Every school and office should have a Dreambox. It’s literally a 3D printing service in a box. A box that looks suspiciously like a vending machine.
The machine works much like a 3D print service: you upload a 3D model from your computer or insert a USB stick into the Dreambox, which then sets about building your object. When the print is finished, it notifies you for pickup with a special code. You’ll use this code to open a private “locker” where your print will be waiting.
The Dreambox is capable of printing in multiple materials: “ABS (engineering plastic), PLA (bioplastic), nylon, wood, metals, and more”, meaning the 3D printer inside is not necessarily a MakerBot or similar personal extrusion machine. The fact that it queues up and prints multiple print requests means it must have a method of automatically removing prints from the bed and storing them for pickup. The Dreambox apparently has “no full time operator”.
According to their press info, each Dreambox is “built to order with a varying number of internal 3D printers and lockers based on customer needs.”
This product could be hugely useful in schools, although they’re also targeting office and retail locations. Regardless, it seems to be “Shapeways-In-A-Box”.
Via Dreambox
