The Top Five 3D Printing News Announcements Today at Additive Manufacturing Europe 2016

Just one week after the inaugural In(3D)ustry exhibition in Barcelona, 3D printing professionals, engineers and manufacturers flocked to Amsterdam for the Additive Manufacturing Europe 2016 Expo, also a first for the ever-growing 3D printing industry.

The three-day professional-oriented event, which includes speakers, workshops, and a product stage, is one of the largest 3D printing exhibitions in Europe, and aims to display the newest and most practical applications of additive manufacturing, with a special focus on healthcare, automotive, and aerospace.

The exhibition floor featured dozens of 3D printing companies from around the world, showing off their newest and hottest products. To sort through it all, we’ve singled out five of the most exciting 3D printers and accessories on display today.

5. Sharebot Voyager Warp DLP 3D Printer

Italy-based Sharebot gave a short but engaging presentation at the AM Show Product Stage, where they proudly showed off their new Voyager Warp DLP 3D printer. As the name implies, this desktop machine can essentially go into ‘warp drive,’ achieving 3D print speeds of 100mm per hour, making it one of the fastest professional-grade 3D printers in its class.

Developed in collaboration with BlueCat experts, Sharebot’s Warp technology doesn’t sacrifice speed for quality. As the company explained, the system optimizes the printing process so that the required exposure time for each individual layer is reduced to just a few hundredths of a second.

The Sharebot Voyager Warp offers a build space of 60 x 100 x 100 mm and can achieve 50 micron XY resolution and as little as 5-100 micron resolution on the Z axis. This professional-grade, high-quality finish makes it ideal for 3D printed jewelry, dental molds, surgical guides, and other precision 3D prints. Currently, it is compatible with BlueCat’s castable resin.

4. ColorFabb steelFill 3D Printing Filament

From their colorful AM Europe Show booth, ColorFabb announced its newest metal-based 3D printing filament: steelFill. Though metal 3D printing is normally reserved for professional and industrial users, ColorFabb’s steelFill has been optimized for several consumer-friendly desktop machines, including the Ultimaker 2 and MakerBot Replicator 2—meaning more users will be able to experiment and innovate with metal-based 3D printing projects.

Rounding out ColorFabb’s full line of metal infills, including brassFill, copperFill, and the original bronzeFill, steelFill will be available for purchase in Summer 2017.

3. Rokit Invivo 3D Bioprinter

The focus of today’s conference at the AM Show was 3D Printing and Healthcare. This makes our second item all the more appropriate: Rokit’s Invivo, the ‘world’s first hybrid 3D bioprinter’ developed specifically for transplantable tissue engineering.

Though the South Korean 3D printer manufacturer has demonstrated their Invivo Bioprinter in the past, this was its first-ever appearance in Europe, and seeing it ‘in the flesh’ was quite an experience.

The relatively affordable Invivo, Rokit’s first 3D bioprinter, was designed with key features that set it apart from existing 3D bioprinters. As mentioned above, it is a ‘hybrid’ in the sense that it is capable of 3D printing both solid scaffolds and liquid bio-inks simultaneously, which is particularly advantageous for 3D printing transplantable tissues and potentially organs. For our full write-up, read about the Rokit Invivo 3D Bioprinter here.

2. 3DPandoras Full-Color Powder Bed 3D Printer

The last time we heard about the 3DPandoras printer was in 2014 when it first launched on Kickstarter. Two years later, after raising over $150K and undergoing several technological improvements, it is on display at the AM Show.

The 3DPandoras is an affordable and reliable powder bed fusion 3D printer that uses powder-based materials, along with a binding and a curing agent, to produce high-definition, richly colored and support-free 3D printed models and small series productions.

Deepak Mehta, CTO at 3Dee NV, official European distributors of the 3DPandoras, told us that he sees an exciting future in the development of powder materials for 3D printing. Whereas FDM filaments have certainly seen their share of innovation, and resins are promising—if not still out of reach—powder-based 3D printing offers entirely new possibilities. For example, they are working with researchers to develop 3D printable carbide, which could be used to make perfectly custom-fit bulletproof vests.

1. Zortrax Unveils the M300

With the M200, Zortrax became one of the world’s leading 3D printer manufacturers. Today, they aim to be bigger, and better, with the new M300 3D printer. With a build volume of 300 x 300 x 300, the M300 opens new prototyping, design, and manufacturing capabilities, all while retaining the same quality, reliability and ease-of-use Zortrax is known for. Read our full report on the new Zortrax M300 3D printer here.