MakerBot MinFill

Makerbot presented their new software innovation that enables you to minimize and optimize the infill to save time and material. It can reduce material and time for some 30%. You will lose some structural integrity, but it is aimed at prototyping applications.

MinFill presentation video:




Makerbot news post with more detail:

https://www.makerbot.com/media-center/2017/03/20/introducing-makerbot-minfill


Here is the Minfill description:

Now you can bring your ideas to life faster for less with this major breakthrough in MakerBot Print. We’re proud to introduce MakerBot MinFill, a dynamic new Print Mode that is the first of its kind in 3D printing. Short for “Minimum Infill,” MinFill uses an intelligent algorithm to determine the absolute minimum amount of support needed for the inside of any 3D print.

As we’ve learned from professional users, not all prints need to be durable, dense, or heavy. When surface quality and print speed are more important, MinFill is a far more efficient option — especially for prints with a large internal volume.
Based on our testing, MinFill typically prints 30% faster using 30% less filament. With especially voluminous models, like spheres, we’ve seen MinFill print up to 80% faster. For professionals, that means faster early concept modeling, faster form studies, and more iterations in less time.

MinFill’s Benefits at a Glance

• Professionals can accelerate early concept modeling, form studies, and iterations.
• Educators can serve more students and classrooms while saving time and money.
• Based on our testing, MinFill typically prints 30% faster using 30% less filament.*
• The greater the internal volume of your print, the more time and money you save.
• Compatible with MakerBot Replicator+, Replicator (5th Gen), and the Replicator Z18.

I'm still waiting to see some tests and reviews by independent sources. I also hope that this will be implemented on other platforms. Does anyone know of anything simillar?

Did "Cult of Done" break MakerBot?

Bre Pettis is not only known for his work on Makerbot. In his early days he published a "Cult of Done Manifesto". It was very much considered the Maker movement philosophy praised by some important movement figures, community sites and regular hobbyists as their motivational motto. I even liked it very much.

But, while you can use it to develop a great DIY project can one use it as guiding philosophy for a large cooperation? Probably not. Obviously not.

When you look at the list of Makerbots problems including the last class action lawsuit about knowingly shipping machines with faulty extruders it makes you wander about how strong was Cult of Done ingrained into Makerbots corporate culture.

Here is the Cult of done manifesto:

1. There are three states of being. Not knowing, action and completion.
2. Accept that everything is a draft. It helps to get it done.
3. There is no editing stage.
4. Pretending you know what you're doing is almost the same as knowing what you are doing, so just accept that you know what you're doing even if you don't and do it.
5. Banish procrastination. If you wait more than a week to get an idea done, abandon it.
6. The point of being done is not to finish but to get other things done.
7. Once you're done you can throw it away.
8. Laugh at perfection. It's boring and keeps you from being done.
9. People without dirty hands are wrong. Doing something makes you right.
10. Failure counts as done. So do mistakes.
11. Destruction is a variant of done.
12. If you have an idea and publish it on the internet, that counts as a ghost of done.
13. Done is the engine of more.

How big of a role has this philosophy played in creating problems for MakerBot? We will never know, but there is some strong suspicion.

Original post on Bre's blog:

http://www.brepettis.com/blog/2009/3/3/the-cult-of-done-manifesto.html

It took Bre 20 minutes to write it according to his claims.

Other articles about the cult manifesto:

http://lifehacker.com/5864004/the-done-manifesto-lays-out-13-ground-rules-for-getting-to-done

http://firstround.com/review/the-man-behind-makerbot-on-finding-the-stories-that-build-your-brand/

http://blog.grabcad.com/blog/2012/07/23/rules-to-work-by-the-done-manifesto/


I first saw this theory in g+ post of Arthur Wolf. Thnx for reminding us Arthur!

Class action lawsuit filed against MakerBot for faulty extruders

Well well well ... here it goes ... Makerbot and Stratasys are under class action lawsuit for fraudulent scheme for knowingly shipping printed with faulty extruders.

After mass worker layoffs what will this mean for MakerBot? They had it coming ...

More at:

https://blog.adafruit.com/2015/07/09/the-class-action-lawsuit-of-makerbot-stratasys-begins-makerbusiness/

http://www.engadget.com/2015/07/11/makerbot-class-action-lawsuit/

MakerBot starts to sell their printers in Home Depot. Is this the beginning of the end for Home Depot?

Red Pill Philosophy has an interesting opinion on this business move. The point is that the Home Depot is selling the technology which will drive it out of the business at the end.
Maybe this is unrealistic, because Home Depot and other retailers are adaptable. But there will probably be some measurable impacts on this sector from home digital fabrication soon. Probably the companies that base they business model on overpriced plastic pieces will go have massive losses. Ant there are many of those companies.

See example here: http://diy3dprinting.blogspot.com/2014/01/small-example-of-3d-printing-changing.html

MakerBot source: http://www.makerbot.com/blog/2014/07/14/home-depot-diy-meets-miy-make/

Dell and conflicting marketing messages in 3d printing

So, Dell bought 5000 Zortrax 3d printers from Poland for their own engineers. That surprised even Zortrax. CEO of Zortrax said:

“Frankly speaking, we were surprised that any company, even a company like Dell, wants to place such an order! But after a while we realized how many printers we use in our own office… For a designer who prints a large number of prototypes it is much more useful to use 10 smaller printers on one desk, which operate simultaneously, rather than one with a larger build volume,”

http://techcrunch.com/2014/01/22/polish-3d-printer-zortrax-sells-5000-units-to-dell/

After some time they made a deal with MakerBot to sell their Replicators.

Maybe it's only me, but isn't that some sort of conflicting message?

When we buy for us we choose Zortrax, but when we sell to you, we sell you MakerBot.

hmmmmmmm.....

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/sna.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&~topic=3d_printing

Sure, average buyer will probably not follow all the news in such a detail ...
Some news sources even reported that Dell will sell Zortrax printers to public ... who knows ...

MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner

Looks Ok. Nothing extraordinary. The price is too high in my opinion. 1400$ for spinning platform and some laser scanners...
There will be a lot of copyright issues raised with 3d scanners getting more widespread. All those action figures waiting to be scanned and shared...
Also: more and more projects are offering 3d printed with integrated 3d scanner (and other tools), MakerBot may loose it's edge here ...




Tech specs:

• 8" x 8" (20.3 x 20.3 cm) scan size
• ± 2.0 mm dimensional accuracy
• 0.5 mm detail resolution
• Approximately 12 minutes scan speed
• 800 steps per rotation
• Artificial indoor lighting is optimal
• 6.6 lbs (3kg) maximum weight on turntable
• MakerWare for Digitizer software compatible with Windows 7+, Mac OSX (10.7+) and Linux (Ubuntu 12.04+)
• STL exported file type
• Two Class 1 laser line generators
• 1.3 megapixel camera
• USB connectivity
• 0.9° step angle with 1/16 micro-stepping stepper motor

http://store.makerbot.com/digitizer.html

https://s3.amazonaws.com/downloads-makerbot-com/digitizer/MB_DIGITIZER_FAQs_3.pdf

Interview with Bre Pettis of MakerBot Industries

He talks about how they developed the business, about cheep Chinese clones from AliBaba, future, why NASA uses MakerBot printers and other interesting stuff ... great interview by tested.com

Makerbot Replicator!

New 3d printer from a major player: Bre Pettis introducing Makerbot Replicator. Bigger printer with larger print volume and available dual extrusion heads. Pricepoint at 2k $. Let's see what will competition do ...