Dremel and HP Join Forces with Sprout and Idea Builder 3D Printer Partnership

Not long ago, Hewlett-Packard unveiled an intuitive new computing experience they call Sprout. It’s an impressive computing platform which melds a 3D camera and scanner with an array of software tools and applications all manipulated by using a second touchscreen which sits atop the desk – and below a computer’s main monitor.

Objects can be scanned simply by placing them on the touchscreen, and once complete, the resulting digital files can be manipulated directly on the touchscreen.

Now HP’s Sprout division has announced a partnership with Dremel aimed at creating a full-range 3D printing, scanning, and design system.

The Dremel 3D printer, Idea Builder, retails for around $1,000, and you can buy one at your local Home Depot. Parent company Bosch, a $43 billion global manufacturer of everything from tools to automotive and electronic parts, set their sights on the 3D printing market with the Dremel 3D Idea Builder, and it’s a logical complement to the company’s iconic Dremel rotary tool line for its DIY-friendly usability.

“Dremel 3D will enable people to take 3D printing to new levels, from imaginative projects for the home, to inventive projects that may impact the world,” says John Kavanagh, the president of Dremel. “Makers have been using Dremel tools to make three-dimensional creations with cutting tools for generations. Today, makers are using Dremel tools to fine-tune and fix their 3D printed creations and have been asking us to introduce a 3D printer.”

Featuring a build envelope of a modest 9” x 5.9” x 5.5” and a single extruder, the Idea Builder is operated via a 3.5” full color IPS touch screen and can print in layers to 100 microns from an SD card or via 4GB of internal storage.

HP says the package was an ideal device for collaboration.

“We think consumers wanted the ability to go to a store and buy a single solution, and we thought that Dremel was a great fit,” says head of immersion systems at HP, Eric Monsef. “So now, today, a customer can go to a store and buy an end-to-end solution. Sprout started out as a collection of hardware and software to try to deliver that 2D performance, but it grew into a 3D platform.”

The most recent innovation for the Sprout platform, a new application called Stop Motion, uses the downward-facing camera to allow users to view both a digital image and the physical object itself simultaneously.

“Today, if you can imagine something, you can make it,” Kavanagh says. “Like a rotary tool, 3D printing is really a conduit to something much greater – creative expression and customization. Our job is simple. Get the right tools in the right hands. What people do with them – the unmet needs they identify and solve for every day – that’s the fascinating part.”

Can you see yourself taking advantage of this new collaborative package of hardware and software tools from HP and Dremel? Let us know if you’ve used Sprout or the Dremel Idea Builder 3D Printer in the Sprout and Idea Builder Partnership forum thread on 3DPB.com.