Kayak paddles, snowshoes, skateboards. Outdoor sporting goods used to be a tough market
for 3D printing to break into, but fused particle fabrication (FPF) can change that.
A team led by engineers from Michigan Technological University and re:3D, Inc. developed
and tested the Gigabot X, an open source industrial FPF 3D printer, which can use
waste plastic particles and reform it into large, strong prints. Because of the unique
challenges presented by sporting goods — size, durability, specificity — the team
chose several Upper Peninsula-inspired items.
In their new paper, published in Additive…
