XRIZE will enable functional polymer and composite parts in full CMYK colour at the voxel level.
Boston-based 3D printing company, RIZE, has announced the launch of a new full-colour desktop industrial 3D printer, the XRIZE, along with two new materials and software capabilities.
The new machine, which arrives just in time for the Formnext trade show in Frankfurt next week, will enable users to produce functional polymer and composite parts featuring images, text and texture maps in full CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black) colour at the voxel level.
Building on the company’s initial RIZE ONE industrial desktop printer, the machine leverages a patented Augmented Deposition process in which engineering-grade thermoplastic is extruded whilst CMYK inks are simultaneously jetted through industrial print heads (similar to its current marking technology) to deliver up to 810,000 colours. RIZE says users can easily apply colour text, images and texture maps to monochrome part files, even inside the part, and import colour CAD files, using its RIZE ONETOUCH software. Keeping with the simplicity of its predecessor, the XRIZE also adopts the RIZE ONE’s ease of use and minimal post processing thanks to a special RELEASE INK which is jetted between the part and supports to enable the user to quickly peel the supports away.
"The original idea of this machine [RIZE ONE] was to create a full colour platform and we designed it as such, so we left enough expansion within the printer to be able to expand it to a full colour capability," Andy Kalambi, President and CEO of RIZE told TCT. “Colour is very challenging when you take it from 2D to 3D because you need to move the colour across all the three dimensions, you need to place the colour uniformly, you need to put it in places where the supports are. That is not easy. It took us almost two and a half to three years to do that. We also had to retain all of our original value propositions to ensure that it would be fully functional, that it would be something which would have minimal post processing, that we would not use any chemicals to infiltrate or to stabilise the colours."
Users can easily apply colour text, images and texture maps to monochrome part files using RIZE ONETOUCH software.
RIZE says this new full-colour capability offers a range of applications for engineers and product designers including prototypes for FEA and stress analysis, tooling with safety instructions, consumer products, package design, GIS mapping, anatomical models for healthcare and parts for marketing and the entertainment industry.
To accompany its new hardware, RIZE has also introduced two new materials. The first is RIZIUM CARBON, an engineering-grade thermoplastic filament reinforced with carbon fibre which ideal for applications such as functional prototyping for manufacturing. The second is RIZIUM ENDURA, a fibre-reinforced filament providing high-accuracy and high-impact strength for large functional parts and is compatible with RIZE’s full-colour inks.
"We have taken our current printer RIZE ONE and expanded it significantly in terms of materials," Kalambi explained. "These new materials will significantly expand the way RIZE ONE can be used. Our value proposition remains the same in that we want the whole simplicity of usage and at the same time, deliver the carbon strength."
In addition, a new software solution scheduled for launch in 2019, RIZE CONNECT, enables users to remotely manage and monitor their printers from any location to improve production efficiency, particularly when running multiple machines. Using the software, users can also build security into their parts with digital part identification and other forms of part augmentation, such as QR codes, for part traceability, compliance and authenticity.
"We are seeing that increasing trend, so one of our customers has six machines now and is building up a print farm kind of facility," Kalambi added. "Our machine was always capturing a lot of data, now what we are doing with RIZE CONNECT is we are creating a cloud-based capability where we can take that data and help customers get better at using the RIZE ONE and eventually the XRIZE system. They will be able to use it for ensuring that there will be no unplanned downtime."
The XRIZE is scheduled for release next year with an MSRP of 55,000 USD in North America and 55,000 EURO elsewhere. The company is also offering an introductory deal on the system “just to get people kind of on the colour bandwagon”, as Andy explained. Anyone who pre-orders the XRIZE before 14th December will receive a RIZE ONE machine so they can be up and printing before the XRIZE starts shipping.
RIZE will exhibit at Formnext in Frankfurt on 13-16th November on booth 3.1-C28. Register to attend and get tickets for the TCT conference @ Formnext here.
