“Big Dave and his little brother make parts in days that would otherwise take weeks or even months to prototype or manufacture conventionally. With cost savings of over £40k achieved in the last year alone, our Robox 3D printers have become an integral part of our business and we’re pleased to call CEL our partners.”
BIL Group Ltd
King Edward VI Community College
Tour De Force
Motorsport power test, calibration and development services
www.tour-de-force.co.uk
Design Engineer Matt Scott uses Autodesk Fusion 360 to design parts and Robox 3D printers to make them. He’s looking forward to using RoboxPRO to manufacture larger, structural components.
CEL is the manufacturer of a range of low-cost power tools and the hugely successful POWER8 Workshop, an award-winning cordless benchtop power tool innovation originally featured on the BBC’s Dragons’ Den. As a manufacturer, we did all the CAD work but, like most, would outsource the manufacturing of the prototypes to 3D printing service bureaus or contract manufacturers.
After growing increasingly frustrated with the high costs and delays experienced with outsourcing, we made the decision to bring prototype manufacturing in-house by developing our own 3D printer with help from open-source RepRap designs from the University of Bath. We developed and added new technologies and features to work with these designs, sourced the highest quality components, and, after many design iterations, we decided to bring the 3D printer we developed to market as a new product itself: Robox.
As a small, resource-limited manufacturer, we certainly didn’t want to develop a 3D printer that was time-consuming to start, operate or maintain. To us, a 3D printer isn’t a gadget, novelty or toy; it is a manufacturing tool whose sole purpose is to bring virtual designs into physical reality. Since deciding to bring the 3D printer we initially developed for ourselves to market, we’ve spent a great deal of time and effort streamlining the software workflow and developing automatic hardware calibrations in our efforts to make the 3D printing process as simple and fast as possible (Robox 3D printers have won several awards for their user-friendliness).
We’ve benefited hugely from taking the decision to bring both the design and manufacture of our prototypes in-house. 3D printing technology has dramatically reduced our costs while improving our rate of innovation and, ultimately, the quality of our products. With Robox, we wanted to show other manufacturers that they too can take full control of prototyping and reap these same benefits.
Beyond business, we have a stake in British education as a British manufacturer. We can use the Robox brand to help the next generation become world leaders in design and manufacturing, by empowering young people to think creatively and not be afraid to make mistakes through the iterative design process. Anticipating Robox being used in education, we included an interlocking mechanism in the door as a safety feature in the original Robox model. Astonishingly, Robox 3D printers are still the only desktop 3D printers that include this critical safety feature.
We use Robox 3D printers in our work with the James Dyson Foundation and partner schools around the country to help improve learning outcomes in STEM. We want to do what we can to play our part in helping Britain grow as a world-leading source of innovation and inspiration for young people.
Since launching the original Robox model, we released an upgraded dual extrusion version, RoboxDual, in early 2017. RoboxDual can print with two colours or materials at the same time while still running on the same award-winning hardware and software platforms. We’re now excited to be launching a new, ground-breaking 3D printer, RoboxPRO, at Bett that offers considerably more advanced capabilities. We look forward to showcasing RoboxPRO and the other 3D printers in the Robox family at Bett 2018 and invite visitors to come to stand B470 to learn more. The show takes place in ExCeL London between 24-27 January and is free to attend. Visit our exhibitor page to find out more:
We’re taking pre-orders now for units from our first production batch, so get in touch if you’d like to be among the first to get your hands on this new Robox 3D printer.
“I selected Robox 3D printers to go into all our Primary schools after extensive research. The locking door ensures that the printing area is a safe environment and hands cannot make contact with hot components, the ease of printing and easy removal of the printed models are very user friendly.”
Martyn Hendry
STEM Coordinator
East Ayrshire Council
Coinciding with the glowing RoboxDual review (click here to read) published recently by All3DP, RoboxDual is fast becoming the leading dual extrusion 3D printer in schools, colleges and universities.
Whether it’s in a leading university like Imperial College London, where they’re using more Robox and RoboxDual 3D printers in their new 3D printing lab than any other model including MakerBot, LulzBot, BCN or Ultimaker, or the scores of primary schools in Scotland where Robox is the 3D printer of choice in a number of council-wide digital learning schemes, the award-winning Robox platform is offering new opportunities to enhance STEM learning as the safest and easiest to use 3D printer for all stages of education.
For a start, RoboxDual represents incredibly good value for money at £1,499 when compared to its closest competitors, Ultimaker 3 and BCN Sigma, which retail for £3,354 and £2,263 respectively. Indeed, many in the industry have commented on the poor value for money Ultimaker 3 represents, especially when you consider the fact that dual extruder prints on Ultimaker’s most advanced 3D printer now take double, triple or even quadruple the time to complete (I’m not exaggerating - read a review here). Ultimaker 3 is almost twice the price of its predecessor but it’s clear from the reviews it’s received since launching that it’s far from twice the value. Reviewers also point to the Ultimaker design starting to look quite dated now.
How much longer do dual extruder prints take to complete on RoboxDual? Well, this is where our patented needle valve flow control technology comes into its own. Single and dual extruder print times are virtually identical on RoboxDual thanks to these needle valves (click here for more info on this critical tech). I’d highly recommend you compare the elegant nozzle changing mechanism of RoboxDual with the clunky and time-wasting mechanism adopted by Ultimaker to get an idea of how valuable these needle valves are. You can watch a great video of RoboxDual in action on our last Kickstarter page.
It’s also worth mentioning that Ultimaker 3 does not support a 0.8 mm nozzle whereas RoboxDual is compatible with the Robox QuickFill head, which includes both a 0.8 mm and 0.3 mm nozzle. In fact, RoboxDual comes with the dual material head (2 x 0.4 mm nozzles) and QuickFill single material head as standard in the box.
In terms of speed, aesthetics and certainly value for money, RoboxDual wins hands down, every time.
Take a look at the new Robox Education page on our website where you can read reviews and testimonials, download literature and watch a great new video we’ve put together:
© 2019 Robox®. All rights reserved.
