Why 3D Printer Manufacturers should NEVER make software

AstroPrint Staff

Have you heard of Pirate3D‘s Buccaneer 3D Printer?

It’s the Jony Ives-inspired 3D printer that never took sail.

With a sleek, aluminum body, smooth, crystal clear acrylic housing, and beautiful aesthetics, it’s all beauty and no brains.

If you aren’t in the loop, Pirate3D raised a (then) record-breaking $1.4M+ on Kickstarter for their Buccaneer 3D Printer in 2013.

It was a hit.

Largely because most consumers had never seen such a well thought out 3D printer at such an affordable price point.

At the time, the most well-known printer was Makerbot’s Replicator 2, which ran for $2,200 and Pirate3D claimed to have a better designed, faster printer (The Buccaneer) for just $347.

Truth is: it WAS a well-designed printer and we were just as excited for Pirate3D to pull this off.

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Cloud connected 3D printing

Why Cloud-Connected 3D Printers Sell More

AstroPrint Staff

It is clear by now that cables and SD cards are not the future of 3D printing. As more users demand their printers to be wireless, 3D printer manufacturers are increasingly making wifi-connectivity a priority for their printer line. However, many of them are simply connecting a desktop 3D printer to a local network and that, is not the future.

A step further is to connect printers to a cloud platform. We live in the era of the internet of things, where every device gets connected to the cloud. However, most 3D printer manufacturers don’t really understand what the cloud does for a 3D printer. What are the advantages of cloud versus local network for 3D printers? Do 3D printers gain value when they are cloud-connected?

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OctoPrint Plugin for AstroPrint

How to access OctoPrint over The Internet with AstroPrint (from anywhere!)

AstroPrint Staff

TL;DR: We made a OctoPrint plugin that connects your OctoPi to the AstroPrint cloud.

Introduction

Many people (incorrectly) believe that AstroPrint is a competitor to OctoPrint.

This is a misunderstanding.

While the original open source AstroBox Gateway started out as a fork of OctoPrint back in 2014, our focus has veered off so far that OctoPrint is no longer comparable to AstroPrint.

AstroPrint’s primary goal is to build a simplified cloud ecosystem for 3D Printing and make it accessible to the general (non-technical) consumer.

The AstroPrint cloud ecosystem includes a full-fledged line of cross-platform Mobile and Desktop apps along with an API that allows any developer to reach tens of thousands of Desktop 3D Printer owners around the world.

In short, our users tend to be non-technical folks interested in managing and monitoring their 3D Printer from any device with minimal hassle.

Conversely, OctoPrint users tend to be technically savvy with a heavy interest in open source software and using their printer strictly on their local network. (more…)

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Desktop 3D printing the next 5 years

The Next Five Years for Desktop 3D Printers

AstroPrint Staff

The next few years are going to be exciting. Desktop 3D printers are going to be in everyone’s home and 3D printer manufacturers will sell units like candies at a kindergarten school. Right?

While I’m extremely positive about the future of Desktop 3D printers, the industry needs to first jump the “chasm” that separates the hobbyists and the early majority. Within the next 5 years, manufacturers that don’t make significant changes in their current strategy will miss on the next wave of customers.

What’s stopping desktop 3D printers from mass adoption?

So far, manufacturers have mostly focused on hardware, while software has been left behind. For this reason, we have seen a lot of hardware improvements. Printers are now faster and more reliable. They are also cheap, the Monoprice Mini is a good example of a printer that anyone can afford. Some printers are now beautiful to look at. Our friends at Kodama are putting together an affordable printer that almost looks like an iPhone. I can picture the new Obsidian looking great in anyone’s living room.

If Hardware has improved so much, then why we continue to sell to the hobbyists and not mainstream? The reason is: software has fallen behind.

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Toy Maker App for Android and iOS: 3D Print Toys at home

Toy Maker: An easy way for children to print toys (and learn 3D Printing) at home

AstroPrint Staff

how to print 3d toys at home with Toy maker App

A case study in 3D Printable content delivery

Most people are aware that AstroPrint is a robust cloud platform for managing and monitoring Desktop 3D Printer(s).

What many don’t realize is that AstroPrint is also a very efficient content delivery platform for 3D Printable content.

It is one of the best ways for designers and developers to reach Desktop 3D Printer owners around the world.

In fact, AstroPrint is PERFECT for content distribution.

AstroPrint’s content delivery infrastructure is a bit like Google Play, except, instead of smartphones, our focus is Desktop 3D Printers.

Anyone can use the AstroPrint API to reach thousands of Desktop 3D Printer owners worldwide.

The Toy maker app is a real world example of how content delivery can work on AstroPrint.

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AstroPrint Desktop: A Cross platform desktop app for rotating and scaling your 3D Printable designs

Rotate, Scale, and Print your designs with AstroPrint Desktop

AstroPrint Staff
AstroPrint Desktop

I’d like to officially introduce you to our latest creation.

Please welcome, AstroPrint Desktop.

AstroPrint Desktop is a cross-platform, cloud-enabled Desktop app that allows you to manipulate and print designs locally and via the cloud.

AstroPrint Desktop allows you to print to your 3D Printer via USB without needing an AstroBox Gateway.
 

Meanwhile, if you are an existing AstroPrint user, AstroPrint Desktop will extend your capabilities even further and make your workflow much more pleasant.

 

Sticking to our goal in making 3D Printing accessible to more and more people, AstroPrint Desktop is another pillar in the master plan.

So, what can AstroPrint Desktop do?

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AstroPrint Mobile

Introducing AstroPrint Mobile for iOS and Android

AstroPrint Staff

AstroPrint Mobile is a cross-platform (iOS & Android) mobile app that will allow you to remotely manage your 3D Printer from your smartphone and receive real-time notifications of your printer status.

Since AstroPrint’s inception (in 2013), our primary goal has been to simplify 3D Printing and provide the most advanced cloud platform in existence for managing Desktop 3D Printers, and distributing 3D Printable content.

4 years later, with two successful Kickstarters, and over 700,000+ hours of 3D Printing (that’s about 80 years of printing!) on our platform, we have learned a lot from you on making 3D Printing simpler.

We’ve learned that one of the cornerstone requirements in that effort is a mobile app that will allow you to manage, monitor, and print on your 3D Printer from your smartphone. (more…)

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AstroPrint Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign, Allowing Anyone to Invest in the Future of 3D Printing

AstroPrint Staff

Press Release:

AstroPrint Launches Equity Crowdfunding Campaign, Allowing Anyone to Invest in the Future of 3D Printing

San Diego, California (September 22, 2017)  –  AstroPrint, a San Diego based technology company, has just launched an Equity Crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo platform.  This allows nearly anyone to invest as little as $100 into AstroPrint through the online portal at equity.Indiegogo.com.  The campaign can be accessed directly via:  https://AstroPrint.com/invest

Unlike Product Crowdfunding, Equity Crowdfunding is not focused on launching the next new gadget, but rather on allowing crowdfunders to actually purchase ownership in the company.  Equity Crowdfunding was not possible until recently due to the SEC lifting restrictions on “non-accredited” investors investing in private companies.

Drew Taylor, CEO of AstroPrint explains:  “The idea behind Equity Crowdfunding is very similar to the idea behind ICOs (Initial Coin Offerings). In the past, only the wealthy could invest in startup companies, and the general public was specifically excluded. The goal of portals like equity.Indiegogo.com is to democratize investment in startups allowing anyone to become an investor.  In addition, we’re really excited about our super-fans and other 3D printing enthusiasts finally having the chance to come onboard as owners of AstroPrint!”

Indiegogo, along with their joint venture partner Microventures, began offering Equity Crowdfunding at the end of 2016.  AstroPrint is the 21st company to be approved by Indiegogo and Microventures for this special fundraising track.  Also, AstroPrint is the 2nd predominately 3D printing related startup in the US to seek Equity Crowdfunding.

AstroPrint’s mission is to solve the software problems holding the 3D printing industry back from mass adoption.  They see the industry as being held back by the same issues that held back the computer industry and smartphone industries in their early days.  When Windows standardized software for the computer industry, computers gained mass adoption.  When Android standardized software for the smartphone industry, smartphones gained mass adoption.

According to AstroPrint’s Chief Design Officer, Joshua White, “AstroPrint is standardizing the software for the 3D printing industry with the goal of making 3D printers ‘Apple simple,’ thereby allowing anyone to take advantage of the technology.  This then opens up the technology for use by the general public and allows mass adoption to finally occur.”

AstroPrint will use the funds to expand more rapidly towards their vision of being the “Android of the 3D Printing Industry.”  According to the campaign details, if less than $150K is raised, the proceeds will be directed towards production and distribution of their AstroBox Touch device (http://AstroBoxTouch.com)as a retail product.  If additional funds are raised, funds will be directed towards company growth through expanding the sales and marketing efforts of the company.

AstroPrint users have printed over 420,000 3D prints on the platform to date.  Represented in this is a 186% increase in usage over the last 12 months.

Press Contact: For information and questions, please email Drew Taylor via:

drew.taylor at astroprint dot com.

 

ABOUT ASTROPRINT

AstroPrint is a venture backed company based in San Diego, CA., and is the fastest growing cloud, and content delivery platform in the 3D printing industry. The AstroPrint platform is designed to be simple, elegant, and intuitive for the non-technical 3D Printer Owner. It is currently compatible with ~80% of Desktop 3D Printers on the market. The AstroPrint marketplace also allows brands and developers to deliver content to any 3D Printer owner around the globe with its scalable distribution platform.

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How STEAM Studio uses AstroPrint to Teach 3D Printing to Kids

Daniel Arroyo

In early 2016, we founded STEAM Studio in Wexford, PA, as a place to teach kids STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) concepts with hands on projects and experiments.

From the beginning, we wanted 3D Printing to be a big part of our curriculum and projects. 3D Printing gets kids excited about engineering because of the hands on nature of having to design, print and take home cool objects.

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