Meet OLO – a smartphone powered 3D printer

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With OLO users will be able to print 3D objects directly from their smartphones for $99

Seems too good to be a true – a 3D printer that is portable enough to fit into a small bag and uses the light of a smartphone to harden the resin.

OLO, the creation of a multi disciplinary team based in San Francisco, made its debut in New York in October 2015, when it won the World Maker Faire Editor’s Choice Award.

It launched officially onto Kickstarter yesterday and has reached an astonishing $276,226 of an $80,000 goal with 29 days still to go.

Resin hardens by the light of your smartphone

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OLO’s team has spent the past two years perfecting the case, reinventing mechanics and reengineering micro-chips, the final result is a simple and portable product that consists of just seven plastic parts, one chip and one motor.

A new line of materials called Daylight Resins harden under the white light of a smartphone screen, while the case was designed specifically to filter out all harmful external light to maximise the precision of the print, which can reach a reported 42 micron resolution.

Weighing in at just 780 grams and despite its small size (172 x 115 x 148 mm), OLO allows 400 cubic centimetres of printing volume, and can fit almost any phone, including the large iPhone 6S+ and Galaxy A7.

Portable and multi-material, the printer is aimed at all user levels

The end user could be anyone from those who are new to 3D printing to design professionals. Materials include hard, flexible, translucent, coloured, and even castable resins so it could produce prototypes to end-use parts.

OLO’s app works on iOS, Android, and Windows devices. It is compatible with a variety of free 3D software, 3D scanning apps such as Autodesk 123D Catch or any modelling software for that matter.

Take a look at the Kickstarter video below to see how it works.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/olo3d/olo-the-first-ever-smartphone-3d-printer/widget/video.html


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