Neighborhood skies are becoming just a bit more traveled than before, serving as contemporary traffic ways for DIY drones, many 3D printed, of all shapes, sizes, and levels of complexity. While many land safely, just as many have brushes with rooftops or treetops, or experience the total crash and burn landings. With the ease involved in digital design and 3D printing, going back to the drawing board is not as excruciating as it was crafting models traditionally.
DJI Phantom 3
Hoping for safe passages though, and hours of fun both in the sky and traveling back to land, hobbyists who enjoy 3D printing their own drones can also look forward to decking them out with the most unique accessories—after all, like any private vehicle, you want it flying and hovering in style.
With digital design and 3D printing, an enormous amount of latitude is provided in designing different options for your drone. 3D printing services like Shapeways are able to offer a long list of options for their customers.
Since 2013, they’ve been helping hobbyists rock and roll with their drones, and they have now announced a partnership with DJI, a company dedicated to hobby drones, and also a strong supporter of the maker community, encouraging them to use any outlet for adding flair to their unmanned aircraft. Also on board is one Adam Savage, host of famed TV show Mythbusters.
“I’ve been making and ‘modding’ my toys forever, and DJI drones are my latest obsession. Nothing makes a gadget even more useful (and exciting) than being able to customize and modify it to better fit how we use it,” Savage said. “As a longtime Shapeways customer, I’m excited to work with DJI and Shapeways to 3D print my own accessories, and see what else the 3D printing community comes up with to make DJI products even more useful than they already are.”
Whether they are using their own designs, farming them out to Shapeways, or employing DJI’s recently released Software Development Kit (SDK), DJI is all about full support for the 3D printing drone hobbyist community which is focused on innovation, and ultimately–fun.
Using the advanced technology of 3D printing to produce further advanced high-tech hobby equipment, hobbyists are able to immerse themselves even further in the drone lifestyle. Digital design offers a truly infinite amount of creativity in accentuating and accessorizing drones, and DJI offers their customer base both support and inspiration for decking out the aircraft.
“We reached out to DJI to let them know about this amazing community that was developing,” said Shapeways. “To our delight, they were thrilled to see these amazing products being brought to life and asked if they could curate a list of their favorite 3D printed accessories.”
Curated on Shapeways – DJI Phantom Vision 2 + Lens Hood ‘Slim’
The list of items curated by DJI on Shapeways shows some amazing design capability, from the DJI Phantom Foldable Landing Gear to the DJI Phantom Vision 2 + Lens Hood. To see more of the curated 3D printed accessories, click here.
“Designers have been using Shapeways’ service to create accessories for drone products for years, and it’s exciting for us to have DJI recognize the work and creativity of our community,” said Peter Weijmarshausen, CEO and Co-Founder of Shapeways. “Our mission is to make 3D printing accessible for everyone, and with the support of DJI we are excited to see what products the community comes up with while continuing to push the boundaries of 3D printing.”
The two companies are a perfect partnership as they are able to overlook greed and market share to see the overall picture—the happy customer immersed and fulfilled in their hobby. No matter which route they use to get to that level, both Shapeways and DJI offer support for them to reach their vision, or improve on what they already have. The partnership, working with drone hobbyists, is truly an extension of the open-source concept and community.
Do you own a drone, 3D printed or otherwise? Have you ordered any 3D printed accessories for it? Discuss in the 3D Printed Accessories forum thread over at 3DPB.com.
DJI Phantom Foldable Landing Gear
