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AstroPrint 3D Printer Management Software opens new education plan beta access

Hartford, Connecticut – (January 28, 2019) After a successful test run, AstroPrint is opening today its second phase of a beta program for 3D Printer Fleet Management. This second phase will open the platform to an additional 100 institutions, primarily universities, schools, and other multi-user facilities that share 3D Printing resources.

In October of 2019 AstroPrint allowed just 10 organizations to test and give feedback on the first Beta version of the Fleet Management system. These institutions varied from Ivy League universities to K-12 schools. The feedback from these institutions helped shape the platform into the exact type of system needed in Multi-printer/Muli-user facilities.

Ideal candidates for the Beta program are Universities, Educational Districts, and Enterprises that have a fleet of 3D Printers, share them across multiple user types, and need to extract data/analytics on the usage of the machines.

Follow the link astroprint.com/beta-for-education to get your beta access now.

Hartford, Connecticut – (October 16, 2019)  AstroPrint is launching a bespoke version of its popular 3D Printer Management Platform for Universities, K-12 schools and other education institutions, aimed at making 3D printing more accessible to students, increasing the efficiency of school fleets, and reducing related costs in staffing and resources.

While rolling out the successful AstroPrint for Enterprise program earlier this year, several K-12 schools got in touch to integrate AstroPrint for their STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Math) curriculum, while many universities wanted a better resource-sharing and control system for their 3D printer farms in their schools of Engineering, Architecture, and Art.

While their requirements were largely similar to enterprises, such as remote fleet management, automated control, and data-driven optimization to reduce cost and waste, we realized that education institutions had unique needs that were not characteristic of a commercially-run fleet.

For instance, schools typically see large cohorts enter and leave every academic year, and students are typically just starting to learn to use 3D printers and may not be conscious about printing efficiency and resource sharing. Moreover, most schools operate on tight budgets which limit available manpower, man-hours, and printing infrastructure and resources. The education version of AstroPrint is designed to address these demands of education.

Ease of Setup, Ease of Use

Designed for the education environment, AstroPrint for Education offers administrators advanced user management features such as the bulk import of new users during matriculation season, and can organize them into multiple user-groups with different roles assigned within each group. Each user role will be configurable with unique permissions, such as the ability to add to the print queue, start/stop prints, or modify printer queues.

SSO Integration, Multi-Platform Support

Access is also simplified for education institutions, with possibility for SSO integration with Active Directory, Google for Education, and other platforms, further reducing the complexity for adoption. Unlike enterprise environments, students may also use a variety of computer platforms and mobile devices. With AstroPrint for Education, they will be able to get full access from anywhere and on any platform, such as Chromebooks, Mobile Apps, or Desktop browsers.

Taking Out the Guesswork

With data-driven analytics built-in, stats such as printer performance, printer maintenance, filament usage, success/failure rates, and operator effectiveness will drive greater efficiency and less waste in tight-budget education environments. Administrators can now answer questions such as:  What are my funding needs/costs for the 3D Printer Farm?  What will it cost to scale the 3D Printer Fleet?  Which filaments give better print-success rates? What slicer settings work best in their facility? Do students that take a 3D Printing course get more successful prints?

Reduce Cost, Enhance Experience

Remote-control, system automation, and distributed governance means you can do more with less manpower and man-hours. Departments do not need to roster or hire dedicated staff to constantly watch the fleet, and are freed up to focus on more vital tasks. Students can be automatically funnelled into Smart Queues, depending on the prioritization of their projects and their level of training. This means that printer fleets can be controlled and monitored to prevent excessive spend on elective projects or non-approved prints.

Why it Matters to AstroPrint

“It was challenging to adapt our platform to the new multi-user plan but it was a clear market need that we kept hearing from our customers. The new plan gives you the reliability that you can expect from 5 years of experience building the best 3D Printing experience coupled with new superpowers that will help you manage your 3D Printer fleet,” commented Daniel Arroyo, CTO at AstroPrint.

“Feedback from the first universities has been very positive. We improved the platform a lot so every student feels comfortable using this technology, while administrators have the freedom to manage printers and users according to their specific needs,” added Raul Frutos, Head of Business Development at AstroPrint.

Sign up for Beta Testing Today

Get more information on AstroPrint for Education and sign up for the Beta Test today. AstroPrint for Education is slated for full release in early 2020.

About AstroPrint

AstroPrint is a venture-backed company with offices in Hartford, San Diego, and Malaga (Spain), and is the fastest growing cloud (IoT) platform in the Additive Manufacturing industry.  AstroPrint has processed over 2M 3D Prints from 100K+ users. AstroPrint’s cloud-based platform simplifies 3D Printing control, networking, and optimization processes for businesses, schools, and enterprises, as well as 3D printing enthusiasts.

AstroPrint Media Resources:  https://AstroPrint.com/media

Learn more about AstroPrint for Education:  https://www.astroprint.com/3d-printer-school-university

The post AstroPrint 3D Printer Management Software opens new education plan beta access appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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3D Printing News Briefs: October 25, 2019

We’re talking about art and business in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs. An art installation at Millennium Park was created through the use of 3D printed molds, provided by Fast Radius. Farsoon has signed a joint development agreement with Rapid Manufacturing, and EVOK3D is partnering up with the Currie Group to accelerate its sales growth.

Fast Radius Makes 3D Printed Molds for Art Installation

Artist Edra Soto was commissioned to build an outdoor art installation in Chicago’s popular Millennium Park, which resulted in her freestanding Screenhouse, constructed by Navillus Woodworks out of over 400 custom-cast concrete blocks and opening today in the park’s Boeing Gallery North. Navillus enlisted the help of Fast Radius to create 3D printed molds for the blocks, which helped save on development time and money. The company printed the molds out of PA 12 material, using HP’s MJF technology. 3D printed lattice structures were used in the construction, which also helped reduce the weight of the piece.

“Our mission is to make new things possible to advance the human condition. I can think of no better way to serve that mission than helping bring Edra Soto’s beautiful design to life in Chicago’s Millennium Park, where it will be enjoyed by our fellow Chicagoans and visitors from around the world. This project with Navillus shows the potential of additively manufactured molds to redefine construction project design,” Fast Radius CEO Lou Rassey said in a case study about the project.

Farsoon and Rapid Manufacturing Sign Joint Development Agreement

PA12-based parts fabricated by Rapid Manufacturing on the beta-Flight-HT403P in Rümlang.

Stuttgart-based Farsoon Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of Chinese company Farsoon Technologies, has signed a joint development agreement for beta testing of its Flight technology with Rapid Manufacturing AG, headquartered in Rümlang, Switzlerland. Per the agreement, earlier this month Farsoon installed its new Flight-HT403P, with a 400 x 400 x 540 mm3 build cylinder and 500W fiber laser, at Rapid Manufacturing. After completing initial tests successfully, the Swiss company is now using the laser sintering system to make plastic PA12 components and parts with high resolution, low surface roughness, and good mechanical properties for its customers.

“We are impressed by the strong will power to increase the competitiveness of laser sintering, which Rapid Manufacturing is systematically implementing with the installation of our machine,” stated Dr. Dirk Simon, the Managing Director of Farsoon Europe GmbH.

EVOK3D and Currie Group Partnering

Australian company EVOK3D, which supplies and supports both professional and production 3D printing solutions and is the HP 3D Production Specialist Partner for the country, announced that it has signed a partnership equity agreement with Currie Group, a top end-to-end Graphic Arts service supplier in New Zealand and Australia. Currie Group provides and services high-quality printing equipment, and EVOK3D will leverage its management experience to continue growing its sales and support capability.

“3D printing has moved beyond just prototyping and is now a viable direct manufacturing technology. To meet the growing demand for these technologies we needed to scale the business and Currie Group is ideally positioned having pioneered digital disruption of the 2D print industry over the last 20 years. For our clients across education, design, industry and healthcare it means they can continue to invest with confidence,” stated Joe Carmody, the Managing Director for EVOK3D.

Discuss these stories and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

The post 3D Printing News Briefs: October 25, 2019 appeared first on 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing.

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NatureWorks Introducing New Ingeo 3D450 PLA 3D Printing Formulation

Advanced materials company NatureWorks, headquartered in Minnesota and jointly owned by Cargill and chemical producer PTT Global Chemical in Thailand, is the world’s leading manufacturer of Ingeo material, a PLA biopolymer. Much of the PLA used in 3D printing comes from Natureworks. Valued due to their unique functional properties, Ingeo materials are used in multiple products, ranging from coffee capsules and tea bags to appliances, industrial tools and jigs, and 3D printing filament. Now, the company announced its latest PLA grade – an Ingeo formulation meant to reduce problems with breakaway 3D printing support material on dual extrusion systems.

Ingeo 3D450 provides a clean, fast mechanical breakaway of support structures, which leads to professional parts made with high precision and finish quality. The material also helps ensure an improvement in productivity, and a decrease in post-processing time as well.

“There was a significant reduction in part cleaning times, about 10 times faster than using PLA supports. 3D450 prints faster than soluble support materials,” stated Voodoo Manufacturing, one of several partners that are beta testing the new Ingeo grade for NatureWorks. “Additionally, we have been able to lower the support roof to model spacing, which results in better bottom-part quality.”

The new break-away material formulation was designed to work with the Ingeo 3D series of grades that the company developed for the professional 3D printing market, such as 3D850 and 3D870. Ingeo 3D450 can print and cool with no signs of warping, at 3D printing speeds of up to 100 mm per second, and even across larger sections of support structures, which is quite a feat.

“MatterHackers PRO Series Breakaway Support, using Ingeo 3D450, works well offering clean printed surfaces and clean breakaway material,” stated beta tester MatterHackers. “It is more convenient than other, dissolvable, support offerings. There was no residue on the hot-end, and we found no filament or printing issues.”

Ingeo 3D450 is able to decrease, and even eliminate, those pesky buildability and speed issues that can sometimes occur when you’re using water soluble support materials, such as high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) or polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). This new grade actually has a longer, more stable shelf life than these other materials, in addition to significantly less moisture sensitivity during the 3D printing process, and is also very compatible with large-format 3D printers.

In addition, because Ingeo 3D450 breakaway supports don’t need a solvent bath to be removed from a 3D printed part, users won’t need to worry about the typical size constraints when they need to submerse a build with PVA supports in the water. Having searched high and low in my kitchen cabinets a few months ago to find a container that was deep enough to completely submerge a tall eagle I’d printed with a lot of PVA support material, this sounds great to me.

“Our team liked the increased brittleness,” said Slant 3D, another beta tester. “It was easier to break through grid supports. It flowed smoothly and consistently.”

Battery isolator cover printed by IC3D with Ingeo 3D450 supports before and after removal.

There are plenty of applications for NatureWorks’ new Ingeo 3D450 support material, including patterns for investment metal casting, complex industrial parts like fixtures, architectural and retail models, and the battery isolator cover that IC3D completed as a beta tester for the material.

IC3D said, “D450 printed perfectly flat. There was zero warping or bending.”

You can now purchase filament made with Ingeo 3D450 from 3D-Fuel and MatterHackers. NatureWorks, and its sales channel partners in the US, Europe, and Asia are selling resin in 25-kg and 750-kg quantities.

Next week at the Additive Manufacturing Users Group (AMUG) Conference in Chicago, Titan Robotics will be demonstrating the Ingeo 3D450 filament, made by 3D-Fuel, on its new Atlas hybrid filament and direct pellet extrusion printing system. The demonstration will take place on Monday, April 1st from 10 am to 2 pm at Titan’s booth #78.

Discuss this news and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.

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Graphmatec Partnering with Materials Developer Add North 3D to Develop Conductive 3D Printing Filaments

Last summer, materials scientist Dr. Mamoun Taher, a researcher in the Department of Chemistry at Uppsala University in Sweden, worked with serial entrepreneur Björn Lindh to found a startup company, of which Taher is the CEO, called Graphmatech. Not only is the startup part of top European business accelerator the InnoEnergy Highway, which specializes in sustainable energy, but it also belongs to SynerLeap, the ABB Corporate Research Center‘s innovation growth hub.

Back when Taher was working on graphene materials as a postdoc at Uppsala, he discovered just how many properties were lost when the thin flakes stuck to each other during large-scale production, and determined to find a solution.

Now one of the top 10 companies in the 2018 Nordic Cleantech Open startup competition, Graphmatec is doing pretty well for itself, and Taher even developed a new form of graphene, called Aros Graphene, which makes it possible to use the complex material on a larger scale in industry.

Graphene, a two-dimensional carbon material, is increasingly being used in 3D printing applications, and is 200 times stronger than steel, but 12% lighter weight than the second lightest material in the world. While the material poses difficulties when it comes to bulk production, it’s great for conducting electricity and heat, and 3D printable materials can be improved by mixing graphene with nanocomposites.

Now, Graphmatech has teamed up with another material technology startup, Add North 3D, to develop conductive, novel filaments for 3D printing, based on its own patented Aros Graphene nanocomposite material.

According to the Add North 3D website, “3D printing offers unique possibilities to test new materials and we want to be in the forefront in contributing to replacing the black carbon atom with the green one in all possible parts of society.”

Swedish materials developer Add North 3D, which got its start in 2016, specializes in FFF/FDM materials. For the last two years, the startup has been focused on consumables, developing new materials, such as its new matte material add:architect, and sustainable plastic solutions. It also works on development projects, such as creating a new process to make 3D printable PLA from the country’s forest industry side-streams, that are financed by the Swedish Innovation Authority.

Aros Graphene Polymer 3D Filament

The startup is now getting ready to introduce an international expansion, and Aros Graphene-based filament will be one of its cornerstones.

Recently, Graphmatec developed a cost-efficient, scalable process for coating polymer granular and powder with its Aros Graphene material to gain high-quality dispersion. The process is a “compounding step” before filaments are extruded, and could also be put to work coating polymer granular and powder with different types of additives.

Aros Graphene is easy to disperse in polymers, and Graphmatec’s technology makes it possible to tailor the precise level of the filament’s conductivity, which will introduce a whole new range of 3D printing applications, including thermal management components, electromagnetic and radiofrequency shields, sensors, and circuit boards.

Taher said in May, “We’ve seen that a thermal paste that contains Aros Graphene is 180 percent more thermally conductive than other thermal paste products on the market. In the close future where more and more data centres will be needed to store data, there is huge demand for advanced thermal management solutions.”

The new conductive filaments by Add North 3D and Graphmatec will soon be optimized, and then they will be put through beta testing with a reference group. The material is expected to hit the market within the next 6-12 months.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the comments below.