Have a spare $330,000 lying around? In a couple of months you could be the proud owner of thousands of sports goggles, flexible shoes, headphones, a blender or colourful football and bike helmets – nearly anything you can think of made from polymers.
Coming in the second quarter of 2014, the Objet500 Connex3 #D printer by Stratasys will be able to do just that. The Objet500 is the world’s first multi-coloured and multi-material 3D printer, which has been the dream ever since 3D printing came out of the woodwork.
The Objet500 is a big step up from the current commercial 3D printers. Using three different base resins and 10 colour palettes, it allows designers to create more dynamic and consumer-ready prototypes. Prototypes will also have a “look and feel” aspect to them, making current 3D printers look like plastic slab producers. See for yourself in the pictures below.
Stratasys believes the Objet500 will increase the level of engineering of products created by 3D printer and enable a whole new group of people to start using 3D printers. Currently Stratasys are targeting only major corporations with the Objet500 Connex3, so we will have to wait before we can have our own rainbow coloured bike helmets. But we can dream.
