Page 19 – BigRep Industrial 3D Printers

Introducing BLADE: BigRep’s Specialized Large-Format Slicing Software

January 13, 2020November 15, 2019

Scaling additive manufacturing to large-format sizes means more than just a big 3D printer.

Industrial applications require parts that can be trusted and repeatable print results. Every aspect of the printing process must be taken into consideration and redesigned to ensure part integrity and that printer hardware can handle extruding large amounts of often abrasive filament with extreme uptimes.

BigRep has already created the largest serial-produced 3D printers in the world, constantly expanding its offerings for the growing demands of industrial users. Now, BigRep is proud to introduce BLADE – a specialized large-format slicing program – to support today’s additive innovations in industrial additive manufacturing at every level.

Get BLADE now for a rapid, hassle-free start to industrial 3D printing.

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Designed for Large-Format

BigRep has reinvented large-format additive systems, building 3D printers with the hardware necessary to achieve quality parts printed in large scale. But until now, the slicing software available for additive manufacturing hasn’t been ideal for large-format applications. To tackle this problem BigRep has created BLADE, free slicing software for large-format, built on the exceptional and familiar Cura, that caters to the needs of industrial users.

Frequently Updated Material Presets

By optimizing for large-format parts and integrating presets for all BigRep-compatible materials, BLADE streamlines the industrial printing process to save users’ time and ensure successful, quality prints. BigRep’s catalogue of specialized engineering-grade material is continuously growing, and BLADE will always stay up to date with material properties to ensure the best possible results for 3D printed parts.

Accurate Print Time and Material Use Predictions

Because of its detailed material presets, BLADE’s estimation engine can provide superior predictions for both print times and material usage, ensuring that users can maximize printer uptime and accurately anticipate raw material needs.

Adjustable User Interface Modes

BLADE’s user-friendly interface makes for a simplified printing experience. Depending on the complexity of a part, or simply user experience, the use of complex slicer features will naturally change. That’s why BLADE’s UI features both a basic mode, to familiarize new users with the slicer or streamline simple projects, and expert mode, to enable precision controls by easily giving power-users access to the software’s more detailed processes.

Automated Batch Production Planning

Large-format is made for scalable production, including the ability to quickly manufacture small batches of parts for a variety of uses. We believe the importance of quickly and easily organizing batches can’t be understated, so BLADE includes an automated batch production planning to duplicate and place parts throughout the print bed.

With BLADE, BigRep now provides a holistic solution for industrial 3D printing. Offering design software, materials, and advanced additive systems to ensure businesses’ production capabilities are performing with peak efficiency at every level with a controlled eco system. Built on industry-standard software with key features and optimizations, BLADE will change the way users create by introducing a rapid, hassle-free start to printing.

About BigRep
BigRep develops the world’s largest serial production 3D printers, creating the industry benchmark for large-scale printing with the aim to reshape manufacturing. Its award-winning, German-engineered machines are establishing new standards in speed, reliability and efficiency. BigRep’s printers are the preferred choice of engineers, designers and manufacturers at leading companies in the industrial, automotive and aerospace sectors. Through collaborations with its strategic partners – including Bosch Rexroth, Etihad Airways and Deutsche Bahn – and key investors – including BASF, Koehler, Klöckner and Körber – BigRep continues to develop complete solutions for integrated additive manufacturing systems, as well as a wide range of printing materials on an open-choice source. Founded in 2014, BigRep is headquartered in Berlin with offices in Boston and Singapore. Leading the way in one of the world’s key technologies, our multinational engineering teams are highly trained, interdisciplinary and customer-focused.

For additional information, please contact:
To arrange an interview with BigRep’s executive management or NOWLAB team, and for more information on BigRep and its solutions, please contact:
Jürgen Scheunemann
PR & Communications BigRep GmbH
T: +49 30 9487 1430
E: [email protected]

2.0.0

January 20, 2020November 15, 2019

First official release. Leaving the Beta phase
Stability optimizations for prime towers
Changed internal paths to resolve Ultmikare Cura interferences
2mm Power Extruder Profile: TPU (various fixes)
Revised EULA and license agreements
BigRep Pro: Update to Firmware v1.5.
This is breaking change. BigRep Pros with older firmware versions are not supported any more.
Installer: Changed installation directory to "Program Files"
Removed "Marketplace" menu entry
Added BigRep BVOH to ACE as support material
Added BigRep PLX to ONE Power Extruder 1mm and STUDIO G2

Global Additive Applications Summit (GAAS) 2019

November 13, 2019November 8, 2019

The 2019 Global Additive Applications Summit, held in Berlin and organized by RedCabin Events, was the first of a new interactive additive conference with a unique focus on applications and adoption. This first holding of the annual event featured a variety of industry leaders with impressive new additive applications – both conceptual and immediately adoptable.

“RedCabin did an amazing job organizing the event. Their unique, highly interactive conference style focused on networking and hands-on workshops was much more impactful than traditionally organized conferences,” BigRep’s CIO, Daniel Büning lauded. “In a way, their agenda mirrored the additive advancements that were presented, which promise so be so much more impactful if they can break away from simply filling in for traditional workflows.”

Presentations addressed recent advancements in additive technology that have helped to realize previously developed concepts and presented brand-new contemporary applications that will continue additive’s upward trend of industrial adoption. Overall speakers confirmed that there is increasingly incredible, immediately applicable, value from additive technology left unapplied by many would-be industrial users.

Siemens’ Ulli Klenk discussed additive’s growing roll in the energy sector, specifically in the form of gas turbines. Siemens has managed to design a gas turbine for power generation that is fully 3D printable using metal additive systems. A now proven end-use application in a highly demanding industrial process, the use case is demonstrative of the incredible adaptability of additive technology. The application also takes advantage of additive’s ability to leverage local manufacturing for cost savings; by enabling in-house part production on demand, Siemens eliminates the need for spare part storage.

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From Ottobock, Thomas Stitz presented functional 3D printed orthotics. With exoskeleton designs, Ottobock has developed personal mobility orthotics that successfully enable disabled persons to walk. Additive manufacturing is an integral part of the process, leveraging body scanning and 3D printing to create the orthotics with perfect fit – an integral quality for long-term orthotics.

Representing Deutsche Bahn, Stefanie Brickwede, Managing Director of Mobility Goes Additive, discussed the use of additively manufactured end-use spare parts in Deutsche Bahn trains. The application here has seen massive savings in storage and the acquisition of parts that are no longer manufactured in traditional processes. To bring this application to the next level, Brickwede discussed ongoing development efforts of flame-retardant polymer materials that would enable Deutsche Bahn and other public transportation companies to meet the legal standards required to affordably print spare parts that come into passenger contact.

Developing technology to test the feasibility of all these applications is Dr. Sven Lammers, head of Dassault Systems’ 3DEXPERIENCE Center in Hamburg, and Jörg Schnorr, Senior Project Manager of Automotive 3D Printing for BASF. The technology demonstrated by Dr. Lammers is an advanced additive simulation software designed to improve print validation, the generative design process, and end-use part integrity in their given applications. BASF and Shnorr’s similar technology focuses specifically on the simulation and validation of parts in an automotive context.

“We learned a lot about what it will still take to meet the challenge of serial industrial production in large quantity with additive technology,” said Martin Back, BigRep’s Managing Director. He added that “change management” endeavors aimed at seeing additive technology taught and adopted for radical innovation instead of gradual adoption – that only mimics traditional applications and workflows – is necessary for 3D printing technology to reach its true potential and increase its rate of adoption. “Copying non additive parts and printing them with AM doesn’t make sense,” Back said. “We need redesign for additive manufacturing, and conferences like GAAS are vital to guide industrial users in that change.”

1.6.0

November 15, 2019October 22, 2019

Batch Printing Plugin/Mixed Mode
Please try out: Menu->Extensions -> “Batch Printing”
2mm Power Extruder Profile: PLA/Pro HT/PETG (various fixes)
Auto orientation:
Blade update notifications
BigRep PRO: Renamed PowerExtruder to ACE
This is a breaking change and old files may not work anymore!
BigRep PRO: Gcode preview
Minor UI changes/ Adjusted basic mode and introduced expert mode

The GENESIS Eco Screen – How BigRep is making cities greener with 3D printed urban ecosystems

April 29, 2024September 25, 2019

BigRep’s latest innovation is tackling some of the world’s biggest environmental challenges. Plastic recycling, wasted water, and rapidly deteriorating biodiversity in urban settings are being fought with a groundbreaking prototype in urban architecture: the GENESIS Eco Screen.

The GENESIS, a fully 3D printed urban biodiversity habitat, was designed by Lindsay Lawson, an Applications Specialist at NOWLAB, BigRep’s innovation consultancy. The GENESIS Eco Screen takes advantage of solar radiation analysis for agent-based modeling and parametric design to create a computer-generated final product with unique characteristics specific to its environment. The design process ensures that each GENESIS iteration has ideal placement for its plants, insect habitats, and embedded channels for water flow and drainage for the setting it will be installed in.

Measuring an impressive 4 by 4 meters, the GENESIS Eco Screen is printed with BigRep PETG filament and BASF Innofil3D rPET made of 100% recycled PET on four large-format BigRep ONE printers. It is installed in Berlin, Germany at Invalidenstraße 86 where Germany’s Federal Center of Excellence for the Cultural and Creative Industries (Kompetenzzentrum Kultur- und Kreativwirtschaft) hosted Fiction Forum on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy.

Created to demonstrate the environmental opportunities presented by additive manufacturing technology, the GENESIS highlights circular economy solutions to abundant plastic waste. Aimed at minimizing waste by closing the gap between resource input, waste, emissions and energy usage, circular economy is an important concept to reduce raw material consumption and divert useful materials from landfills. At Fiction Forum, where the GENESIS was printed live throughout August in Thaersaal, the active BigRep ONE printers were displayed with a Dual Axel Shredder, designed by Raw Paradise, to underscore the 100% recycled rPET filament being used and the potential for additive projects made using common PET waste.

Daniel Büning, a fellow of the Kompetenzzentrum and NOWLAB’s Managing Director, lauded the innovation saying, “disruptive technologies such as 3D printing are key to solving some of the world’s biggest problems. The GENESIS Eco Screen shows how society can develop a greener future – with circular economy solutions that are sustainable, local, modular and collaborative.”

Find out about the incredible large-format filaments
that make NOWLAB's innovations possible.

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The GENESIS ECO SCREEN at a glance:
Dimensions: 4000 x 4000 x 300 mm, made of 16 segments
Materials: BigRep PETG and Innofil3D recycled rPET
Team: Daniel Büning, BigRep CIO and NOWLAB Co-Founder
Project Lead: Lindsay Lawson

Find out more about the BigRep ONE

Why Neofab is bringing BigRep to France

September 2, 2022September 20, 2019

Neofab le partenaire de BigRep en France

Neofab, BigRep’s reseller in France, is part of Hava3D group – the national leader in the distribution and commercialization of additive manufacturing solutions. Specializing in industrial additive solutions like BigRep’s large-format 3D pritners, Neofab are experts in a variety of industrial printing technologies including high temperature and metal.

We asked Neofab’s Guillaume Coudreuse to answer a few questions about why they’re excited to offer BigRep’s industrial additive manufacturing solutions in France, and which industrial applications they find ripe for large-format additive manufacturing.

1. What value has large-format brought your prospects?

Large format brings a lot of value to our prospects. Some of them need to print large parts for a variety of projects, so having the option to print many parts at once saves a lot of production time while also eliminating the restrictions on parts dimensions that smaller printers have.

The interesting part is that even if our prospect doesn’t need to print large parts, they can benefit from the dimension. Thanks to the build size of BigRep printers they can print multiple parts in the same job and reach a higher level of productivity.

2. What applications and industries do you see benefiting the most from additive?

At first, we saw a lot of applications for the design industry, then prospects from other industries saw the potential for printing large parts. Now we see interest from automotive, education, research, aerospace, and more.

3. What are some of the questions or myths that you address the most?

Right now we have a lot of questions about the upcoming BigRep PRO. Prospects are really intrigued about the MXT® extruders and want to see them print. The technology looks really promising and has the potential to revolutionize 3D printing. We have a lot of questions about the PRO’s print speed and the new slicer, Blade.

4. Where do you see the biggest growth opportunities?

For me, the biggest growth opportunities I see is about developing new materials. Large-format allows us to print for a lot of new applications, but the temperature can be difficult to control. With the BigRep PRO’s new enclosed print envelope, temperature control will be more precise, so our prospects will be able to print with new engineering-grade materials.

5. Why BigRep?

BigRep allowed us to reach new industries and develop new applications for our prospects. Having this large format technology is important for us and for our contacts. Last year BigRep was one of our top selling printers, and all of our customers are really happy with the printers.

We plan to film testimonials in our customers’ offices to showcase how they’re using the printers. Follow Neofab to find out more about BigRep’s printers in France!

GAAS, A Hands-On Additive Conference for Industrial Applications

September 5, 2019

As a leader in industrial additive manufacturing solutions, BigRep is invested in growing processes, materials and applications and their effective implementation to push modern manufacturing forward. That’s why we’ve partnered with RedCabin Events to host a unique meeting of additive manufacturing experts.

On October 30th and 31st the new, exclusive Global Additive Applications Summit (GAAS) will run. A gathering of selected executives and innovative thought leaders over 2 days of detailed workshops and panels in an intimate Berlin location.

We decided to work with RedCabin because of the unique, exclusive, hands-on style of event they organize. We believe that in a field as functional as additive manufacturing, attendees should be bringing home more than thought leadership – they should take away new techniques and workflows to change the way they work with additive technology.

During this two-day Global Additive Application Summit, keynotes will be given from experts in the automotive, railway and aviation industries such as Ford, Bombardier and Airbus explaining their advanced applications and techniques for additive technology. Attendees will have a one-of-a-kind experience as the conference is blended with hands-on workshops guided by thought leaders for unmatched learnings.

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The event’s keynotes and panel discussions will be followed with attendees organized into small participatory groups for rotating workshops, formulated to gain deep insights into additive processes and experience a user perspective. With networking events spread throughout the two-day conference, attendees can be sure they’ll leave the event with enhanced knowledge and meaningful industry connections.

As an incredibly dynamic field that has dramatically evolved in recent years, additive manufacturing has enabled the fast, inexpensive prototyping for highly cost-efficient product development to inexpensively test enable the production of high-strength, light-weight components with geometries that were not previously achievable. Today, additive technology is evolving again from a prototyping focus to the production of end-use parts and will continue to grow into an accessible serial production technology.

Visit www.global-additive.com now to view the event’s agenda and reserve your spot.

1.5.0

December 1, 2020August 8, 2019

Fixed: Print with second extruder only
Fixed: Deal with non-ASCII characters on ONE/STUDIO
Compatible with new BigRep Pro firmware
Adjustable flowrate
Updated: Dual Extrusion: Prime tower
Added: Export Machine and Extruder settings to gcode
Added: Tandem mode for ONE
Post Processing: Speed improvements
Optimized various settings

Personalized Fingerprint Stool, Custom Manufacturing with BigRep

August 2, 2021July 12, 2019

Additive manufacturing has offered ungated access to affordable manufacturing solutions and unprecedented reductions in the cost of low-volume high-mix manufacturing. Because of these combined possibilities, a wealth of personalized products have become available to the market from all sizes of businesses.

The affordability of large-format additive technology has even changed the way professionals are introduced to manufacturing processes, which now often begins during post-secondary education with in-house industrial 3D printers. Universities everywhere are integrating additive into their curriculums in a variety of disciplines that allow students to have hands-on experience with manufacturing technology before entering the workforce.

After Australia’s University of Technology Sydney (UTS) acquired a BigRep ONE large-format 3D printer for their fabrication lab, ProtoSpace, they were eager to flex their new additive muscles and create a publishable case study. The task was taken on by Dr James Novak, at the time a postdoctoral researcher at UTS (now a Research Fellow in additive manufacturing at Deakin University) who set out to create a showcase-worthy design that would test the BigRep ONE’s capabilities and highlight its potential to produce highly customizable products.

Learn how prominent universities are integrating additive in our
guide to Large-Format 3D Printers For Education and Research

Read the Guide

Novak took personalization to the next level in his design, literally incorporating himself into the project by creating a stool from he and his wife’s fingerprints.

“It was designed when my wife and I got engaged and features the ring fingerprint impressions from both of us,” said Novak. He noted the project was conceived in part because of the absolute individuality of a fingerprint, highlighting the unmatched level of personalization that additive manufacturing offers.

The highly-organic design connects the fingerprint ridges, weaving support through empty space before merging in the design’s open mid-section.

Novak explained, “as the fingerprints merge through the center of the design, an organic form emerges that can only be manufactured using 3D printing, and there is no support material needed.”

To simplify the printing process, it was decided to print the design with a support raft that ensured the first layers – which are otherwise unconnected – wouldn’t warp, but Novak noted that the same result could be accomplished with the right build platform adhesive.

The resulting design is an excellent example of the unique capabilities of 3D printing: an entirely personalized end-use product with a complex geometry that can only be produced with large-format additive manufacturing.

Novak’s stool is also demonstrative of large-format additive’s unmatched potential for lean manufacturing, allowing for the creation of highly customizable products in small batch production. Combined with accessible price points and transferable design skills, large-format additive clearly presents an enviable solution at all levels of business.

Using only a small portion of the BigRep ONE’s build volume, multiple independent designs like Novak’s stool can be easily completed in the same production run, and production speed can be easily increased by taking advantage of large-format’s scalability – adding to existing machines by opting for performance enhancements like a second extruder to run in tandem.

With this unparalleled flexibility and potential for customization, large-format additive presents an accessible, future-ready manufacturing solution.

LARGE-SCALE INNOVATION. LIMITLESS CREATIVITY.

The BigRep ONE is an award-winning, large-format 3D printer at an accessible price point. With over 500 systems installed worldwide, it's a trusted tool of designers, innovators, and manufacturers alike. With a massive one-cubic-meter build volume, the fast and reliable ONE brings your designs to life in full scale.

Explore the ONE

LARGE-SCALE INNOVATION. LIMITLESS CREATIVITY.

Explore the ONE

Integrating CAD and Additive Learning into General Education

February 23, 2023June 27, 2019

Digital design and manufacturing has become increasingly relevant in a, sometimes surprisingly, eclectic mix of industries. In dentistry, fashion, manufacturing itself or any other of the plethora of industries that have evolved with the integration of 3D printing, it’s apparent that an understanding of additive manufacturing and the skills to create 3D printable designs in CAD software are now a necessity.

It's important, then, as industries increasingly depend on digital design that students are given the opportunity to learn this crucial aspect of many industries as they study.

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Enterprising educators are already getting ahead of the curve. At TH Wildau – Wildau, Germany’s Technical University of Applied Sciences – instructors have developed structures to teach non-technical students the fundamentals of CAD and additive manufacturing. They secure students’ understanding of what has become a cornerstone in many industries at a crucial time in their education. Under the instruction of teachers like Dr. Dana Mietzner, students from disciplines as broad as business management, law, and business informatics learn about CAD and additive manufacturing processes in detail.

“Students start to think about future fields of application of 3D technology,” Mietzner said. “They try to figure out what the status of the technology is today and what could be future fields of application. For that purpose, it’s very important for the students to understand the technology – how it works and what is behind the concept of 3D printing.”

Understanding 3D printing as a physical process is incredibly important to learning CAD software. Designers using CAD need to understand what the various kinds of 3D printers are physically capable of to ensure that even the complex geometries, achievable only with additive, are designed with best practices in mind for an optimal outcome. This kind of understanding can inform designers about which method of additive manufacturing they should use for an application, like deciding between FFF and SLA technologies for an application, or when it might be better to opt for traditional reductive methods like CNC instead.

Not only will understanding the best production method for a CAD model help in designing processes, creating a design that’s conducive to successful printing, but it will help future business leaders in the disciplines Dr. Mietzner teaches understand when a process can be done with more cost and time efficiency. For example, introducing additive in favor of traditional supply chains can drastically alter how a business chooses to source parts. As more businesses move to additive manufacturing to produce end-use parts, this is increasingly important.

There’s a wealth of other disruptions additive manufacturing is causing to traditional business models and it’s vital for future leaders to understand these implications to make choices for their success. Accessible manufacturing is enabling businesses with smaller financial backing to enter production without massive investment, highly personalized products can enter the market without prohibitive price tags, and traditional workflows are being optimized with 3D printed tooling.

Clearly, it’s paramount to the future of successful businesses that there is a healthy understanding of the additive process, and therefore CAD, in a wealth of disciplines.

Learn the benefits of Large-Format Additive with our
Guide to Integrate Large-Format Additive Manufacturing.

Read the Guide

As industries continue to evolve additive manufacturing is becoming more pervasive, making many niche applications require very specific expertise. The boom of 3d printing within the medical field serves as an excellent example of this. The medical industry was an early adopter of additive manufacturing, leveraging SLA long before it was an accessible technology. Today, a plethora of companies are racing to develop 3D printable replacement body parts as intricate as organs. To achieve such a novel goal, the initial model’s designer would not only need extensive practice with CAD software but also with anatomical design, likely benefitting from a background as a medical practitioner or as a medical illustrator.

While less demanding artistically than the design of anatomically correct organs, a common use of mainstream FFF additive technology is the design and creation of highly customizable orthopedics. Here, an extensive background in kinesiology is a must-have for any designer creating the model. For a brace to be effective, extensive knowledge of the part of the body being mended is completely necessary – form the position that best aids the healing process to the potential risks of an incorrect placement.

Without experience in additive manufacturing and CAD software, the design of these products would require extensive extra steps and risks design instructions being lost in translation.

A plethora of prominent institutions have developed prototyping-focus’ within their courses, with classes and labs being used as an accessible space for learners to transform their ideas into reality. The most effective utilize technologies that allow for broad applications – a goal that large-format additive is uniquely positioned to address. For future-ready institutions that prepare learners for careers of dynamic change with relevant knowledge and life-long skills, additive manufacturing has proven to be an effective investment for those taking aim at superior teaching and experimentation, for a variety of disciplines.

Find out how prominent institutions like TH Wildau, targeting additive learnings beyond engineering students, and other are using BigRep’s additive technology to prepare their students in BigRep’s Guide to Large-Format for Education and Research.