We’re starting with business in today’s 3D Printing News Briefs, as RadTech announced new board members and Ziggzagg is investing in AM-Flow’s workflow automation technology. Cults3D was recently in hot water on reddit because of payment and personal information reasons. Moving on, OPEN MIND introduced its latest hyperMILL 2022.1 CAD/CAM software suite, and a Belfast company used the Ultimaker S5 to create sustainable lighting solutions for the city’s allies. Finally, the autonomous Olli 2.0 shuttle features some additional 3D printed parts by CRP Technology.

RadTech Elects New Board Member, Re-elects Two More

RadTech—The Association for UV+EB Technologies is the nonprofit trade association dedicated to the advancement of ultraviolet and electron beam (UV+EB) technologies, focused on safe and environmentally proactive use of cured materials and also serving as an international forum for organizations and individuals involved in the use of UV+EB. The organization recently announced that it had elected David Walker, the President, CTO, and Co-Founder of Azul 3D, Inc., as a new Board member.

Additionally, Karl Swanson, the President of PCT Ebeam and Integration, and Evan Benbow, Vice-President, Research & Development, for the Nazdar Company, were elected to second two-year Board terms. RadTech also announced that Todd Fayne of PepsiCo has rotated off the Board after reaching term limits. However, he will continue to serve as co-chair of the RadTech Sustainability Committee.

Ziggzagg Invests in AM-Flow’s Workflow Automation

Belgian 3D printing service provider Ziggzagg has invested in AM-Flow‘s end-to-end-workflow automation technology to lay the groundwork for its digital Industry 4.0 Smart AM Factory in Aalter. Ziggzagg will start with AM-VISION, which is an AI-optimized automatic identification robot for recognition of 3D printed parts, and AM-SORT, which is automatic, accurate, robotic sorting of parts. AM-Flow is a specialist in digitizing workflows for the AM industry, and by using its technology and AI software, Ziggzagg will able to realize a totally automated Smart AM Factory, able to deliver digital production at lower costs. The two will also partner in developing controlled factory automation processes, including routing, tracking and tracing, bin-picking, and packaging of 3D printed parts.

“Ziggzagg shows that Additive Manufacturing offers a serious alternative to traditional mass-production methods,” said Stefan Rink, the CEO of AM-Flow. “To be able to further scale up this production at lower costs, the entire digital workflow must be optimally set up and repetitive, manual processes must be kept to a minimum. With our AM-Flow technology, we can offer them this end-to-end industrialization.”

Cults3D Trounced on reddit Over Designer Payment, Doxing

3D model repository and marketplace Cults3D recently found itself in hot water on reddit after revealing the personal email address of one of its designers, BigBore, who says that Cults3D owed them money and wasn’t paying up. According to the designer, when the requested payout never came and emails to Cults3D went unanswered, BigBore reached out via reddit, Facebook, and Twitter, which is where things really went off the rails. BigBore was blocked on Twitter and accused of not accepting “the rules set by the terms and conditions of the platform…” because they supposedly didn’t answer customer questions about their work or respond to Cults3D emails. Except BigBore says they never received any emails from the marketplace, so clearly there was a glitch in communication somewhere.

What was really bad was that Cults3D, in publicly responding to the “smear campaign on social networks” it said BigBore had begun, posted a screenshot in a subreddit of its reply to BigBore, which contained the designer’s email address. This act of publicly revealing private personal information about an individual or organization is known as doxing, and is a super uncool and very harmful thing to do. Cults3D has since issued a public apology to BigBore for revealing the email address without the designer’s consent, and has also paid a portion of the money BigBore says is owed. The marketplace also apologized for jumping to conclusions about BigBore being a liar and a thief. It doesn’t seem like everything has been totally resolved yet, but BigBore and Cults3D do seem to agree that a breakdown in communication was responsible for a lot of this mess.

OPEN MIND Adds New Functionality in hyperMILL CAD/CAM Suite

Germany-based OPEN MIND Technologies AG, which develops CAD/CAM software solutions for machine and controller-independent programming, introduced its newest hyperMILL 2022.1 CAD/CAM software suite, which has new capabilities, powerful functionality, and improved features and enhancements for AM, toolpath optimization, EDM, tool management, virtual machining, and more. The updated suite now has a new VIRTUAL Machining capability for 3D printing processes, which can have limited axis ranges, and this capability makes it possible to use the hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining Optimizer during NC code generation to simulate additive tool paths in order to optimize them for machining. Other features include improved linking logic in hyperMILL VIRTUAL Machining Optimizer for 5- axis table-table machines, enhanced five-axis radial machining strategy for blow molds, extensions to the hyperMILL MILL-TURN capability, and more.

“Continually improving programming efficiency and providing ways to save preferred routines is critical for enriching and streamlining the operator experience. The latest features and enhancements in hyperMILL ® give users increased convenience and faster programming tools,” said Alan Levine, Managing Director of OPEN MIND Technologies USA, Inc.

3D Printed Sustainable Lighting in Historic Belfast Entries

In 2020, Urban Scale Interventions (USI), a team of researchers, architects, designers, technologists, and makers that supports public and private organizations, won a contract to rethink several entries (connecting alleyways) in Belfast; the city didn’t have a central lighting vision, and as such the street lighting is a little haphazard and irregular. The Belfast City Council decided to fix the issue, and USI worked with the council to co-design a vision for lighting the city with sustainable, immersive lighting and ambient soundscape interventions in the form of 43 suspended 3D printed ‘ocean orbs’ to light the entries. The design was influenced by the Whites Tavern’s history as an oyster market, as the tavern’s entry was one of several chosen to display the new lights.

USI 3D printed the orbs on the Ultimaker S5 system out of translucent, recycled PETG filament by Filamentive as a commentary on the benefits of sustainable materials; Filamentive’s materials come on 100% recyclable cardboard spools in order to reduce waste. The team enjoyed the design flexibility, and lower cost, that 3D printing offered in creating bespoke components and prototypes, as well as the material efficiency that results from the Ultimaker Material Alliance. The square outside the Whites Tavern used to be fairly blank, but with the addition of the 3D printed Ocean Orb lights, it’s a much more welcoming atmosphere and, according to Ultimaker’s case study on this project, more ‘instagrammable’ as well.

Olli 2.0 Shuttle Features 3D Printed Parts from CRP Technology

Finally, Local Motors is looking to obtain individual approval in Europe for its Olli 2.0 autonomous electric shuttle, and as such needed to add some additional 3D printed parts, including windshield wipers, which weren’t required in the US market. Local Motors decided to use retrofitting to add the wipers, but due to Olli 2.0’s unique shape, the wipers had to be positioned from the below side of the front window. So the team also had to design a new front bumper that used brackets for the wipers, as well as develop covers to conceal the motor protruding from the modified bumper and protect the washer reservoir’s pressure system. Local Motors then partnered with CRP Technology to print the motor cover and the wiper system’s washer reservoir flap valve, and the Italian firm used PBF and fiber-reinforced composites from its Windform Top-Line range, specifically the polyamide-based carbon fiber Windform XT 2.0 and polyamide-based glass fiber Windform LX 3.0.

“We wanted to collaborate with a European firm. Therefore we contacted CRP Technology, a company I have known for a long time and with which I have collaborated on relevant projects,” said Carlo Iacovini, general manager EMA for Local Motors. “Relying on CRP was the winning choice: The uniqueness of Windform materials in terms of quality and strength allow achieving optimal results in a short time [possible].”