About 3Dprintables
From 3D Printables
While rapid prototyping/3D printing technology has advanced significantly in recent years, public interest has not kept pace. This is due in large part to a lack of printable content. Consumers who purchase or have access to a 3D printing system must design their own parts to print, which can be a time-intensive prospect and often requires experience with CAD software. Other emerging technologies in the past have faced similar challenges. MP3 players did not become widely popular until large websites with many organized, downloadable music files were launched. Ease of content generation also contributes to the popularization of a technology. Digital photography content has been largely accelerated due to development of user-friendly image editing applications.
This project is intended to address content generation for RP systems, with an initial focus on educational models. An open repository, 3Dprintables.org, has been constructed to contain an archive of free, testable, downloadable .STL files along with the source models and additional materials. Since the site is wiki-based, users can upload their own content to share freely as well as expand and comment on files already on the site. The site also includes tools that allow the novice user to immediately begin creating printable models from various sources such as data files, equations, and Protein Data Bank (PDB) files. The two main objectives of this website are increasing the amount of printable content freely available online and empowering educators to bring physical models back to the classroom by downloading existing models and designing their own.
The widespread introduction of 3D printing to educational institutions has already begun. Prices for 3D printing systems are well within the reach of four-year colleges, community colleges, high schools and vocational schools and will continue to fall while the capabilities and speeds of these machines grow. Indeed, many such institutions have already purchased 3D printing equipment and are integrating it into their existing curricula. The NSF recently funded the development of a rapid prototyping curriculum. RP technology is not only being used to supplement engineering and CAD courses but also as a means to introduce young students to engineering and increase enthusiasm for the field. This website will give educational institutions an additional use for the 3D printing systems they already own and perhaps encourage more schools to purchase this equipment.
