I would like to load a stl file to my printer and have a successful clean strong working print every time.No setup of the printer other than occasional maintenance, no bothering to dry filament and worry what filament to use. I need a working automatic appliance to meet my 3D printing requirements (Printer - universal filament - Dryer - Auto print removal - Auto next print start)
When the main design items move along from being designs made to improve 3D printers to only designing and modelling items, I believe then we will have proper working 3D appliances. How many people print items to improve the operation of their washing machines, coffee machines and so on? The products work and do not need tinkering to make them better.
You need a dinner set, go online and buy a stl file off the net, send it to your 3D printer, the printer setup the correct material and configures the machine, 15 minutes later you start using your dinner set. That is how a appliance works. At this stage we are all participants working toward the the manufacturers making the complete replicating machines using us as guinea pigs so they can make more money. There have been many amazing designs and artistic models posted on line as the 3D community should be designing for and then printing the items. Some have made money out of designs and others have made a success out of 3D manufacturing. LOL maybe I am over thinking things again.
If we’re talking Back to the Future style flying cars then we’re going to need to figure out wireless power before we start selling those cars to everyone. Nothing but a rats nest of power lines everywhere.
Half of us would die in horrific power line related flying car accidents and the other half would never get any printing done due to the constant power outages caused by horrific power line related flying car accidents.
Exactly! I was just a little kid when my dad took me to the 1964 World’s Fair in NYC. I was PROMISED—and I mean promised—by none other than General Motors, the most trustworthy company on Earth, that I’d be flying around in cars by the time I graduated high school. They made that pledge right next to the tent where they were selling shares of the Brooklyn Bridge. My dad? He got me an Italian Ice instead, and I was content.
But on a serious note, for a technology to become “ubiquitous”—to borrow a phrase from Intel’s Andy Grove at COMDEX 1992—two things need to happen. First, there has to be a “gotta-have” factor, like the iPod. Then, there needs to be a breakthrough in ease of use, much like the iPhone, which took off despite Nokia, Blackberry, and Palm Treo dominating the smartphone market in 2005.
Take a look at how long it took HP and Epson to perfect inkjet technology—it wasn’t truly foolproof until about a decade ago.
If a company can develop a cartridge-based filament system and a foolproof printing process that’s as simple as printing a piece of paper, then—and only then—will 3D printers be in every home.
Let’s be honest, none of us will say it publicly but what we really want is that Star Trek Replicator. When baby needs new shoes and mamma can just press a few buttons, then we will have arrived at the holy grail.
We’re a long way off unfortunately, this is hobby-level or a workshop tool at best in my opinion. For failures to happen because we didn’t dry our filament for the right amount of time or something not to adhere because we left a fingerprint or the room is too cold leaves me to believe its not even mainstream ready. Going back to my old ender pro is nostalgic but is refreshing as even though its slow, it is pretty sorted out and you can almost throw a spool of rubbish and print the same thing out all day long.
Software and hardware don’t work together well, I’ve given up with the rfid tags as a joke, making my own custom profiles works sometimes though. Seriously lacking an intuitive workflow. I enjoy printing stuff, but some days its easier to walk away from it as having to do things in the right sequence from 3mf to product can be convoluted. I’ve never asked my wife who has reasonable technical abilities to print a nic-nak as she would never find the start button.
Don’t you feel as though that day is fast approaching? I do. Compared to 5 years ago, it feels like we’ve all made very tangible progress, in part because of BambuLab printers and in part because of MakerWorld and the print profiles baked into it for each of the print objects. Actually, I don’t use the MakerWorld print profiles, but I hear that others do. Maybe someday I’ll warm up to that as well.
When baby needs new shoes and mamma can just press a few buttons, then we will have arrived at the holy grail.