See A1 Technologies’ Full 3D Technology Range at TCT 2012

by A1 Technologies on September 14th, 2012

London, UK, September 2012: A1 Technologies will once again be exhibiting at TCT Live 2012, which will be taking place at the NEC in Birmingham, UK. Running from 25th September – 26th September TCT Live will be staged concurrently with other related exhibitions including Mediplas, MM Live, Nano Live and MEMS Live, to maximize visitor experience.

A1 Technologies is currently gearing up to maximize this significant opportunity with the aim of introducing a host of new visitors from a wide range of disciplines to the exciting capabilities of low cost, accessible and integrated 3D digital technologies for designing and making.

Time and again, the A1 Technologies team has seen the tremendous benefits of placing these technologies in the hands of the uninitiated — and has been rewarded with sheer enthusiasm and excitement as the concepts take hold — not to mention increasing sales. Five year olds through to 85 year olds, individuals, teachers and corporate engineers are all similarly blown away by the innovative, intuitive and easy-to-use 3D digital technology supplied by A1 at accessible, ultra-low prices.

TCT — which this year incorporates the Personalize Pavilion for consumers and makers — offers an excellent platform for A1 to actively demonstrate the advantages of its complete — and integrated — portfolio of 3D digital technologies for every stage of the design, engineering and production life-cycle. The full product range is capable of meeting the design + make needs of industrial users, hobbyists and creative designers as capably as it fulfills applications in all educational environments. All visitors to the A1 stand (P17 / U6) will be invited to experience the products — first hand — for themselves.

The A1 Product Range

The comprehensive suite of 3D technologies that will be exhibited at TCT Live 2011 comprises:

• StudioMill — a 5-axis CNC machine complete with software and a range of tools.

• The Maxit 3D Printer — a self-assembly 3D printer kit, with built-in reliability and consistency.

• Chameleon — a creative haptically-enabled 3D design package.

• DAVID laserscanner — a 3D laserscanner.

Bringing together such an agile range of 3D technologies — at such affordable prices — truly sets A1 Technologies apart in this field. The team at A1 works tirelessly to open up the 3D digital world predominantly to education but finds individual creatives and industry have also benefitted from the tech.

TCT 2012
25th – 26th September 2011
NEC, Birmingham UK
Stand P17 / U6 

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A1 Technologies will Participate at Picnic Festival 2012

by A1 Technologies on September 7th, 2012

On 17th and 18th September 2012 two of the A1 Technologies team will be in Amsterdam to take part in the annual Picnic Festival. A1 is one of five companies selected by the UK’s Creative Industries Knowledge Transfer Network to attend the event and represent the UK, the others being IN2, Numiko, Skyworks Ltd & The Connected Set. 

Since 2006, the PICNIC Festival has been one of Europe’s premier events focused on innovation and creativity, bringing together an international gathering of approximately 3500 professionals representing business, technology, government and non-profit, education and the creative industries. The Festival provides an active learning environment where companies and organizations can develop networks, question assumptions and then improve and re-imagine by developing new ideas, concepts and prototypes.

The goal of the event is to discover opportunities for transformation: processes, cultures, products, services, models and experiences — and A1 will be taking full advantage of this superb opportunity.

Martin Stevens, CEO, A1 Technologies, will be one of the delegates in Amsterdam, he commented, “This is a wonderful opportunity for A1 Technologies to introduce and share the exciting world of 3D technologies to a new audience. We will be demonstrating the full A1 portfolio at the PICNIC Festival, including the new Maxit 3D printer, and we are really looking forward to this exciting event.”

The Picnic Festival will take place on September 17 and 18 at Amsterdam’s new EYE Film Institute. More information here.

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Maxit: A New Fast-Assembly 3D Printer from A1 Technologies

by A1 Technologies on July 9th, 2012

For many years, A1 Technologies has been an active advocate for placing advanced, integrated 3D digital technologies into the hands of tomorrow’s designers, engineers and manufacturers to encourage and develop these skills for future generations. In April 2009 the company sold the world’s very first low-cost commercial 3D printer. Now, following stringent R&D efforts the company is delighted to be launching a brand new, proprietary 3D printer, the Maxit, with some key design and operational improvements.

First and foremost, the Maxit 3D printer has been developed to enable it to be built quickly and easily, within a few hours, by anyone. And when we say anyone, we really mean anyone. A major part of the A1 mission is to engage children — in a school environment — to get creative with 3D printing and associated technologies, and to become familiar and comfortable with the technology. This is because A1 firmly believes that, in the future, we will all design + make in 3D, and putting 3D tools into classrooms now is the best investment we can make into that future for industry and for society.

What is more, reliable printing has also been at the heart of the development of the Maxit 3D printer, with quality electronic components sourced to support uninterrupted and consistent printing operations. Thanks to a key design feature (the motor is remote from the hot end), the printing head is much lighter with lower inertia, allowing faster printing.

Maxit Specifications

  • Dimensions 360 x 360 x 320 mm (excluding material holder)
  • Weight 2.7 kg
  • Printable area: 210 x 160 x 100 mm
  • Printing Speed: 40+ mm/sec
  • Layer thickness: 0.125 – 0.3 mm
  • Nozzle size: 0.5 mm (good for fast printing)
  • Filament size: 3 mm
  • Material: PLA (Poly Lactic Acid: biodegradable material)
  • Supplied complete with software
  • Maxit — at a glance
  • Super light and easy to transport
  • Very simple to assemble (under a day)
  • Reliable support
  • Compatible with CAD software — both open source and commercial
  • Price: £995

All of these positive improvements will always be supplied with the service commitment and technical support of A1 Technologies, a company that is built on decades of experience with 3D design + make technologies.

According to Martin Stevens, CEO at A1 Technologies: “3D Printing is proving to be a disruptive technology in many industrial sectors: however, it is also just on the verge of hitting mainstream consciousness and I believe that it is impossible to overstate just how important the technology will be in the future. That is why I am so passionate about getting 3D printing into classrooms now, to furnish kids with the knowledge and the skills to succeed in the future whether this is for their careers or as informed citizens. And, beyond that, hands-on learning with products such as these has been shown to foster enthusiasm for STEM subjects, not to mention entrepreneurial spirit.”

3D Printing, however, is not a process that can be utilised in isolation of other 3D disciplines. To this end, A1 Technologies offers a globally unique and compelling mix of low-cost 3D products, with complete integration to make 21st century engineering principles both accessible and applicable in the classroom. As well as 3D printing, 3D design, 3D scanning and 3D machining products can all be sourced from A1 Technologies to provide a fully comprehensive suite for designing and making in 3D.

A Complete 3D Design + Make Classroom / Studio:

  • 6 x Maxit 3D kit printers
  • 6 x David laser scanners
  • 6 x Chameleon design packages
  • 1 x Studiomill 5 axis milling machine
  • All necessary software
  • Cutting and printing material

Supplied by A1 in the UK for around £23,000*

Finally, all of the equipment that is available from A1 Technologies is of valid use for other subjects, including Art & Design, all of the sciences, maths and geography, ensuring cross-curricular benefits and budget amortisation to enable D&T departments to justify and afford these key technologies.

* Note: typical cost comparison from competitors is over £100,000 for the same level of equipment.

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