end, though, this can be a great resource available to anyone looking to make physical objects from a computer design.

As a recent Wired story points out, 3D-printing technology has been around for a while, mostly used by professional design firms and design-intensive businesses such as automakers, handset makers, and aerospace companies. Recent advancements have enabled the technology to “print out” fully functional finished products, leading to a remarkable boom in equipment sales: according to market research firm Wohlers Associates, 8,000 machines, or 36 percent of the industry’s two-decade worldwide sales total of 22,000, have been sold in the past two years alone.

Multi-material 3D printers, capable of producing 3D parts and assemblies made from different materials in a single build, are hitting the market, and companies like Freedom of Creation (FOC) are paving the way for making rapid manufacturing technologies accessible for consumers.

Source: news.cnet.com