Sculpteo bike CES 2017
To prove the strength of the materials and its technical mastery, Sculpteo has created a fully functional 3D-printed bicycle.
Online 3D printing service, Sculpteo has unveiled the first tool of Business Case, the first tool suite of its Agile Metal Technology.
A conversational artificial intelligence that evaluates the compatibility of a project to metal 3D printing, Sculpteo is hoping to accelerate metal additive manufacturing with its new software programme. Based on seven years of data gathering, the artificial intelligence compiles the benefits and risks of the project, and prescribes the most adapted materials. A flexible and quick learner, the software will enrich the performances as it interacts.
Since metal is currently the material with the most demand in the 3D printing industry, Sculpteo is working to make metal 3D printing a possibility for all companies, regardless of their activity sector. A number of metals, including titan, aluminium and steel, can be used in 3D printing processes and therefore meet a large variety of needs.
Although useful, manufacturers find the materials to be complicated and often inaccessible because of cost and the length of time it takes to process. Contrary to other materials, metal 3D printing is technically challenging as a result of the quantity of settings to calculate. Several attempts are often required before establishing the right set of variables for the finished object to match the preferred design.
Sculpteo’s objective is to democratise metal 3D printing by allowing its clients to produce in a flexible manner, whether at small, medium or large scale, at a faster rate.
“By offering a simple and fast access to 3D printing, we allow for all industries to appropriate this technology for their productions,” said Clement Moreau, Co-Founder of Sculpteo. “With entirely functional products originating from digital manufacturing, the 4th industrial revolution is no longer a question mark, it is already here.”
To prove the strength of the materials and its technical mastery, Sculpteo has created a functional 3D-printed bicycle. The bike combines all Sculpteo’s expertise, as well as that of its interactive platform. These include metal 3D printing, laser cutting and 3D printing in polymeric materials (resin, plastic), as well as the entire execution. The whole process cost less than €5,000.
Composed of 70% parts manufactured on the Sculpteo platform, it will be on display at Booth #42527 CES 2017 until Sunday 8th January. In addition to its appearance at the CES 3D Printing Marketplace sponsored by TCT, the two designers of the project, Alexandre Orsetti and Piotr Widelka, will travel 800km on the bike. Riding from Las Vegas to San Francisco, the pair will set off on Monday January 9th.
The project was launched on November 9th 2016, and for two months, the bike evolved through six iterations. It was conceived in a modular form to allow an update and optimisation depending on the tests that the journey will involve.
