Objet is a personal favorite when it comes to 3D printers because the company just makes things. Sure, it’s a glorified advertisement for its Connex printers, but very few other 3D printing companies just make things for the heck of it. This week, Objet brings us another impressive model out of its Connex line of 3D printers.
The folks at Objet recently created a working miniature Ferris Wheel on its Connex500 multi-material 3D printer.
Here’s how they did it:
The ferris wheel in this video came out of the 3D printer as a fully assembled mechanism, with independently attached carts. 3D printing is the only technology in the world able to manufacture finished assemblies like this one without the need for a production line or sequential assembly steps. The Objet Connex 3D printer is able to selectively place different material colors and properties to different parts of the 3D printed model. In this case, the machine uses rigid white and rigid black material, and also combines those materials on the fly to enable the user to create various gray shades.
Once again, Objet uses a simple example to show what kinds of things can be done on professional 3D printers. Being able to create complete interworking objects in one print will continue to revolutionize various industries as more people begin to adopt 3D printers. The Ferris Wheel example also gives me hope that we’ll start seeing more advanced models being made with 3D printers, perhaps even some zany components for a complex Rube Goldberg machine.
