AMS

3DRacers Brings the Racetrack to Your Living Room Floor With 3D Printed Cars and Game

ST Metal AM
ST Dentistry

Share this Article

3dracers logoUnder your bed and over the hills–of your couch cushions–it’s off to the track in your home with 3DRacers!

Rome-based 3DRacers was created by Marco D’Alia and Francesco Murru, gaming and toy enthusiasts who decided to fill the gap left in the toy market today which is being seriously usurped by the gaming market. They wanted to create something gaming oriented, but even more fun than a video game. With 3DRacers, D’Alia explains that they wanted to make a game like Mario Kart that users can actually play on their floor.

“We’d like to see children and people of all ages use their imagination while interacting with the game,” D’Alia told 3DPrint.com. “We designed a car that can race on every surface available in your home, so that you can build your tracks without limits–race over or under sofas, cardboard, tables, and beds.”

To achieve that, they designed a 3D-printable car that has good clearance from the bottom, and can climb carpets or rough terrains. D’Alia and Murru experimented with several configurations of DC motors to achieve the right balance for battery life and power, and different steering mechanisms that are both realistic and durable.

This 3D printed, Arduino-based racing game allows you to:

  • Design your car online and choose from over 100,000 variations.
  • 3D print your radio controlled car, choosing from various colors and shapes with a web based tool. Download and print!
  • Race with your friends, and up to 1000 other players at once, controlling your game with the mobile app or the 3D-printable remote.
  • Watch real time scoreboards and lap times.
  • Play in battle mode with power-ups and weapons, or SIM Mode with warm-up, pit-stops and realistic tire and fuel consumption.

red carEach car also has a sensor that detects specially designed gates.

In combining gaming, 3D printing, and an Arduino based control board, with an open-source design, 3DRacers has made a natural progression to what would seem to be the future of the toy and gaming market. Arduino-based designs operate with simple micro-controllers which function on open source computing platforms. They allow information to be read from sensors and devices which will let you take them online. It is a tool used for developing interactive objects.

3DRacers 3D-printable racecars

3DRacers 3D-printable racecars

“We have built a customized Arduino-based board, focused on low power consumption and a small form factor,” says D’Alia. “The cars are fully 3D Printed, and fully open source because we wanted everyone to be able to improve the original design, and be able to reprogram the board and build something new, like say, a tank or an airplane.”

3DRacers will be on display at MakerFaire Rome October 2-5. You can follow 3DRacers at www.facebook.com/3dracers. Have you created any 3D printable cars or games? What do you think of this idea? Let us know in the 3DRacers forum thread on 3DPB.com.

drawing

 

3dr2

Share this Article


Recent News

U.S. Military Innovation Pushed to the Frontlines with Advanced Manufacturing

3D Printing News Unpeeled: Sweat Collectors, Blue Lasers & Testing for Concrete 3D Printing



Categories

3D Design

3D Printed Art

3D Printed Food

3D Printed Guns


You May Also Like

GE Taps NUBURU for Blue Laser Metal 3D Printing

Since it first entered the additive manufacturing (AM) industry, blue laser manufacturer NUBURU (NYSE American: BURU) has made steady progress introducing its technology to various original equipment manufacturers. The latest...

FDA Master File for Medical 3D Printing to Speed Up Regulatory Approval

Belgian firm Amnovis is commercializing its deep titanium 3D printing and implant experience by helping other medical firms, startups and inventors bring their products to market. Through the company’s manufacturing...

3D Printing News Unpeeled: Thing Memberships, Formwork and Deutsche Bahn

Both Thangs and Prusa Research-owned Printables announced memberships for exclusive models to support their platforms and creators. This could greatly encourage new open source creations, or it could reduce the...

Jabil Introduces First PLA for Powder Bed 3D Printing

When we last caught up with Luke Rodgers, senior director of R&D at Jabil (NYSE: JBL), the manufacturing solutions provider was in the process of releasing a new material for powder bed...