Nov 6, 2015 | By Alec
Over the past few years, Chinese 3D printing giants Zhuhai CTC Electronic have been hard at work making the highly coveted SLA 3D printing technology accessible for a wider audience. However, it looks like their mission is far from done; having released the Riverside 1 SLA 3D printer earlier this year, they have now already reached the point where they can showcase the follow-up model: the Riverside 2. At the same time, the company gives us a look at their self-developed operating system RiverOS which should make 3D printing far easier for hobbyists.
Now as you might know, Zhuhai CTC Electronic has been developing a series of interesting SLA systems. Starting with a ten million RMB investment in light source scanning technology back in 2010, this has since led to two interesting 3D printers already. Back in August 2014, their first desktop SLA 3D printer, the CTC SLA 1.0 was launched. In the summer of 2015, this was followed by the interesting and very affordable $1,480 SLA 3D printer 'Riverside', featuring a with durable resin plate.
Therefore, very few people probably expected a follow-up model so quickly, but it’s coming. The company has just showcased a few photos of the Riverside 2 SLA 3D printer, that looks to be an improvement of the earlier model. It’s appearance only features a few alternations when compared with its predecessor, but it does come with some other cool features. The Riverside 2.0 has two colors – silver white and black- while its cover is made from bended acrylic which is designed to reduce the likelihood of breakage during transport. What’s more, it has kept the minimum thickness of 0.1 mm of the Riverside 1.0. Domestically priced at 13,800 RMB (or approximately $2,175 USD), it is definitely an attractive machine.
The full specifications are:
- Build envelope: 125x125x165mm
- Printing precision 0.025-0.1mm
- Single nozzle print heads
- Printing speed 15mm / h
- Software Requirements
- Software: ReplicatorG or CTC Chinese Version
- Software format STL, GCO
- Operating system: Windows XP / 7/8
- Working environment 20-25 ℃
- Power requirements 100-240V, 50-60Hz, 1.5A
- Power 60W
- The supporting peeling: easily peelable
- Printer enclosure: DPP board / metal
- Size 30x28x45cm
- Weight 14kg
But there is more going on in the world of CTC Electronic. To support their successful product line, they have also just announced the launch of their first self-developed scanning, 3D printing operating system called RiverOS 1.0. According to the company, the core of RiverOS is the development of the software and printer firmware. Although the slicing software is based on open source software, the company's software engineers (an 8 person team in Bangalore, India) will be working on it for 10 consecutive months and have gone through four version changes already.
As the company explains, their RiverOS solution is an independent software system compatible with Mac, Windos and linux. It can, they say, transform your 3D printer into a "black box" with a network, through which users can simply upload a file and print it out. The system is also made to be compatible with Formlabs, 3D SYSTEM, RIVERSIDE and other mainstream desktop 3D printer models, but also allows users to remotely control and submit the print job through the web.
What’s more, its intended to be very accessible and user-friendly. ‘RiverOS is based on cloud computing and IT security technology, but unfortunately many of the current 3D printing software available requires users to navigate through complex environment, with at least 20 times clicks of the mouse required to print a design,’ says He SiYi, the company's PR representative. ‘We here at CTC hope to make a change. Our goal is to create an operation platform that is compatible with most design tools and 3D printers, and to develop an API so that designers and makers can collaborate easily.’
Posted in 3D Printer
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When will it be released?
skip wrote at 11/6/2015 2:23:10 PM:
build area is too small.
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