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How Artec Space Spider helps measure the shape-shifting of birds in response to climate change.

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Challenge:  In the past century, researchers have been studying a variety of birds in Australia to see how their bodies have changed as a result of global warming in order to determine how to adjust. In order to document the exact dimensions of thousands of beaks of 86 different species of birds in museums in a fast, accurate, and convenient manner, they needed a fast, accurate, and convenient method. Solution: Artec Space Spider, Artec Studio Results: By using the handheld 3D scanner Artec Space Spider, each bird can be scanned in submillimeter colour 3D in approximately two minutes. This makes it easy to scan anywhere from 30-50 birds in one museum visit. Scan processing takes just under six minutes for each bird. PhD candidate Sara Ryding 3D scanning an Australian galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) with Artec Space Spider (image credit: Sara Ryding) One of the most startling impacts of global warming has taken place for decades now: multiple species of birds around the world have been
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Objective3D Expands Additive Manufacturing Applications with Stratasys Systems, Software and Materials

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Stratasys ANZ Platinum Partner, Objective3D has introduced new 3D printing systems, software and materials that open up countless new applications to transform global manufacturing.  First, Objective3D announced the introduction of 16 new Stratasys materials across three additive manufacturing technologies – FDM® , SAF™ and Origin® One . The new materials include the first Stratasys Validated materials for FDM 3D printers, several open, exploratory materials for the P3-based (DLP) Origin One 3D printer that can be used with an Open Material License, and polypropylene material for the H350™ 3D printer powered by SAF technology (powder-based production). Second, Objective3D introduced two new Stratasys composite-ready 3D printers to the company’s F123 Series™ of printers - the F190™CR and the F370™CR . These new printers are designed for manufacturers and industrial machinists to supplement traditional fabrication technologies with high-strength composite 3D printing. In addition to the
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Full Colour 3D Printing Saves Thousands of Dollars in Product Development.

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The power of a physical model is the tangible communication of your idea to collaborators, stakeholders, and clients. A 3D printed concept model is your vision made real, evoking excitement and facilitating feedback.  Geoff Stuart the owner of Brandname Properties , a packaging design agency based out of Sydney, approached Objective3D Direct Manufacturing with a new advanced design for a sports shoe that he had designed and patented. The goal was to create a a new shoe with a unique sole which has been designed to reduce ankle injuries common in many sports. Geoff’s new design was very unique, and he wanted to 3D print his shoe with the fabric, colours and sole design all reproduced so he can take this project to boardroom table discussions with potential investors. Geoff’s biggest challenge was the high cost in producing shoes in small prototype runs just to get samples to take to potential investors where minimum orders are required as well as the need to make multiple sizes all
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Key Considerations when 3D Printing with Thermoplastics

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Today, a majority of consumer products and production parts are made from thermoplastics. Thermoplastics are typically used in manufacturing techniques like injection molding, compression molding and machining, but with the invention of 3D printing, they became available for additive extrusion and sintering processes. A new door to advanced manufacturing has opened with 3D printing materials similar to the conventional thermoplastics familiar to engineers and designers. Thermoplastics are plastic materials, or polymers, that become pliable when heated to a specific temperature and solidify upon cooling. Types of thermoplastics include acrylic, ABS, Nylon, PLA, polycarbonate (PC), polyethylene and other specialty, high performance materials. If your part requires strength, rigidity or high temperature tolerance, then thermoplastics are a great option to fabricate your production component or prototype. Using 3D printing, engineers can make parts with the most commonly used thermoplastic
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Connect to Industry 4.0

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Leverage the benefits of the Smart Factory Stratasys recently announced a new program to integrate its 3D printers in production environments with the factory floor via the GrabCAD® Software Development Kit (SDK). Each SDK package includes a complete set of application programming interfaces, documentation, and code samples that enable development partners and manufacturing customers to establish two-way connectivity between Stratasys FDM® 3D printers and enterprise software applications. The program gives customers the power to integrate, manage, and support additive manufacturing for production of end-use parts. “Additive manufacturing enables almost anything to be manufactured almost anywhere quickly, and that is the kind of agility our customers need in a world of supply chain disruption” Stratasys has previously introduced support for MTConnect , an industry-standard protocol that enables customers to communicate factory data. However, while good for collecting execution data, t
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Bringing Characters to Life with the Stratasys J750

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The award-winning, stop-motion animation creators at LAIKA make no secret that the thousands of faces used in each film are 3D printed. Animators of such films as “Coraline” and “ParaNorman,” “The Boxtrolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” have counted on the additive technology to provide naturalistic facial animation for the stop-motion puppets that give the films their distinct look and feel. “The idea was to harness the power of the computer and these emerging 3D printing technologies to try to push facial performance, or push a character’s performance into a whole new realm,” said Brian McLean, director of rapid prototype at LAIKA. For more than a decade, the additive technology has been a creative mainstay at LAIKA, ever-evolving with LAIKA’s increasingly ambitious artistic vision and rapid advancements in 3D printing and software. “It’s really kind of an insane process that we’re doing, where we’re taking 3D printing and we’re fusing it with this really old t
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The Implications of 3D printing for Manufacturing

By Dominic Parsonson
3D Printing is about digital disruption in manufacturing, doing things faster, better, cheaper and leaner. This is the promise that 3D Printing makes, and it's the premise that 3D Printing is built on. It's about customisation, it's about meeting demand as needed, when needed and where needed. The days of any colour you want as long as it is black have gone. It is no longer only about optimising your production line to make the same things faster and cheaper. It is about designing your supply chain to meet the particular needs of the individual consumer or unique business. Businesses used to design products and processes around Personas, groups of people or businesses with similar needs and behaviors. With the advent of big data, this is no longer the case as we can now drill down to the unique needs of just one consumer or one business. 3D Printing provides the ability for companies to use all that information and all that digital knowledge to create a product or a serie
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