Jan 6, 2016 | By Kira
Aleph Objects, the Free Software, Libre Innovation, and Open Source Hardware company behind the LulzBot line of 3D printers, is off to a strong start in 2016, coming off of the past year of record-breaking revenue increases and an employee count that now reaches 100. Hoping to keep the momentum going, the Colorado based company today announced a range of new LulzBot 3D printer hardware, filament materials, expanded distribution, and updated software at their CES 2016 booth in Las Vegas.
First of all, the company announced that its award-winning line of LulzBot 3D printers, led by the flagship, open source LulzBot Taz 5, drove a record-breaking year-on-year revenue, tripling to $15 million in 2015. (The launch of the Taz 5 desktop 3D printer itself, which took place almost exactly one year ago, was also made possible thanks to “explosive growth” in Q4 2014.)
The company proudly credits its commitment to advancing free software, libre innovation and open source hardware to its exponential growth over the past few years—in fact, a recent Aleph Objects customer survey found that over half of their customers rank open source hardware as “one of the key reasons they chose a LulzBot.”
In order to continue promoting growth and improvement at the hardware level, Aleph Objects is upgrading its line of multi-material tool heads for the LulzBot TAZ 3D printers. These upgrades include the new LulzBot TAZ Dual Extruder Tool Head v2, which is already available for purchase via the company’s website. In addition, the FlexyDually Tool Head v2 will be made available within the next few months.
LulzBot TAZ Dual Extruder Tool Head v2
Dual Extruder box contents
“These professional-grade tool heads use open (non-proprietary) 3mm filament; heat up to 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit); and print dozens of materials,” said the company. “With over one million hours of in-house printing on our LulzBot extruders over the last year, the company is thrilled to expand the use of its market-proven all-metal hot ends, improved by years of collaboration with the LulzBot community and RepRap developers around the world.”
Over on the software side, 2016 will see the latest version of Cura LulzBot Edition software boasting new features such as ‘pause during printing’ and tested print profiles for six new materials. Cura LulzBot Edition v18, like all previous versions, is available to download completely free of cost.
Finally, Aleph Objects is expanding its international operations by opening a new fulfillment center in Australia to better serve its “growing global community.”
"In 2015, we validated for the public the Free Software, Libre Innovation, and Open Source Hardware business model," said Aleph Objects, Inc. Vice President of Marketing Harris Kenny. "Our announcements at CES 2016 show that Aleph Objects' collaborative approach respects user freedom, creates better products, and fuels rapid growth."
CES 2016 will see Aleph Objects joined by several industry-leading partners, including 3D printing filament makers, open source software developers and innovators in 3D printing applications. These include colorFabb, Proto-pasta and Chroma Strand Labs, whose nGen, Aromatic Coffee High Temp PLA, and INOVA-1800 co-polyester 3D printing filaments, respectively, will soon be available on LulzBot.com, adding to the list of dozens of 3D printing materials already available for LulzBot customers.
Additionally, Aleph Objects has planned exciting collaborations with fellow free/libre/open communities. These include live demos of Fedora, Red Hat Inc’s free/open source desktop GNU/Linux software distribution; and a live demo of OpenBCI, an open-source platform of 3D printed hardware and software tools that makes it possible to measure, analyze and utilize the human body’s electrical signals. Aleph Objects and the industry partners mentioned above can be found at the Tech West Sands Expo Hall B in the 3D printing section at CES 2016.
Posted in 3D Printer
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