T3D, which the company behind it describes as the World’s First Mobile Multifunction 3D Printer, is launching on Kickstarter – seeking $35,000 in funding – on Tuesday, September 19th. Like the ONO, which raised over $2 million and much skepticism, the T3D printer enables printing directly from a smartphone or tablet, even in multi-color., with a 360-degree scan. Open Source.
“We wanted to create a mobile 3D printer that prints directly from your smart devices. With our modular design, T3D has everything you need to meet your creative needs without sacrificing on functionality. The concept is simple, with your smartphone or tablet you already own half of the 3D printing process, so with T3D, we help you complete the other half,” the T3D team stated on the KS page.
Because of patented daylight resin, users only need to avoid direct light during the 3D printing and don’t need to place T3D Printer in the darkroom. Its intuitive application allows users can take full control of their creative 3D designs. T3D printer provides users with a wide selection of pre-tested 3D design models via cloud services.
The T3D printer has a maximum print volume of 1033.6 cm3 for tablets and 684.7cm3 for smartphones; supports iOS and Android smart devices and utilizes Bluetooth for a stable high-speed connectivity. The company provides users with a variety of model gallery via cloud services to choose from. They also offer a “3D Model Check Service” to ensure every printed model can meet users’ expectations, as well as a “Support Material Setting Service” to guide proper resin setups so that every print can be a professional one.
In addition to multi-color printing and 360 scanning, T3D printers plan to provide several functional kit developments in future releases. Users can add on the multi-color printing kit (M-cube) and start adding vibrant colors to your 3D printings. T3D printer adopts open source standards, enabling users to have full control of personalizing 3D printers according to their desired specifications.
T3D is a startup spin-off from National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech). Currently, the company is working with XYZ Printing, the world’s largest 3D manufacturer, to ensure that the T3D will be produced on schedule and up to expectations.
As other notorious KS projects have shown, hardware projects always have the risk of production delays due to supply chain management inefficiencies or technical development. T3D try to minimize these potential risks by working 3D consultants with extensive experience in this field (Dr. Jeng, also one of the co-founders) and also by collaborating with one of the leaders in 3D printer manufacturing (XYZ Printing).
Currently, T3D have functional prototypes to begin production testing and optimization. In addition, the app development is currently in closed-beta, going through usability and functional test. Consequently, the company is not foreseeing any delays in the fulfillment and all the backers are expected to receive their pledge rewards on time and in line with expectations.
