Apr. 24, 2015 | By Simon
When it comes to food-based additive manufacturing, the niche-specific form of 3D printing hasn’t taken off as much as some previously thought it would. Sure, the ability to transform a CAD model into something edible has its charms and appeal, but more often than not, these machines aren’t necessarily in a price range that would seem feasible for most home chefs - and even some commercial restaurant chefs. Even if a restaurant did decide to purchase a 3D printer for creating various edible objects, the designs themselves would be limited to a layer-by-layer, low resolution model similar to a what is seen on existing FDM 3D printers.
Despite this, the novelty of creating 3D printed desserts and garnishes is still there, and for many chefs, doing something that is more advanced than their competitors is a trait that will likely never go away. But should it really come at the cost of purchasing a dedicated food-based 3D printer?
A new German startup by the name of Print2Taste has researched this problem and thinks that they a solution in the form of their Bocusini. The Bocusini is a device that allows a user to retrofit their existing 3D printer with the ability to 3D print with food-based filaments. The Bocusini will also be sold as its own standalone 3d printer, however the open source kit will likely be more popular unless they can bring the price for the printer down to an absurdly affordable level.
Among other benefits of having a device like the Bocusini, an entire market of 3D printing enthusiasts will be able to have the ability to create their own 3D printed food items by using their existing 3D printers - meaning that the cost of purchasing an entirely new system is near-obliterated. Additionally, this means that cheaper and open source 3D printers could be converted into a device that is capable of 3D printing food; so chefs could even create their own open source design that’s fit to the needs of their commercial kitchen.
Perhaps what will make the Bocusini popular however isn’t just their innovative take on breaking into the 3D printed food market, but rather, their pre-filled food capsules will make the 3D printing experience not only easy but also mess-free. In total, Print2Taste has developed a handful of extrudable food filaments that include marzipan, chocolate and fruit jelly, among others. Similar to printing with ceramic materials, concocting a proper consistency for ensuring that a material is both able to be extruded while also maintaining form after it has been printed is no easy task - especially if it comes down to something that you want someone to deem as edible.
To create a 3D printed food item, all that a user needs to do is simply load one of the cartridges, create a design in the company’s dedicated creation app and then send the file over to the Bocusini via WiFi to be printed in whichever flavor is desired.
Although the Bocusini system isn’t quite ready for purchase, Print2Taste has stated that a Kickstarter campaign is on the way and will be launching in the middle of May. Currently, the company has already created add-on kits for the Printrbot simple, the Ultimaker 2 and the Printrbot Metal with more expected to be on the way.
Posted in 3D Printers
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I really want one so bad...
Nico wrote at 5/12/2015 5:40:57 PM:
The software used for the kickstarter pitch is Doodle3D, www.doodle3d.com, not their own creation.
3der wrote at 4/27/2015 6:36:48 PM:
Soon on Kickstarter = 10% this will every be a real product
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