At Maker Faire you can always see the very latest in 3D printing technology in action, and what creative makers are doing with it. Here are five exhibits I’m super psyched to check out this weekend at Maker Faire Bay Area, Mare Island, October 18–20. Get your tickets quick!
Cocoa Press 2.0 for Chocolate Printing
Food printing used to mean wacky experimental nozzles grafted onto random 3D printers, but chocolate printers are really a thing now: purpose-built machines with their own markets from DIY foodies to pro bakers and confectioners. Ellie Weinstein and her company Cocoa Press were among the first to get it dialed, and their new 2.0 machine is a big upgrade in capability and precision, with new BigTreeTech electronics and Klipper firmware to make it superfast and accurate, a new touchscreen UI, and a cool new a fast-swap extruder system so you can move into the world of multi-color – multi-chocolate! – printing.
Their head of community, our bestie Matt Stultz, will be showing off this shiny new Cocoa Press 2.0 machine and where they’re headed next with their Cocoa Buddy multi-material system. Make: magazine readers will recognize Matt as our longtime contributor and wrangler of Make:’s original 3D Printer Shootout comparison tests, veteran of LightBurn, and all-around digital fabrication expert in 3DP, CNC, lasers, and more. Always wonderful to visit with Matt and see what he’s working on next, especially when it involves edible art and tasty chocolate samples.
CAL Instant Layerless 3D Printer
Come watch this machine print resin objects in seconds — literally like magic. How?? Taylor Waddell and the UC-Berkeley CAL 3D printer team will be back with the latest version of their mind-blowing, layerless, instant resin printer. The future of 3D printing surely includes this amazing new technology, and we’re proud that Maker Faire goers will be among the first in the world to see it.
The CAL system prints up to 100x faster than normal printers by using computed axial lithography — the software computes a rotating projection of specific light beams needed to cure all points of your 3D model at the same time, and projects this into a rotating vial of resin. Bang there’s your part, like a Star Trek replicator. It’s great for printing super fine, complex, and organic geometries, and for new tricks like overprinting resin parts onto existing objects (imagine printing handles right onto a metal screwdriver blade, for example).
Taylor tells me this year the team is working on a brand new, open source CAL printer design meant for DIY makers and hobbyists to build for themselves. Come see CAL printing in action, and learn about the first CAL printer for makers!
Prusa Research and Multi-Extruder Printing
Founded as a one-man startup in 2012 by Josef Prusa, a Czech hobbyist, maker, and inventor, Prusa Research is of the most innovative and most trusted 3D printer companies in the world. Prusa machines just work! And IMHO they do things the right way, supporting their products and customers with a vibrant community, a 3D file sharing platform, and excellent upgrades for owners of older machines.
Most exciting this year, they are the first to achieve the Holy Grail of multi-material printing with virtually zero waste, with their Prusa XL 3D printer with 5-extruder tool changer. Finally! Come see it in action, printing previously impossible things in one go.
Intersection (Sculpture, Design, and Media in the Digital Age)
Additive manufacturing is transforming art just as much as industrial design. Come check out these wild, futuristic sculptures and other artworks by Mike Walsh, which he designs and builds using digital technologies like 3D printing, VR rendering, and machine-learning animation. If I was going to commission an artist to sculpt me some new art, architecture, vehicles, and droids for my personal Star Wars galaxy, it would be Mike — his stuff feels fresh and futuristic, interstellar and alien-infused, but deeply human and tactile, like my favorite lived-in, scuffed-up sci-fi universe. I’m looking forward to seeing his art and learning about his techniques.
Humanoid Robots
3D printing empowers anybody to distribute, modify, and manufacture physical designs anywhere. So of course lots of people are taking advantage to build their own robots. There’s something irresistible about printing a humanoid robot from nothing and bringing it to life. You too can be Anakin building C-3PO, or Dr. Tenma building Astro Boy, or Tadashi Hamada building Baymax!
Come see demonstrations of the latest 3D-printed humanoids based on free, open-source designs that you can build too:
Voxhead 3.0 by Michael Brady
Leonardo InMoov by Turing Laboratory Galileo University in Guatemala
Human Robot Comedy Show by Team Davis
Get Those Tickets
Of course these previews just scratch the surface, there are dozens more 3D printing maker exhibits and vendors to explore — tech upgrades, marble machines, fantastic artworks — plus hundreds more amazing makers of all kinds. Getting stoked for this weekend!
Get your tickets and we’ll see you at Mare Island!
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