Oftentimes, when we talk about 3D printing and its many potential uses, our conversation is generally framed in the future, a newfound emerging technology that will impact our lives in unimaginable ways. But sometimes 3D printing can be used to simply improve upon preexisting traditional processes, such as farming. For instance, a couple of years ago, the Italian-based company FarmBot unveiled an open-sourced CNC farming machine to help plant crops in a more efficient and automated manner. More recently, Perfect Day Foods has hinted at the possibility of 3D printed cow DNA, which would effectively substitute plain old cow milk for an eerily similar animal-free dairy product.
After learning about the Brooklyn-based 3D printing company MakerBot back in late 2015, Proximity Designs realized that additive manufacturing was the optimal way to rapidly prototype inexpensive farming equipment and tooling. Prior to utilizing 3D printing technology, the organization was prototyping parts with CNC machining, which was both too slow and pricey to be a sustainable option for them. Once their former design fellow Zachary Gould introduced the team to MakerBot, however, they decided to find out whether or not this new technology could help them address some of the prototyping challenges in their product development cycle.
“The design team no longer needed to wait for precision, manually-machined parts,” said Gould. “Prototypes were quickly adapted and repaired with 3D printed components, providing more opportunities to test the parts in the field. We can get valuable feedback and improve on previous designs faster.”
While Myanmar is known for having a relatively resourceful maker community, slow and inefficient manufacturing processes have made it extremely difficult to prototype products at a proper rate. MakerBot decided to donate a 3D printer to the design firm, and with it, they were able to better address the needs of the rural community across the country. For instance, the team was now able to physically assemble parts of the prototype and refine them accordingly before having them manufactured in aluminum.