MakerBot Industries
Encyclopedia
MakerBot Industries is a Brooklyn, New York-based company founded in January 2009 by Bre Pettis
, Adam Mayer, and Zach "Hoeken" Smith producing open source hardware
, specifically 3D printers. MakerBot builds on the early progress of the RepRap Project
with the goal of bringing desktop 3D printing into the home at an affordable price.
The company started shipping kits in April 2009 and has sold approximately 3,500 units as of March 2011. Demand for the kits was so great in 2009 that the company solicited MakerBot owners to provide parts for future MakerBots from their own MakerBots. Seed funding of $75000 was provided by Jake Lodwick ($50000) and Adrian Bowyer
and his wife Christina ($25000).
In August 2011, venture capital firm The Foundry Group invested $10 million in the company and joined its board.
kits, requiring only minor soldering.
MakerBot printers currently print with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
(ABS) , high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polylactic acid
(PLA), and polyvinyl alcohol
(PVA).
, allowing anyone to build their own from scratch. The Cupcake CNC features a usable build area of 100 mm × 100 mm × 130 mm (L/W/H) and has outside dimensions of 350 mm × 240 mm × 450 mm.
Because of the open source nature of the product, many suggestions for improvements came from the existing user base, and printing upgrades and replacement parts both became popular projects for learning to operate the units. During its primary production run (April 2009 to September 2010), the Cupcake CNC had numerous upgrades so each 'batch' of new units would be slightly upgraded as time went on. The early model Cupcake CNC units shipped with a Plastruder MK3 and both acrylic and foamcore build platforms. All Cupcake CNC units shipped with DC motor extruders and Generation 3 electronics. Serial numbers for Cupcake CNC printers start at #1 and end around #2625.
NYC, the Thing-O-Matic is MakerBot's second 3D Printer kit. Built on a similar sized chassis (300 × 300 × 410 mm) and with a slightly smaller build envelope (96 × 108 × 115 mm), the Thing-O-Matic shipped with many of the common upgrades that had been built for Cupcake CNC printers previously. The stock Thing-O-Matic shipped with a heated, automated build platform, a MK5 plastruder, a redesigned z-stage, and upgraded electronics (Generation 4). Later batches of Thing-O-Matic printers shipped with a MK6 Stepstruder, a stepper motor
-based extruder instead of the DC motor unit used previously as well as the parts to print using smaller 1.75 mm filament stocks. Thing-O-Matic serial numbers start at #3000 and as of March 2011 are up to approximately 3850. Orders placed as of September 15th, 2011 include the Stepstruder MK7.
where users can post files, document their designs, and collaborate on open source hardware. The site is a collaborative repository for design files used in 3D printing, laser cutting services, and other DIY manufacturing processes. In November 2011, MakerBot begins its first retail sales of Thing-O-Matic through AC Gears in New York City with a permanent display.
attached to a helium filled weather balloon
.
Bre Pettis
Bre Pettis is an entrepreneur, video blogger and multi-artist. He is also known for DIY video podcasts for MAKE, and for the History Hacker pilot on the History Channel. He is one of the founders of the Brooklyn-based hacker space NYC Resistor.Pettis is a co-founder and the CEO of MakerBot...
, Adam Mayer, and Zach "Hoeken" Smith producing open source hardware
Open source hardware
Open source hardware consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered in the same manner as free and open source software . Open source hardware is part of the open source culture movement and applies a like concept to a variety of components. The term usually means that...
, specifically 3D printers. MakerBot builds on the early progress of the RepRap Project
RepRap Project
The RepRap project is an initiative to develop a 3D printer that can print most of its own components...
with the goal of bringing desktop 3D printing into the home at an affordable price.
History
Smith had previously been one of the founding members of the RepRap Research Foundation, a non-profit group created to help advance early research in the area of open-source 3D printers.The company started shipping kits in April 2009 and has sold approximately 3,500 units as of March 2011. Demand for the kits was so great in 2009 that the company solicited MakerBot owners to provide parts for future MakerBots from their own MakerBots. Seed funding of $75000 was provided by Jake Lodwick ($50000) and Adrian Bowyer
Adrian Bowyer
Adrian Bowyer is a British engineer and mathematician, currently an academic at the University of Bath.Born in 1952 in London, Bowyer is the older child of the late Rosemary and John Bowyer; the latter was a writer, painter and one of the founders of Zisman, Bowyer and Partners, consulting engineers...
and his wife Christina ($25000).
In August 2011, venture capital firm The Foundry Group invested $10 million in the company and joined its board.
Products
Contrary to the non-commercial RepRap project, MakerBot Industries is not focused on an end-goal of self-replication. Their products are designed to be built by anyone with basic technical skills, and are frequently described as being about as complicated as assembling IKEA furniture. The current printers are sold as do it yourselfDo it yourself
Do it yourself is a term used to describe building, modifying, or repairing of something without the aid of experts or professionals...
kits, requiring only minor soldering.
MakerBot printers currently print with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene
Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene is a common thermoplastic. Its melting point is approximately 105 °C ....
(ABS) , high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polylactic acid
Polylactic acid
Poly or polylactide is a thermoplastic aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch , tapioca products or sugarcanes...
(PLA), and polyvinyl alcohol
Polyvinyl alcohol
Polyvinyl alcohol is a water-soluble synthetic polymer .-Properties:...
(PVA).
Cupcake CNC
The Cupcake CNC was introduced in March 2009. The source files needed to make the devices were put on ThingiverseThingiverse
Thingiverse is a website dedicated to the sharing of user-created digital design files. Providing primarily open source hardware designs licensed under the GNU General Public License or Creative Commons licenses, users choose the type of user license they wish to attach to the designs they share...
, allowing anyone to build their own from scratch. The Cupcake CNC features a usable build area of 100 mm × 100 mm × 130 mm (L/W/H) and has outside dimensions of 350 mm × 240 mm × 450 mm.
Because of the open source nature of the product, many suggestions for improvements came from the existing user base, and printing upgrades and replacement parts both became popular projects for learning to operate the units. During its primary production run (April 2009 to September 2010), the Cupcake CNC had numerous upgrades so each 'batch' of new units would be slightly upgraded as time went on. The early model Cupcake CNC units shipped with a Plastruder MK3 and both acrylic and foamcore build platforms. All Cupcake CNC units shipped with DC motor extruders and Generation 3 electronics. Serial numbers for Cupcake CNC printers start at #1 and end around #2625.
Thing-O-Matic
Introduced in September 2010 at Maker FaireMaker Faire
Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself mindset".-Past events:The first was held April 22 – 23, 2006, at the San Mateo Fairgrounds...
NYC, the Thing-O-Matic is MakerBot's second 3D Printer kit. Built on a similar sized chassis (300 × 300 × 410 mm) and with a slightly smaller build envelope (96 × 108 × 115 mm), the Thing-O-Matic shipped with many of the common upgrades that had been built for Cupcake CNC printers previously. The stock Thing-O-Matic shipped with a heated, automated build platform, a MK5 plastruder, a redesigned z-stage, and upgraded electronics (Generation 4). Later batches of Thing-O-Matic printers shipped with a MK6 Stepstruder, a stepper motor
Stepper motor
A stepper motor is a brushless, electric motor that can divide a full rotation into a large number of steps. The motor's position can be controlled precisely without any feedback mechanism , as long as the motor is carefully sized to the application...
-based extruder instead of the DC motor unit used previously as well as the parts to print using smaller 1.75 mm filament stocks. Thing-O-Matic serial numbers start at #3000 and as of March 2011 are up to approximately 3850. Orders placed as of September 15th, 2011 include the Stepstruder MK7.
Upgrades
As the MakerBot Operators have printed more items, alternatives to early designs have prompted updates by MakerBot, so many kits shipped with 'upgraded' parts right from the factory. Many of the upgrades are redesigns or improvements on other people's work, and MakerBot has credited those early innovators in their documentation, and even on some of the PCB silkscreen layouts.Accessories
In addition to selling just the electronics used to power a MakerBot (which can be used on RepRap Project printers), MakerBot Industries produces the following items related to 3D printing:- Frostruder MK2: for printing in frosting / toothpaste / nutella / other substances
- MakerBot Unicorn: for mounting a pen and plotting on a MakerBot printer
- MakerBot 3D Scanner
Services
MakerBot Industries hosts an online community called ThingiverseThingiverse
Thingiverse is a website dedicated to the sharing of user-created digital design files. Providing primarily open source hardware designs licensed under the GNU General Public License or Creative Commons licenses, users choose the type of user license they wish to attach to the designs they share...
where users can post files, document their designs, and collaborate on open source hardware. The site is a collaborative repository for design files used in 3D printing, laser cutting services, and other DIY manufacturing processes. In November 2011, MakerBot begins its first retail sales of Thing-O-Matic through AC Gears in New York City with a permanent display.
Media coverage
Makerbot was featured on the TV show The Colbert Report in August 2011. They sent a bust of Steven Colbert, printed on a Makerbot 3D printer, into the stratosphereStratosphere
The stratosphere is the second major layer of Earth's atmosphere, just above the troposphere, and below the mesosphere. It is stratified in temperature, with warmer layers higher up and cooler layers farther down. This is in contrast to the troposphere near the Earth's surface, which is cooler...
attached to a helium filled weather balloon
Weather balloon
A weather or sounding balloon is a balloon which carries instruments aloft to send back information on atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed by means of a small, expendable measuring device called a radiosonde...
.
External links
- RoboSavvy: Makerbot Europe Distributor
- Medialab-Prado: Interactivos?'09: Garage Science Workshop