Printeer 3D Printer is Designed to be Kid Friendly

Among the topics I heard discussed while at RAPID 2014 was a shift in the design paradigm. In place of engineers, a number of companies invested in additive manufacturing (AM) are hiring design professionals with a background in software such as Photoshop rather than Autodesk. This new breed of designer looks for new ways to build objects from the ground up without any preconceptions.

If that sort of design work is going to become the norm moving forward, we may well want to stress education in basic 3D printing principles at an early age. A startup called Mission Street Manufacturing is hoping fill some of that need for education with a new 3D printer and software package intended to appeal to both children and educators.

I’ve previously described some AM systems as a mash-up between a waffle maker and a Tinkertoy set, and this is somewhat the case with Mission Street Manufacturing’s Printeer. The difference is audience. A bright, multi-colored 3D printer designed for children seems perfectly reasonable to me, given the clash of colors you can find in any toy store or on your own child’s bedroom floor.

The Printeer is intended to appeal to children by using a clear shell and different colored parts so they can watch how all the different gears and moving parts work together to produce a print. Unsurprisingly, the system uses a material extrusion process, building objects in 1.75mm PLA plastic, which can also be bought in a variety of bright colors.

A full spec list is missing from the info, but, honestly, knowing it has a build envelope of 6 x 4 x 5 in. (150 x 100 x 125 mm) is really the only pertinent information required for an AM system aimed at primary school children. Seeing how strata forms is really part of the education.

Along with the Printeer, and likely more important, Mission Street Manufacturing has included a simple program to build 3D objects. It runs on an iPad, which allows kids to draw shapes with their fingers, and fills in much of the three dimensional detail by itself. This means kids can figure out what works through trial and error, rather than staring at a monitor filled with technical information.

At the time of writing, the Printeer had already surpassed  its Kickstarter goal with plenty of time still on the clock. While I couldn’t recommend the system for professionals, or even most hobbyists, it seems like a fine 3D printer for primary school education. At $549, it shouldn’t break the bank, either.

Below you’ll find the Kickstarter video for Mission Street Manufacturing.

Source: Kickstarter