The latest Stratasys 3D printer has a potential to do more than just monochrome plastic figurines. The Objet500 Connex3 printer can create items out of rubber and plastic, such as these flexible, multi-colored prototype shoes.
In an interview with BBC, Stratasys (which has recently acquired MakerBot line of 3D printers) said that combining two different base materials enables its $300,000 3D printer to “offer different levels of rigidity, transparency, and opacity”.
The colors, meanwhile, are produced by mixing cyan, magenta, and yellow, much like in some inkjet printers at home. The new Stratasys 3D printer even has its own six palettes of “tango” colors for reference.
The Stratasys Objet500 Connex3 can produce items as fine at 16 microns with a high level of detail and finish, and can even pump out up to 30 kilograms of base material per run. The company’s spokesperson also adds that its latest printer can “cut down industrial design prototyping times by 50 percent”. The catch is that he was refering to the period between prototype to market, not the actual printing time.
The latest Stratasys 3D printer will be available at around second quarter of this year.
Source: BBC
