Regular 2D printing isn't something that's been easy for most people after 20 years of modern computing. It's a toss up whether or not software, hardware, or user error.. For that reason, I think 3D printing will be a hobbyist thing for another 5 years at least. The delta between a PandaBot and a high-quality MakerBot 2 with a good reputation is only about $1,000. Thats not much for a die-hard hobbyist, or rich geek wanting a new tech toy to fiddle with.
The MakerBot 2 is on its second iteration, designed and built by a thought leader, and looks really fucking impressive compared with the 2-tower and unprotected print head design of the PandaBot.
When people want to bring devices to the masses, they need to consider what that means. How many kids may stick a pencil or finger into the moving parts when Dad isn't paying attention? Or what about my maid who's spraying dust repellant around my desk? How are you going to fight warranty issues on things nearly impossible to prove, and for which you're not protecting against via thoughtful product design?
In effect, you've reduced costs to make the PandaBot accessible to a class of people who aren't really your customer, and that cost-cutting meant the removal of key parts that truly make a device ready for the masses. Like protecting the 'auto calibrating' head.
I think it's great you're working on that goal but expectations seems a little disconnected from reality (from my perspective).
And you know this how? I've been surprised at the consistent hostility of some people on HN to innovating on price. This is the same mentality that led to the US car market going temporarily insane and assuming that everyone wants the biggest SUV possible.
The consistent hostility towards low prices on HN is based on this site's manifest tendency to underprice things, or to calculate price from cost or from pie-eyed notions of how big their addressable markets are.
The design lead said that he's being working with 3D printers since 2008. It's at 30 seconds into the first video.
Liav, the designer of the PandaBot, was one of the first people in Canada to build a RepRap Darwin. The year Panda Robotics took to develop the Pandabot is the result of many years of prior 3D printer experience on Liav's part.
There is actually a large consumer base for a product exactly like this. I know many other architecture students that have spent more than the cost of a PandaBot (as well as months of hard work) building a RepRap printer to keep on their desk and use in studio. And we keep things (like models) far more fragile than this printer on our desks all the time.
Halfing the price of a comparable printer (MakerBot) is in fact a huge price difference (and therefore, a huge motivator for purchase) for people like students.
This a very interesting statement. Couple it with the news that HP will not be profitable till 2016, [1] why doesn't HP slap on an extra axis to their printers and make them extrude ABS instead of ink? Granted, they might not get the demand they want in the short term, but they are setting themselves up for something bigger later down the line. They have the infrastructure, distribution, know-how, and cash. What's stopping them from cornering the desktop 3D printing market?
[1] http://arstechnica.com/business/2012/10/hp-ceo-were-screwed-...
Also - some companies (ZCorp / ProMetal) use HP print heads to deposit less viscous materials for powder bed 3D printers
It is interesting to see competition to the MakerBot, since $2k is still a bit high, and if the PandaBot's "calibration-free" design works as well as they claim, the ease-of-use factor is still a big thing to exploit.
If it has even moderately good print quality, a commercial, fully-assembled FDM printer for under $1000 is an interesting prospect.
The basic thought was to get it to a point that we could provide it to designers and university students with little to no engineering experience and they could start printing their 3d models right away. Hence, the heavy emphasis on self-calibration and ease-of-use.
The price range just works because we also designed it from the start to be a manufactured product, so we get an economy of scale very quickly as more people pick it up.
You can see print quality examples on ponoko, Derek swung by our office to see it close up in action yesterday: http://blog.ponoko.com/2012/10/04/pandabot-3d-printer-launch...
I'm running product at Panda Robotics.
One of the first obvious issues is how do you print motors? How to print circuit boards (with 3d printing hardware that is) is another obvious question, though that seems a bit more approachable. Wires are also another obvious one, though printing internal leads into pieces seems like a decent way of avoiding wires after you have gotten the "print a circuit board" thing down.
Less technical issues are "Why do you even want to print the entire thing?". Right now most rep-raps use many metal rods. These could be replaced with printed parts, but is there really a reason? The metal rods are cheap, easy to source, and reliable.
This all said, what rep-rap has accomplished to date is pretty impressive; they have snatched up most of the low hanging fruit and most of what is left isn't stuff that makes sense to print anyway.
It's based on the original Makerbot Cupcake but upgraded and improved from trial and error. And there is a version with a larger build area (8x8x8"), which is the one I've pledged to receive. And with the heated build platform you can run ABS or PLA.
The thing that bothers me about the PandaBot is the lack of details on the build area size (update: 11x11x11" Print Envelope" and heated platform). Also the price isn't that great compared to other fully assembled 3D printers with the same tech. Also I'm not a fan of the base moving instead of just the print head. I can't think of any wide format printers that move the base instead of the entire head assembly/gimble.
I do love the snap together setup process and the look of the machine. It looks like something you would buy in a store and almost anyone could setup and start using immediately.
We've found that moving the bed horizontally helps reduce the size of motors necessary to move the head as well as simplifies the required inertial calculations to properly model the fluid flow to give a detailed, low defect object.
We're definitely aiming for a store bought look. We've violated the sacred law of demos time and again and not yet been caught. To do Canada's CNBC we dragged it out of a cab and had it set up and printing in 5 minutes with no adjustment, with an alpha prototype! On live, national TV! So it's a decently robust design.
The snap together process and self-calibration make it a much more useful experience. We've been bringing it all around town and usually have it set up and printing in minutes.
You can especially see it in our BNN interview. Liav had to set it up in minutes because he couldn't be on set any longer than that. :)
Full disclosure, I'm Kelly John Rose of Panda Robotics.
1. What is your firmware based upon?
2. What computer software do you use to assist PandaBot? Slic3r?
3. Do you need a computer hooked up via USB to facilitate printing?
4. Do you publish schematics and/or physical part dimensions for repair
and replacement?
5. What makes your product better than a RepStrap?
6. A MendelMax full kit costs $699 USD. The kit is complete with full build
instructions and fully repairable if/when something goes wrong. What makes
your printer better than this model?
7. How do you handle inertial jerk when you have a partially printed model due
to the moving table?3 We load files via USB but you don't need to keep the computer plugged in after a successful transfer
4 We're generally using off the shelf parts but it's a commercial shelf. Trade-off of quality, tolerances, capabilities. We feel that the improvements to the stability and reliability of our product are worth going in this direction.
5 We're building a tool to let people focus on designing and producing physical objects. Different design objective than kits. By not being a Rep* we get access to interesting components with very tight tolerances which will give users a wonderful experience in reliably producing objects.
6 We're shipping a manufactured product, it comes in 2 pieces to reduce shipping costs. It's a tool that plugs in and goes. Auto-calibration and the incredible rigidity really help make it "just work".
Again, it's a different focus from kits so different strengths and weaknesses. If you want to build your printer from scratch, we're not the right choice. If you want to be printing out of the box with no calibration, re-calibration, or learning all of the details of Slic3r or other tools, then we are the right choice. And then, if you want to explore Slic3r or optimal 3D material strategies without having to become a hardware/robotics guru, we are the right choice.
Lots of room for different people to focus on different things, or for people to have different tools for different projects.
3x the price and 10x the machine.