Origo, The 3D Printer for Kids

By on September 21st, 2011 in printer

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You might think 3D printing is hard. Well, it certainly can be. But now Artur Tchoukanov and Fabbaloo friend Joris Peels’ new venture Origo attempts to change all that. They’re making Origo – a 3D printer specifically designed for children. Imagine what ten-year olds could do with a 3D printer! 
 
The question we’d immediately ask is if the hardware is usable by kids, what about the complicated software? Where will the children get 3D models to print? The answer showed up in recently-released web-based basic 3D modeling tools, such as 3DTin. These were the catalyst that should permit the Origo to succeed, since you likely can’t teach many ten year olds how to use complex 3D modeling software – or afford it either. 
 
We’re seeking more information about this cool project and will update Fabbaloo readers soon. 
 
Via Origo

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!

4 comments

  3. Well, you can teach kids how to use SketchUp and they can use the free version. 3D doesn't get much simpler than that. The STL files coming out of SketchUp are not always "correct" (at least with the scripts I tried), so there is still the software aspect that makes matters complicated. And having watertight volumes is tricky for anything not-trivial…

    Any idea about how much such a 3D printer for kids would cost? I can not imagine it being available for a price you would pay to have your kids play with it.

  4. Well, you can teach kids how to use SketchUp and they can use the free version. 3D doesn't get much simpler than that. The STL files coming out of SketchUp are not always "correct" (at least with the scripts I tried), so there is still the software aspect that makes matters complicated. And having watertight volumes is tricky for anything not-trivial…

    Any idea about how much such a 3D printer for kids would cost? I can not imagine it being available for a price you would pay to have your kids play with it.

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