3D Printing News Briefs, June 21, 2025: AI Co-Pilot, Plastics Recycling, & More

In today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, opdo is launching an AI-powered co-pilot for advanced optical systems, and Tempus 3D received $250,000 to advance plastics recycling in 3D printing. Moving on, architecture studio Mamou-Mani created a stunning, wave-like installation using 3D printed bioplastic. Finally, a Minecraft fan made a 3D printed version of the game’s compass…and it actually works.

opdo Announced Launch of AI Co-Pilot for Optics Design & Simulation

opdo recently announces the launch of its AI-powered optics co-pilot, which transforms natural-language input into high-performance, fabrication-ready lens systems. The platform pairs AI-driven simulation and optimization with integrated manufacturing to enable engineers to quickly generate advanced, but fully manufacturable, optical systems, from a simple prompt. Engineers can use opdo to define optical intent with natural language, with AI agents taking care of the design, simulation, optimization, and manufacturing preparation. The AI co-pilot integrates design, simulation, catalog components, and real-world production to drive innovation in light-based hardware. opdo was founded by Stephan Kuehr, the founder of manufacturing automation platform 3YOURMIND and former CCO of xolography developer xolo, and Yousef Arzhangnia, a former xolo optics specialist and AI engineer. The platform is launching with volumetric lens fabrication for layerless, ultra-fast 3D printing of freeform optics, but will expand to support other manufacturing technologies, like injection molding and polishing.

“opdo makes optical design as accessible and integrated as electrical or mechanical CAD. We’re bridging design and manufacturing through intelligent agents—so hardware teams can move faster from idea to physical product,” said Kuehr.

Tempus 3D Gets $250K to Prevent Plastic Waste & Promote Recycling

Tempus 3D, a certified HP partner in additive manufacturing, announced that it is receiving $250,000 in funding as part of a project to help prevent plastic waste, promote recycling from 3D printing, and create jobs. The Canadian 3D printing provider offers on-demand and precision 3D printing for prototyping and mass production in industrial production environments. Located in Trail, British Columbia, it prints parts with complex geometries out of both plastic and metal parts, but plastic is the focus of this project, for which it received funds from the provincial CleanBC Plastics Action Fund. Since 2020, B.C. has invested nearly $40 million in plastic waste prevention through this fund, backing 63 projects in fighting plastic waste across the province. This year alone, the B.C. government invested more than $8 million to support 34 more projects, including Tempus 3D’s initiative to prevent plastic waste and recycle PCR from 3D printing into high-quality parts. The fund’s first two phases have already created over 240 direct long-term, full-time jobs, with more to come in phase three.

Steve Morissette, MLA for Kootenay-Monashee, said in a press release, “Tempus 3D is doing some incredibly impressive stuff right here in the Kootenay region.”

Wave-Like 3D Printed Installation Explores Fragility & Strength of Water

The Shaping Water Competition, a partnership between Dezeen and bathroom brands Villeroy & Boch, and Ideal Standard, challenged designers and architects to create an installation celebrating the essence of water for Clerkenwell Design Week, the UK’s leading design festival. Out of the over 200 design entries received that explored the aesthetic and functional qualities of water, 15 were shortlisted, and Mamou-Mani Architects was the ultimate winner with its wave-like, 3D printed Harmonic Tides, which explores what architect Arthur Mamou-Mani says is the “strength and the fluidity and fragility of water.” The installation, created using sugar-based PLA bioplastic, was a “calming” response to the competition brief’s focus on wellbeing. It’s made of two sculptural, rippling walls, animated by ambient sound and pulsing lights to turn the historic stone arches of St John’s Gate in Clerkenwell into a sensory “water corridor.” The modular components of the installation, which was built in London, were repurposed from previous projects in order to minimize material use and reduce waste.

“Just like water, this installation flows – but it also returns. Harmonic Tides is not only a celebration of the strength and fragility of water, but also of circularity: the structure was designed to be disassembled, re-used, and reborn in new forms,” Mamou-Mani said in a LinkedIn post.

“Proud to explore how architecture can echo nature not just in form, but in lifecycle.”

Fan Creates 3D Printed, Working Version of Minecraft Compass

Finally, a fan of the game Minecraft created a real-life, 3D printed version of the compass used in the game, and it actually appears to be functional! In Minecraft, players can explore the game’s huge world as soon as they spawn; this can offer too much freedom at times, as some inexperienced players get lost. But, the game provides several ways for gamers to keep track of their position in the world, including coordinates, maps, and a compass they can craft in the game that points them toward lodestones or world spawn. Recently, Reddit user Intelligent-Cause751 used a 3D printer to create their own real-world version of the Minecraft compass. Not only does it replicate the in-game design of the compass, but it’s also a functional compass. A short video posted to Reddit shows that the red needle on the 3D printed compass actually moves, always pointing in the same direction no matter which way Intelligent-Cause751 holds it.

The Minecraft game remains popular, continuing to get new updates as recently as March of 2025. From creepers to nightlights and everything in between, 3D printing has been used many times over the years to make Minecraft objects. Many zealous fans of the game recently found the 3D printed compass on Reddit and upvoted the post. They were impressed, and wanted to know how its creator was able to get the object to function. But they were ultimately disappointed, as Intelligent-Cause751 did not reveal on Reddit how they created the effect. Redditors shared their theories of how the compass was built, while others begged for the 3D model and parts list. User Baggizine even claimed to have found the Github repository for the 3D printed Minecraft compass. So maybe other fans will soon be able to make their own 3D printed, functioning Minecraft compass.