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Here are the various 3D-printing projects on KS: FORM 1: An affordable, professional 3D printer Raised: $2,945,885 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/for

Here are the various 3D-printing projects on KS: FORM 1: An affordable, professional 3D printer Raised: $2,945,885 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affordable-professional-3d-printer?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/formlabs/form-1-an-affor... PrusAL modular opensource 3D printer Raised: $1,777 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1530151019/prusal-modular-opensource-3d-printer?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1530151019/prusal-modula... Eventorbot! open source 3d printer Raised: $137,508 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1874396831/eventorbot-open-source-3d-printer?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1874396831/eventorbot-op... Bukobot 3D Printer - Affordable 3D with No Compromises! Raised: $167,410 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deezmaker/buko-3d-printer-raising-the-bar-of-open-source-3d?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/deezmaker/buko-3d-printe... HYREL 3D Printer Raised: $152,942 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/25111729/hyrel-3d-printer?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/25111729/hyrel-3d-printe... The Vision : Not Just a 3D Printer... A DREAM Raised: $65,346 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vision3dprinter/the-vision-not-just-a-3d-printer-a-dream?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vision3dprinter/the-visi... Open Source Universal 3D Printer Extruder | DUAL EXTRUSION Raised: $73,361 http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/qu-bd/open-source-universal-3d-printer-extruder-dual-ext?ref=live http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/qu-bd/open-source-univer... -------------------------- All-up that's quite a chunk of change going into 3D printing projects. I would imagine this has to have raised a flag at 3D Systems. They do have a number of personal 3D printing systems shown here: http://www.3dsystems.com/personal-3d-printers http://www.3dsystems.com/personal-3d-printers Imagine selling product in the $1,200 to $5,000 range and having a Kickstarter campaign suck well over three million dollars from the market. This is what is called a displacement market. For the most part people are not going to go out and purchase multiple hobby 3D printers simultaneously. They'll either buy one or the other, not two or more. This means that this is three million dollars of potential 3D Systems sales that simply evaporated from the horizon. I can understand what that might feel like from their vantage point. I have not reviewed the patent or patents in question. Perhaps someone can post links to them. This means that I really can't have an opinion as to whether these are bullshit patents or real invention patents. Having read through hundreds of patents over the years it is my opinion that most patents --software or not-- are solidly in the category of bullshit patents. My test is the distinction between implementation and true invention. The first is something that any individual or team of reasonably qualified engineers could execute on if asked to do so. Invention is where you ask a bunch of engineers to solve the problem and only one or two out of ten might do it and the rest are left scratching their heads. If we adopted some such definition as a validity test the world might just be a much nicer place for all. I just don't know on this one yet. I do know that loosing three million dollars in business will make anyone angry enough to reach for legal recourse if they have it.

elliotanderson 14y ago
The Formlabs project is unlike the other projects you have mentioned. Most hobbyist level 3D printers rely on extrusion (also known as fused deposition modeling) - heating up a spool of soft plastic (such as PLA) and extruding it out of a print head similar to how a desktop printer works. The Formlabs project is using a technique called stereolithography (1) where each layer is created by printing a layer of material (again, similar to a desktop printer) that is then cured by a laser (usually ultraviolet). It's a technique that allows for higher resolution objects to be created 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography
- shashashasha 14y ago
  I should have refreshed the page before stopping to write my comment, you've explained it much better :)
- robomartin 14y ago
  I understand the difference. We've used big-boy SLA a bunch to print mechanical prototypes. I was just pointing out that this is a displacement market (SLA or not) and that over three million dollars just left the market because of Kickstarter/Formlabs. At least that's what it probably looks like from 3D Systems' vantage point.
shashashasha 14y ago
The reason why I was so excited about FormLabs — over RepRap, MakerBot, and all of the other above Kickstarters — was the fact that they were looking to do stereolithography (SLA), vs a more CNC extrusion method like the above. It is a much higher quality process. This is what 3D Systems calls out specifically and I imagine the patents are about this. I'm not saying I agree with it but I am saying that FormLabs is the first Kickstarter I've seen to tout SLA, which is probably why 3D Systems thinks they have grounds.
- nickpinkston 14y ago

elliotanderson 14y ago

The Formlabs project is unlike the other projects you have mentioned. Most hobbyist level 3D printers rely on extrusion (also known as fused deposition modeling) - heating up a spool of soft plastic (such as PLA) and extruding it out of a print head similar to how a desktop printer works. The Formlabs project is using a technique called stereolithography (1) where each layer is created by printing a layer of material (again, similar to a desktop printer) that is then cured by a laser (usually ultraviolet). It's a technique that allows for higher resolution objects to be created 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fused_deposition_modeling 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereolithography

shashashasha 14y ago
I should have refreshed the page before stopping to write my comment, you've explained it much better :)
robomartin 14y ago
I understand the difference. We've used big-boy SLA a bunch to print mechanical prototypes. I was just pointing out that this is a displacement market (SLA or not) and that over three million dollars just left the market because of Kickstarter/Formlabs. At least that's what it probably looks like from 3D Systems' vantage point.

shashashasha 14y ago

The reason why I was so excited about FormLabs — over RepRap, MakerBot, and all of the other above Kickstarters — was the fact that they were looking to do stereolithography (SLA), vs a more CNC extrusion method like the above. It is a much higher quality process. This is what 3D Systems calls out specifically and I imagine the patents are about this. I'm not saying I agree with it but I am saying that FormLabs is the first Kickstarter I've seen to tout SLA, which is probably why 3D Systems thinks they have grounds.

nickpinkston 14y ago