Makerbot Industries, LLC

Stratasys, Inc.

Nathaniel B Pettis

Anthony James Buser

Ariel Douglas

Adam G Mayer

Charles E Pax

Joseph Neal

Hugo Boyer

Jonah Gold

Bryan Vaccaro

Jennifer J Lawton

Justin Day

Zach Smith

John Michael Briscella

Peter Joseph Schmehl

Robert J Steiner

Robert M McGuire

Three-dimensional fabrication resources are improved by adding networking capabilities to three-dimensional printers and providing a variety of tools for networked use of three-dimensional printers. Web-based servers or the like can provide a single point of access for remote users to manage access to distributed content on one hand, and to manage use of distributed fabrication resources on the other.

Networked three-dimensional printing

A three-dimensional printer uses transitional lengths of build material to facilitate changes from one color to another during a fabrication process, and more generally to achieve multi-color objects corresponding to color patterns on the surface of a three-dimensional model. The transitional lengths of build material may be positioned inside a fabricated object, such as for infill, or outside the fabricated object where undesirable aesthetic properties of the transitional lengths will not impact the desired distribution of colors on the surface of the fabricated object.

Build material switching

A variety of techniques are disclosed for visual and functional augmentation of a three-dimensional printer.

Augmented three-dimensional printing

An article of manufacture formed by a three-dimensional printing process that uses multiple build materials with different optical properties (e.g., color, opacity, and the like) at different surface depths to achieve grayscale-rendered images on exterior surfaces thereof.

Grayscale rendering in 3D printing

A server is configured to store a number of different models of an object in machine-ready form corresponding to a number of different three-dimensional printers having differing capabilities and/or hardware configurations. When a user at a client device or a printer requests the object, the server automatically determines a printer type and selects a suitable, corresponding machine-ready model for immediate fabrication by the printer.

Downloadable three-dimensional models

Networked three-dimensional printing system with a drag-and-drop interface for queue management

An additive three-dimensional fabrication process uses multiple build materials with different optical properties (e.g., color, opacity) at different surface depths to achieve grayscale-rendered images on exterior surfaces thereof.

An additive three-dimensional fabrication system includes voice control for user interaction. This voice-controlled interface can enable a variety of voice-controlled functions and operations, while supporting interactions specific to consumer-oriented fabrication processes.

Voice-controlled three-dimensional fabrication

A three-dimensional printer includes a laser line scanner and hardware to rotate the scanner relative to an object on a build platform. In this configuration, three-dimensional surface data can be obtained from the object, e.g., for use as an input to subsequent processing steps such as the generation of tool instructions to fabricate a three-dimensional copy of the object, or various surfaces thereof.

Printer with laser scanner and tool-mounted camera

A server is configured to store a library of printable content and to select an item from the library in response to a user request. Instead of the user specifying a particular item, the server can automatically select from a number of different items. The server may automatically determine a printer type for the user and select a suitable, corresponding model for immediate fabrication by the printer.

Automated model selection

A variety of techniques are disclosed for incorporating displays into three-dimensional printers.

Displays for three-dimensional printers

A photo booth is configured with a three-dimensional scanner, a display with a user interface coupled to the photo booth, a network interface configured to couple the photo booth in a communicating relationship with a remote processing resource, and processing circuitry. The processing circuitry may be configured to associate a user identifier and a user with a subject, capture a scan of the subject in the photo booth with the three-dimensional scanner, process the scan to obtain a three-dimensional model of the subject, receive a user customization of the three-dimensional model in the user interface, the user customization resulting in a modification of the three-dimensional model, create a fabrication-ready digital model of the three-dimensional model including the modification, and store the fabrication-ready digital model.

Growing community of inventors

Brooklyn, NY, United States of America

Nathaniel B Pettis