The CEL Robox 3D printer returns to Kickstarter with Root, a remote control device to improve 3D printing workflow and productivity.

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Three years ago, British product design company CEL launched its first Kickstarter campaign for the Robox, an innovative and easy-to-use desktop 3D printer. The project successfully raised over £280,000, and to date more than 10,000 Robox units have been sold worldwide.

For the next stage of the Robox’s development, CEL is turning to crowdfunding once again. With the Root, Tree and Mote ecosystem, Robox grows into a fully fledged distributed manufacturing platform. The campaign launched today on Kickstarter, with a range of enticing tiers and rewards.

About the new campaign, CEL CEO Chris Elsworthy said in press release:

“We’ve seen dramatic improvements in 3D printing speed, reliability and quality over the past few years and Robox Tree, Root and Mote represent the next stage in the evolution of Robox. None of the development carried out so far on the Robox project would have been possible without the support from our Kickstarter backers; they have become a crucial part of our community and we’re appealing to existing and new 3D printing enthusiasts to help make this next phase a success.”

The details on these new additions are:

• Root — a remote unit where users can share, control and monitor multiple prints over a wired or wireless network.
• Tree — a custom furniture system which houses multiple Robox units in a small footprint.
• Mote — a dedicated and low cost touchscreen interface for Root.

Altogether, the range enables Robox users to share hardware, carry out multiple jobs simultaneously, and work with greater speed and reliability.

Elsworthy previously outlined this roadmap to ALL3DP in an interview last year. He also gave us a preview of the new products at the TCT Show in Birmingham. We liked what we saw.

Root for Robox on Kickstarter

For those users with only one Robox unit, Root functions as a modular and low-cost upgrade powered by Raspberry Pi. Users can remotely start and stop prints when the printer is in another room. And if they choose to manage their printer remotely over the web, they can access it from anywhere.

The Root system can also alert users when a job is complete or if the Robox is experiencing any problems. Whether it’s filament running out or becoming jammed, users can quickly resolve the problem and resume printing.

But where the Root (and Mote and Tree) really come into their own is when powering multiple Robox units. As Elsworthy explains:

“In a business environment, or where there are multiple Robox units available, these new systems will make prototyping and development much more efficient. Each Robox connected to Root can be visible to others on the network, so an office full of individually controlled printers is also a networked print farm. More printers allows faster printing but also redundancy and increased flexibility.”

With a redundancy protocol akin to hard drives in a RAID configuration, Root, Tree and Mote could potentially outperform larger, more expensive systems. And with Mote attached to a Robox Tree, the integrated system becomes a stand-alone print farm.

Specially for this campaign, CEL has partnered with RS Components and Polymaker. With Robox producing prints, Polymaker supplying PolySmooth materials and RS providing the hardware, the partners envision that their users can market finished products without the need to outsource production.

CEL is also working with local makers and global services to produce and distribute Root, Tree and Mote.

Source: Press Release