Hasta La Ideas

Last time we heard from Stefan Reichert, he’d just completed a year at the University of Cincinnati’s DAAP, where he worked on the “E-Motion” electric-assist bicycle. Ever ahead of the curve, he’s pleased to present his thesis project for his Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design at the University of Wuppertal, “the first desktop 3D-printer that actually fits on your desk and in your office.” The XEOS 3D is a fitting Flotspotting feature to end this week of 3D printer news (besides the printers themselves, let’s not forget the two vastly different yet equally brilliant 3D printed objects we’ve seen this week: Teague Labs’ 13:30 headphones and Ben Chapman’s knife sharpener).

Desktop 3D printing is becoming more and more important. With a breakthrough new printing arm XEOS 3D changes the design and size of a desktop 3D printer radically and creates an new archetype. The clean interior and transparent two window design, a 66% smaller enclosure volume compared to the smallest professional FDM 3D printer available and the thoroughgoing easy and intuitive controls—in its software and at the device—elevate XEOS 3D to a whole new category of 3D printers.

Unlike the vast majority of desktop 3D printers currently on the market, the print arm of the XEOS 3D has a single point of attachment, along the (correct me if I’m mistaken) x- and z-axes. The hinge allows for movement along the x/y axis.

Additional features, verbatim from this slide:
– The uplifting door gives easy access to the printed parts and the cartridge bays
– The integrated fisheye camera helps to control the printing process from everywhere
– Over 80% of design firm print jobs fit into the 5”times;5”×5” build envelope
– Two material cartridge bays hold the ABS filament and water-resolvable support

– The LED status bar displays the printjob progress and is easy to see even across the room
– At 19” wide, 17.5” high and 11” deep, its volume is 66% (100 L / 26.5 gal) smaller than the smallest FDM 3D printer with the same build envelope (Stratsys Mojo)
– The Stop/Open button is the only hardware button on the outside to stop and open the door

Hit the jump to see it in action:

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Earlier this year, we saw Tyson Atwell‘s work in Milan, as one of the nine RISD Furniture Design students in “Transformations” at Ventura Lambrate. At a total of 75 lbs—the steel skeleton surrounded by 190 teacup-sized flower pots—the “Terra Lamp” might not be a particularly practical lighting fixture, but that wasn’t the point: the designer elegantly responded to the brief to reimagine the banal.

Upon earning his MFA in May, Atwell set up shop in Los Angeles, which might explain why his latest work reflects a laid back, distinctly West Coast vibe. Constrained only by technology, the “Ocean’s Edge” table is a striking combination of form and materials: the undulating center of the tapered sugar maple tabletop contrasts nicely with the hard lines of the black maple legs.

The ‘Ocean’s Edge’ dining table is part of an ongoing body of work utilizing a CNC router to digitally sculpt oceanic waveforms moving across planar wood surfaces. The undulating surface that rises out of and dips into the center of the table was developed in CAD by ‘lofting’ a sequence of tide curves sourced from the entrance of the San Francisco Bay.

As with Brooke Davis’s “Tablescape No. 1,” the “Ocean’s Edge” table is an uncannily organic application of the digitally-enhanced fabrication process.

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Glancing at Adityaraj Dev’s renderings of motorcycle’s on his Coroflot page is a reminder to the elegance of classic, simple renderings. Educated and practicing as a product designer, Dev boasts his transportation sketching skills through this series. With the abundance of clean and glossy computer renderings its refreshing to see a clean style using “older” techniques.

The level of eye candy is not the same compared to ones we saw of Andrew McMillan’s renderings. However their is a level of appreciation of conveying beauty through simple analog methods.

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Taylor Welden is a Texas-based industrial designer with a lot of experience designing softgoods. Since graduating from SCAD back in ’06, Welden’s racked up a global and ridiculously deep client list including the likes of Tenba, Pelican, Eagle Creek, and too many others to list. He’s also worked on a “classified” project for Icon 4×4 that we’re dying to hear about, but it’s still under wraps.

Besides his deep book, there was something not directly design-related that caught our eye on Welden’s Coroflot page: He cleverly broke out his manufacturing hook-ups and listed that as a separate category, “Factory Sourcing & Liasion Services,” realizing the value of these kinds of connections.

Remember Pat Calello’s nightmare tale of trying to find a factory to work with overseas? Welden’s got enough experience in the biz to help his clients avoid such pitfalls. And in this economy, any edge you can get is a leverageable advantage. Below are some of Welden’s shots and captions.

Factory floor in Quanzhou, China – One of many factories I work with who can provide prototypes and full scale production. I can also source factories in the United States if you prefer to have your products made in the USA.

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Those of us who don’t have the space (or disposable income) to accommodate custom terrariums or a functional hydroponic ‘island’ might be interested in “Auxano,” Philip Houiellebecq’s concept for a more practical home hydroponic system. Like the “Volet Végétal” stowaway garden, the Cardiff-based designer’s planter soaks up the excess sun that freely flows through our windows, photosynthesizing natural light into a friendly bit of greenery in the concrete jungle:

Auxano was designed to enable the ever increasing amount of city dwellers to grow their own produce effectively and efficiently within the space constraints of city living. Auxano is an innovative and practical solution which revolutionaries the current interior hydroponics market, providing very economical vegetable and herb growth rates through maximising exposure to the commonly ignored natural resource in many city flats; sunlight. This has been achieved through the growing units being window mounted. Its innovative oxygenating pump system further enhances its green credentials in that no electricity is needed for the product to operate.

The small self-contained planters are designed as an ultra-low maintenance home hydroponic system, a soil-free source of hyperlocal produce for aspiring urban gardeners. Although I personally enjoy the simple pleasure of handling soil from time to time, the Auxano’s one-touch nutrient mechanism is a clever solution for the constraints of the modern (read: undersized) apartment.

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