Another Kickstarter launch in the 3D printing space: Doodle3D, made by a Netherlands startup company. This product is a method to simplify the design and 3D printing of 2D line drawings. It’s composed of an app and a WiFi box that attaches to your personal 3D printer.
Using the app you can “doodle” a shape just as if you were drawing on paper. You’re able to do minor modifications to the 2D shape to coax it into a 3D shape by extrusion, twisting, etc. The resulting 3D model is sent wirelessly to the WiFi box, which then converts the drawing into GCODE for the 3D printer.
If your 3D printer is plugged in and fueled up, you’ll soon receive a physical version of the doodle.
There are some constraints here: the Doodle3D as currently designed is only capable of communicating with certain 3D printers, including the PrintrBot, Ultimaker, various RepRaps and non-current open source MakerBots. The company says they may pursue other popular 3D printers such as the Cube or current MakerBots if their GCODE formats can be used. We suspect the market for Doodle3D will be limited until they can do so.
This is an interesting combination of hardware and software to more fully engage kids in the technology of 3D printing. Will it be successful? Judging by the popularity of a project with similar purpose and exceedingly similar name – 3Doodler – the Doodle3D could hit the jackpot. 3Doodler raised a stupendous USD$2.3M on Kickstarter, demonstrating the popularity of a simple and inexpensive 3D printing device.
If you own one of the aforementioned 3D printers and have kids, you’d best check out their Kickstarter page. You’ll be able to order a Doodle3D for as little as USD$299.
Via Doodle3D and Kickstarter
Thanks for the article on Doodle3D! I've got some good news: you will receive a Doodle3D WiFi Box after donating $99 on Kickstarter instead of $299.
Rick