3D Print Coral Reefs with Sam Suchin of Hope3D
This is the second in a two-part blog series highlighting how Guardian Bikes — a company focused on manufacturing the world’s safest children’s bicycles — uses Robo 3D printers to develop and test its celebrated SURESTOP braking technology and how 3D printing led to inspiration and innovation within the company.
Robo’s 3D printers made it easier for Guardian Bikes to solve its prototyping issues and fully leverage its SURESTOP braking technology, helping the company take its core concepts regarding the system’s components off the design software platform they were using, and begin working those ideas into physical parts in a day.
“We could make our print and immediately throw it on the bike to actually see if it worked and fit, which helped us get a better understanding of our technology and how to really make it work with a wider segment of bicycles.”
The innovation didn’t stop there. Riley also liked how Robo 3D printers helped change his mindset relating to the entire process of product development.
“3D printing really gets you thinking about so many other touchpoints of a product’s functionality once you’ve physically made something you’ve been thinking about,” Riley said. “There’s so much more that I love about it — that speed of taking an idea and iterating out problems to create something that actually works, and how it allows you to devise concepts quickly and make product improvements in a matter of days instead of months.
In addition to their Robo R1+, Guardian Bikes also has a network Robo C2s and Robo R2s at its disposal for product prototyping. The advanced feature sets and functionalities in the new Robo printers — including ease of use and wireless connectivity — give the company a stronger foothold in developing their next big idea.
“As the machines evolve, things keep getting better and better,” Riley said. “With Robo C2 and Robo R2, anyone in the company can use them and quickly get up to speed with how they work, even if they don’t have experience with 3D printing. You pretty much hit print, the machine runs and you come back a couple hours later to find your part sitting there. It’s awesome!”
With the multiple Robo printers at their disposal, they can now run all of them at the same time, printing an entire series of parts for one bicycle evolution. This one day process would have taken months previously.
To find out more how Guardian Bikes used Robo 3D printers to accelerate their time to market, check out the full case study here.
