Inkbit Vista, a 3D printer based on scalable inkjet deposition and 3D machine vision, has launched, featuring a ‘first-of-its-kind’ closed-loop feedback 3D printing ecosystem.
Key to Inkbit’s offering is the Vision-Controlled Jetting (VCJ), which it claims enables real-time, in-process voxel-level control capable of meeting the reliability and performance demands of volume manufacturing.
Among these benefits are the reported ability of the technology to 3D print 4.5 litres of material per hour while maintaining accuracy to tens of microns. In addition, Inkbit Vista has an expanding portfolio of materials – offering soft, rigid, tough, and chemically-resistant materials, as well as multi-material combinations.
Inkbit claims that the materials lack elements such as acrylates and methacrylates, which make many 3D printed parts brittle and weak over time, opening up a new field of higher quality and longer lasting parts.
VCJ technology was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and as you would expect, is protected by an IP portfolio exclusively licensed to Inkbit, with Vista setting out to bridge the gap between prototyping and full-scale production.
Inkbit’s proprietary vision system allows the system to capture voxel-by-voxel 3D scan data of the print process at high-speed, modifying each layer in real-time to achieve the perfect print.
“We are thrilled to launch Inkbit’s Additive Manufacturing System and offer a unique, rapidly deployable 3D printing solution to companies looking to adopt digital manufacturing,” said Inkbit CEO Davide Marini.
“Today, engineers are often using 3D printing technology to make prototypes, but limitations in materials and high costs make end-use product production difficult. At Inkbit, we’re on a mission to disrupt that notion and create a technology that provides fast printing capabilities with unmatched design freedom and reliability for even the most demanding applications and environments.”
Inkbit was spun out of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) at MIT in 2017 and has since raised $15 million in equity investments from world-class investors such as Stratasys, DSM Venturing, Ocado, 3M, IMA and Saint-Gobain.
Inkbit also received significant funding from DARPA and NSF for the development of its core technology and applications in the medical field.
Some of Inkbit’s investors are not only financially linked to the company but are also looking to implement Inkbit’s technology into their own businesses. According to Tim Steiner, Ocado Group CEO and executive director: “We’re working very closely with Inkbit on some of our own future developments where they’re enabling some really fantastic transformational advances.”
