AstroPrint Develops New Products for Marvell with KinomaJS as Driving Force, Highlighted at CES 2016

KinomaJS is an open source application framework uniquely designed to build the core applications of embedded devices using JavaScript. Numerous features, from performance to ability to script applications, along with advanced support for UI design, made their product an attractive option for AstroPrint.

A leader in offering cloud-based printer solutions, Astroprint was able to develop a new 3D printer proof of concept which KinomaJS states is ‘technically significant’ due to their use of the open source applications. Due to the collaboration between the two companies, they’ve created onboard and mobile applications for comprehensive and complex management of 3D printing projects.

The Kinoma apps are meant to interface with Astroprint as well as Thingiverse APIs for control and management of Marvell-powered 3D printers. We’ve followed Marvell previously, as they lead in many areas, from silicon solutions and mobile communications, to storage, Internet of Things (IoT), cloud infrastructure, digital entertainment, and more. According to Kinoma, their 6270 printer processor is now another hardware platform with their support, and with KinomaJS ‘ported’ to their processor, it can used to build a wide range of products.

Currently a prominent semiconductor vendor in the 2D printer market, Marvell is entering 3D printing with their system-on-chip design to power today’s modern, cloud-connected 3D printers, and they’ve chosen AstroPrint to develop their UI and cloud functionality.

“KinomaJS was leveraged up and down the entire printer software stack,” states the company on their blog, regarding the project which allowed AstroPrint to produce a ‘successful and polished demo’ within two months.

The concept was brought together just in time for their projected deadline: CES 2016 Las Vegas. With a prototype on display, they will now move on to product engineering. Regarding the industry and future ubiquity of 3D printers, expansion of apps, and this project, Daniel Arroyo, AstroPrint’s CTO said:

“Think of a major release of a family-friendly movie with appealing characters that the kids love. Families will be able to see the movie in theaters, and then go home and print out the characters for their kids. For this to happen, the 3D Printing Industry needs to be much more consumer friendly. And that’s what our apps are focused on: removing steps, streamlining the process, and making the whole experience friendly. We need to start offering content that people really want to print, and our role in the future is to connect printers with great content. We see the industry expanding beyond its current core focus on prototyping and industrial use. We see it moving forward to the consumer print space. And software is a huge part of that, which is why KinomaJS is so interesting to us.”

AstroPrint is known as a software developer intent on making 3D printing easy and accessible with their cloud infrastructure. Offering a hassle-free platform despite skill level, they allow for ‘1-click-to-print’ whether it originates from a PC or mobile device. The program is intuitive and actually gets smarter over time, helping to eliminate failed prints and offering a superior experience in 3D printing for the user.  Discuss this story in the AstroPrint / Marvel forum thread on 3DPB.com.

AstroPrint’s work with KinomaJS was showcased at CES, in Marvell’s suite in Tech West, Venetian, Level 3, Murano 3304.