Autodesk To Launch Its Own 3D Printer Later This Year

Professional design software developer Autodesk is working on its own 3D printer codenamed ‘Spark’ – the first ever hardware product from the company.

It will be accompanied by an eponymous “open software platform” that will allow enthusiasts to create and modify 3D models, as well as give them fine-grained control over the printing process.

The design and internal workings of the 3D printer will be published online so it can be improved by the community.

“The world is just beginning to realise the potential of additive manufacturing and with Spark, we hope to make it possible for many more people to incorporate 3D printing into their design and manufacturing process,” wrote CEO and president Carl Bass in a post on the Autodesk blog.

The connoisseur’s choice

The Spark printer will be using stereolithography – a 3D printing technique that employs a vat of liquid photopolymer ‘resin’ and an ultraviolet laser to build objects from digital models, layer by layer. Exposure to the ultraviolet laser light cures and solidifies the pattern traced on the resin and joins it to the layer below.

In contrast, cheaper 3D printers usually rely on fused deposition modelling, which melts plastic filaments and extrudes them from a moving nozzle head. Since Spark employs the more challenging but more accurate method, it is expected to cost around $5,000 (£2,970).

“The printer will be able to use a broad range of materials, made by us and by others, and we look forward to lots of exploration into new materials,” promised Bass.

Being a software company, Autodesk actually places more emphasis on the software component of Spark, which it says will complement the printer. “Just as mobile devices and apps work seamlessly together, the 3D design software and 3D printer need to work in close partnership,” said Autodesk.

Both the printer and the software will be available later this year.

Meanwhile, the US start-up M3D which required $50,000 to build an affordable 3D printer has managed to attract more than $3 million in crowdfunding pledges, and the device is expected to start shipping in early 2015.

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