Consumers will soon have a 3D printer which is ready to scan, print, copy, and fax objects the minute it’s plugged in. “Zeus,” which is being billed by AIO Robotics as the world’s first all-in-one 3D printer and copy machine, surpassed its $100,000 funding goal on Kickstarter as of September 2013. It is being prepped for mass production and should be ready to ship by August 2014.
The device, which resembles a microwave, will be known for its user-friendly ease-of-use, according to its designers. At one point in the Kickstarter video a child builds a figure out of clay, then puts into the machine and scans it, using a simpletouch screen command. The scan is faxed to his father’s Zeus, which prints the object. “Our vision is to make 3D copy technology as easy as 2D copy technology,” AIO co-founder Jens Windau states in the video.
Zeus is built from aluminum and the structure and can output a layer resolution of 100 microns, with 200 and 300-micron options available for faster prints. It can print volumes up to 26 x18 x15 centimeters.
More design specifications are available on the product’s Kickstarter page, where people can submit questions for the designers. For example, the printer will safeguard against the strange and unsettling possibility of printing 3D spam objects by requiring the user to review and confirm each image sent to its fax machine. Zeus will retail for about $2,500.
Above image: The Zeus 3D printer by AIO Robotics comes ready to fax, copy, scan, and print 3D models at the press of a touchscreen button. Image courtesy of AIO Robotics.
AIO Robotics’ Zeus 3D printer, copy, and fax machine in action. All images courtesy of AIO Robotics.
Visit the Zeus Kickstarter page
Add your valued opinion to this post.