OLO 3D Inc., a company that created a miniature 3D-printer that works with just a simple $99 gadget and your smartphone, raised over $2.3 million, concluding its Kickstarter campaign on April 20.
The company plans to start shipping the devices to its U.S. backers in September, and internationally in November.
How Does It Work?
OLO uses materials called Daylight Resins. They are liquid, but solidify when exposed to the white light emitted by smartphone displays.
To print an object, you load the design file on the OLO app, put a transparent screen over the display of your phone, place the device on top of it, and pour in the resin.
The device is a plastic box that blocks outside light and also prevents the resin from spilling out. It also has a “building plate”---a plate inside that can move up and down in the box thanks to a battery powered motor.
Then the app lights up individual parts of the smartphone’s display causing the resin right on top of those parts to solidify. At the same time, these solidifying parts stick to the “building plate.”
When the first bits of resin solidify, the “building plate” moves up a little. And because the solidified resin stuck to the plate, it will move up together with it.
