Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Mattel Unveils $300 3D Printer (computerworld.com)

Posted by yaelk on from the affordable-for-you dept.

Lucas123 writes: Perhaps in an attempt to get out ahead of the consumer 3D printing market, which has allowed popular toys such as Legos to be replicated, Mattel today announced it would begin shipping its $300 fused filament fabricator machine in October. Mattel's ThingMaker at-home toy-making device, reinvents the company's iconic 1960s toy by the same name. The new ThingMaker allows users to upload design files via Mattel's proprietary Design App, which works on Android or iOS devices. The 3D printer can then print single-part toys or print hundreds of different parts to be assembled into toys using ball-and-socket joints. Mattel's ThingMaker Design App is based on Autodesk's Spark, an open 3D printing platform that provides extensible APIs for each stage of the 3D printing workflow. Because it's based on an open architecture, the ThingMaker Design App also works with other 3D printers; it is available now and free to download for iOS and Android devices.

4 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. The original ThingMaker was AWESOME. by jeffb+(2.718) · · Score: 4, Interesting

    At least, it was for a six-year-old kid. It fell victim to the "maybe we shouldn't have kids handling 400-degree hot molds" mindset, with an added dose of "maybe all those volatile organic fumes aren't the greatest thing for your kid to be huffing".

    Let's hope the new one is worth of the name.

  2. Battery covers. by sims+2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Can I print replacement battery covers with it? That would be pretty useful. The finish looks pretty good I wonder if the tolerances are good enough for the clips to work.

    --
    Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
    1. Re:Battery covers. by Wycliffe · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Can I print replacement battery covers with it? That would be pretty useful. The finish looks pretty good I wonder if the tolerances are good enough for the clips to work.

      I've thought about this too. There are a lot of little things around the house that might be worth printing (or ordering printed from a "kinkos" type service). The biggest problem is that you need a 3d model of it before you can print it. Even if you have a 2nd one to copy, the 3d scanners aren't really good enough to do it without post editing. It would be great if manufacturers let you download battery cover 3d files like you can download printer drivers but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

  3. Re:Uh. Replicate lego? Not bloody likely by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've seen that reported as the mold tolerance, which is not the same as the plastic tolerance which is more on the order of 10-20 microns. Some engineers at my work place got an argument about this once, and bought a small pack of Lego bricks and it is closer to 50 microns for wall thickness and larger for some of the big dimensions (as in the full range of values, not the standard deviation). This makes sense, because if they need 2 micron accuracy to work over all dimensions, pieces warmed up by your hand would not fit ones at room temperature.

    20-40 micron printing is pretty common now, and even for several years with laser sintering. Stratasys has had 16 micron resolution commercially available since at least 2011-2012ish. One of the advertised uses now for sintered metal is for making inserts to be used in injection molding. Places that need higher precision still have to make their own instead of using off the shelf equipment, but research printers have been doing 10 micron or smaller precision for nearly 15 years now. When we have some thing with a very small feature size, on the order of 30-50 microns, we have a connection with with a university team that will rent out use of their micro laser sintering setup for occasional runs. Although it only has a 2x2x1 cm working volume, unlike the much larger 16 micron setups.