3D Printing News Briefs: August 15, 2017

For today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, we’re putting our best fashion foot forward as we bring you stories of 3D printed wearables, clothing, and insoles, then move into some software and business news. A Colorado artist is dealing with theft after most of the 3D printed artwork and wearables she was displaying at a gallery were stolen, and Wiivv Wearables was invited to showcase its products with Lululemon at a big half marathon event. Levi’s is using 3D printing technology, Autodesk Fusion 360 has introduced its latest updates, and we’ll introduce you to an open source software application called PotterDraw. BeAM Machines Inc. is hosting an open house in Ohio later this month, while Sintavia expands its leadership team and VERASHAPE introduces its newest VSHAPER reseller.

3D Printed Art and Wearables Stolen From Gallery

New media artist Kristin Stransky, based in Denver, spent years working on her 3D printed wearable works of art, and that hard work paid off when her exhibit, “Body Language,” opened at Colorado State University’s Electronic Art Gallery earlier this summer. Eight pieces of her art, including a 3D printed statement necklace and a flexible 3D printed FabLinks dress, which took Stransky two years to make, were displayed in the exhibit, but now nearly all of them have gone missing.

“Pretty much everything’s gone. I’d say this represents two years of my work, gone,” Stransky said.

“I don’t know of anyone that’s ever had this magnitude, this scale of (their) work stolen. I’m not a big-name artist, it doesn’t really make sense.”

The gallery called Stransky when she was on her way there to give an artist talk about the exhibit to inform her that all but two of her pieces had been stolen, and that one of the two still there had been vandalized, even though the exhibit was supposed to be kept behind locked doors at the gallery, which can be accessed with a key that is also missing. The work has an estimated value of $5,000-$7,000, but Stransky is still “holding out hope that the pieces will be returned.”

Wiivv Wearables Invited to Present the Future of Custom-Fit Products with Lululemon Whitespace

Consumer technology company Wiivv Wearables was invited to join Lululemon Whitespace for an interactive showcase of custom-fit products at the 2017 SeaWheeze Half Marathon in Vancouver. Wiivv uses its award-winning iOS and Android app to create custom-fit footwear, like Wiivv Insoles and Wiivv Sandals, by capturing over 200 data points on each foot with a smartphone camera to create a custom fit. Thousands of guests visited Wiivv at the Lululemon showcase, and Wiivv gave them the chance to experience the customizable products that are possible through 3D printing technology and body data capture. Guests were able to experience different tactile environments, since custom products fit, feel, and function in a new way, and also have their feet scanned and analyzed with Wiivv’s technology.

“Exploring and dreaming up something special to showcase with our friends at Whitespace for SeaWheeze has been fun and very rewarding for all involved. Lululemon is known for its leadership in product design and development with biomechanics, fit and feel; we’re fully committed to those principles as well,” said Wiivv CEO and Co-Founder Shamil Hargovan. “Everything we do is about helping people add active, meaningful years to their lives. SeaWheeze is an iconic annual event that gives us a fantastic opportunity to engage with Lululemon guests one-on-one, and to introduce how body-perfect products can help support them in being their unique and best selves.”

Levi’s Experimenting with 3D Printing Technology

Over 50 years after the Levi’s Trucker jacket was introduced to the masses, the globally recognized denim brand is using 3D printing technology to continue developing its famous denim jackets. Paul Dillinger, the Levi Strauss & Co. Head of Global Product Innovation, has been working on the project at the Autodesk Pier 9 Workshop in San Francisco, creating digital renderings of the jacket. These renderings are basically shells of the real jacket: all of the fine details on the “printed” denim are only impressions. But, it could help the brand reduce its long-term manufacturing and material costs by harnessing “the real essence of a pair of Levi’s” and converting the data into digital collateral. According to Fashionating World, the brand is using the Stratasys Fortus 450mc to implement the process.

Dillinger told Fast Company, “Everything that we recognize from this garment is captured in a topography scan. It challenges us, and our design team, to think about design differently, and to think about design strategies to accommodate an uncertain future.”

Autodesk Fusion 360 Announces Latest Updates

Speaking of Autodesk, the latest updates for Autodesk Fusion 360 were just announced, and there’s plenty to be excited about.

Fusion 360 Product Manager Keqing Song wrote in a blog post, “This update is our big summer blockbuster. Our glee is real about this one, as it marks a major milestone in the evolution of Fusion 360. Not only does it include some applause-worthy improvements to existing design tools, we’re also introducing cutting-edge preview workflows and brand-new functionality that will be welcomed by many of you.”

The new Sheet Metal workspace, which was first introduced in March, is officially out of limited preview and available to the masses, and Selective Cache, the second in a three-part approach to making the offline experience more seamless, now lets you cache your projects and designs in a few different ways. There’s also a new Thread Display option, the ability to create arc slots in the Sketch environment and suppress preserved regions in Shape Optimization, a new and improved Turning capability, and a few more surprises as well.

Introducing Open Source Software Application PotterDraw

Chris Korda – who spent nearly 20 years in the 3D printing industry designing desktop software and firmware for full-color 3D printers at 3D Systems (back when it was Z Corporation) and working on large-format 3D printers at Viridis3D, which is now part of EnvisionTEC – recently released a free, open source 3D software application called PotterDraw for designing and visualizing pottery. The software is useful for making cylindrical shapes, like goblets, vases, and bowls, and is able to export 3D printable files and map user-specified or synthesized textures onto the shape.

“The pot’s outer wall is drawn using a spline editor,” Korda told 3DPrint.com. “Various trigonometric effects can be applied to both mesh and texture, and the effects can be modulated using low-frequency oscillators.”

You can check out PotterDraw’s properties here.

BeAM Machines, Inc. Holding Open House at US Facility

Earlier this year, BeAM Machines SAS, a European company that specializes in providing Directed Energy Deposition (DED) solutions, opened its BeAM Machines, Inc. US subsidiary near Cincinnati, Ohio, and 3DPrint.com visited shortly after for an exclusive first look. Later this month, BeAM will be hosting an Open House event at the new 20,000-square-foot facility in Blue Ash, which has a dedicated additive manufacturing workspace, and operates as the BeAM Machines Solutions Center for North America. The facility handles R&D, sales, service, training, and process/material development, and also has a metallurgical lab, assembly area, post process machining department, and applications training facility.

“We chose Blue Ash as the location for our facility because it is the largest suburban employment center in greater Cincinnati with nearly 40,000 jobs,” said Tim Bell, General Manager of BeAM Machines, Inc. “Additionally, it is centrally located to the major highways, is approximately 30 minutes to the Greater Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky International Airport and is populated with a very high concentration of potential customers and suppliers.”

At the event, which goes from 11 am to 8 pm on August 31st, attendees will get to tour the facility and view live demonstrations of the company’s flagship Magic 2.0 machine. 3DPrint.com will be at the event, and if you want to attend as well, click here to register for the Open House.

Sintavia Makes Two Additions to Leadership Team 

Precision metal additive manufacturing company Sintavia has announced the appointment of two new additions to its leadership team; the company is clearly focused on growth, as this announcement comes just months after Sintavia introduced plans for a new advanced manufacturing factory in Florida. J. Louis Schlegel IV has been named the new Global Vice President of Sales, and will be responsible for developing new business opportunities and leading the sales team. The new Vice President of Operations, Rick Clark, will work to establish procedural infrastructure and process flows for the new factory, as well as managing Sintavia customers’ production builds.

“Rick and J’s experience with OEMs and advanced manufacturing technologies has made these appointments a crucial addition to the future of Sintavia,” said Doug Hedges, President and COO of Sintavia. “Their experience will help shape the direction of Sintavia’s digital factory, which will represent an entirely new way of approaching metal component production for OEMs in precision industries. Sintavia has become the independent benchmark for companies in Additive Manufacturing, and we are fortunate to have their leadership and experience to conduct our future operations. We are looking forward to the future.”

Verashape Announces New VSHAPER Distributor 

One of the longest-running distributors of professional 3D printers in Poland, Polish-Swiss company BIBUS MENOS Sp. z.o.o., will now be offering industrial 3D printing solutions by VERASHAPE. The distributor, which also offers 3D printing services, consulting, and training, believes that the customization capabilities of the VSHAPER 450 and award-winning VSHAPER PRO will interest its customers.

“This year we have expanded our portfolio with MakerBot and Rapid Shape. Introducing VSHAPER will allow us to offer systems tailored to the needs of professionals,” said Piotr Mikulski, Head of the 3D Printing Department at BIBUS MENOS.

“We do our best to provide a comprehensive service for every individual order. We value the flexibility and experience of the VSHAPER printer manufacturer in delivering industry-specific solutions. Observing the activity and potential of the VSHAPER team I am convinced that together we can offer advanced systems that fit into the idea of ​​Industry 4.0.”

 

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