On Monday, New York based startup, Tiko, took to global crowdfunding platform Kickstarter with a mission to raise $100,000 for its brand new 3D printer. Within only an hour or so, the project captured over 80% of its initial goal from 600 backers.
The creators of the Tiko Unibody 3D Printer designed the device to make it high quality and easy to use. Unlike other 3D printers that are bulky, difficult to assemble and may easily be damaged, the Tiko is unibody, which means the whole frame is one piece, easy to manufacture and virtually impossible to misalign. All for the price of $179.
Revealing other benefits of the device, the 3D printer’s team stated:
“Tiko is a delta 3D printer with three sets of arms moving in unison to control the movement of the print head (more on this later). The essence of Tiko’s innovation is our discovery that delta is the ideal configuration to unlock the many benefits of unibody.
“From the very beginning, we were determined to make an accurate printer. Tiko’s unibody construction and delta mechanism have been carefully designed to deliver exceptionally high mechanical repeatability without the need for high-precision components. That’s right, you heard us. Even without high-precision components, Tiko is still able to print incredibly consistent layers.
“Tiko printed the vase pictured above at a 200 micron-resolution, but it can print as fine as 50 microns.”
Other features include:
Enclosed printer chamber: all prints are isolated from the outside environment making the results strong and consistent.- Larger sized printer: Tiko has a slender unibody frame, delta mechanism, and ultra-compact liquefier/end-effector that enables the printer to print objects larger.
- Flexible: Users are able to easily remove larger objects from the printer due to the print bed being flexible.
- Non-proprietary: Uses non-proprietary 1.75mm filament on a standard 1kg 165mm (6.5in.) diameter spool.
- Wireless: Printer can easily connect to the cloud and users can bring virtually anywhere, even from smartphones.
Those who fund the project will receive various rewards including Baby Tiko Unibody ($18), earliest bird ($99), early bird ($139), and the printer ($179). The campaign is set to close on April 30th.
______________________________________________________
Have a crowdfunding offering you'd like to share? Submit an offering for consideration using our Submit a Tip form and we may share it on our site!