Carbon has just launched its newest generation of 3D printers based on the company’s idea-to-production platform.
Carbon, a leader in 3D printing technologies, has started the new year with new innovations. With its Carbon Design Engine software set for public release early this year, the company made another announcement on January 26 around the next evolution of DLS printers, the M3 and M3 Max.
Development of the new M-Series began in 2020 to further evolve the company’s idea-to-production platform and bring additive manufacturing to the masses. Along the way, the company has steadily worked with customers to understand their unique needs to create a platform that the company tags as “smarter, smoother, faster, simpler.”
“It is about enhancing the product development lifecycle from idea to production on one platform—a platform that gives creators the software, hardware, materials and expertise to bring better products to market in less time,” said Ellen Kullman, Carbon president and CEO.
Carbon M3 printers aren’t just a new version of existing models, such as the M2, which will continue to receive software updates and new materials. These printers have been integrated with closed-loop technologies to optimize the user experience and enhance prints, including allowing for the printing of more complex geometries.
The M3-Series printers have an innovative heat management system that distributes heat more evenly. They are able to dissipate heat better to control the temperature, which results in faster prints and the ability to work with more materials and do more than other printers available. During the print, the printer can adapt to the forces that are being sensed, thus resulting in dynamically changing parts live.
This means smoother parts. Testing showed a 1.4 µm reduction in surface roughness and a decline in parts variation across a single build by up to 50 percent. For customers, that means enhanced accuracy and repeatability.
“With these next-generation printers—combined with our Design Engine software and Carbon DLS materials—design teams across business verticals can create high-quality prototypes with end-use performance quicker and more efficiently than ever before,” said Phil DeSimone, Chief Product and Business Development Officer at Carbon. “And once the product development is complete, Carbon’s platform enables companies to move to production quickly and efficiently anywhere in the world. We believe this new generation of the Carbon DLS platform will empower more collaboration and help to revolutionize how products are designed and made.”
Making the M3-Series easier for users was also a priority for the development team. These printers have a touchscreen that enables quick, easy access to prints without the need for a laptop, as well as an LED status bar. Sight and sound notifications ensure instant communication throughout the print process and even during maintenance. For many customers, the best part may be that the printer is easy to install and set up in a few hours without a Carbon technician. This offers flexibility if relocating is necessary.
The M3 and M3 Max are essentially the same size, but the M3 Max has double the build area without any tradeoffs. It features the same 4K light engine, and the pixels are the same. The difference is that there are more of them, making it an ideal printer option for mass production.
During development, the Carbon team worked with customers to ensure they were addressing the various challenges faced in the field. Fast Radius, a manufacturing services provider, was one of the companies that tested out the new printers.
“We used the same geometries we used on the M2s and L1s, and we are seeing an improvement not only in build-to-build accuracy but also location-specific accuracy,” said Daniel Baker, Fast Radius’ director of additive manufacturing technology. “We took some [geometries] that are historically extremely challenging and were able to print them that first time from part file to print—and we reduced cycles on those parts by five times. My favorite thing is that [the printers] are proven to be significantly faster across a wide variety of material families, part designs, part types.”
To learn more about the M3-Series, visit Carbon’s website.
