3D printing technology has always been on the verge of breaking through and finding its market, but it has yet to catch on with the masses. Could this 3D-printed speaker from U.K.-based electronic project kits company Kitronik be the thing to get people aboard? Kitronik recently unveiled a kit for folks—largely engineers and designers—who like to tinker and are interested in assembling mini sound systems from a set of 3D-printed and laser-cut parts, including a development board, wiring, and body.
According to Designboom, the speakers were "designed in Autodesk Inventor and prototyped using a Robox rbx-01 3D printer," and printed with a plastic filament. If you happen to have your own 3D printer, you can download plans for two types of Kitronik speakers, the compact "cube" and the more traditional "stereo," and get to work. Consumers are also able to print parts to any 3D printer in the 3D Hubs Network, which touts that it connects the public to a system of nearly 32,000 3D printing services across the globe.
3D printing technology has been in the news of late: Yesterday we reported that scientists at TU Eindhoven in the Netherlands are using 3D printers that can print concrete objects up to 36 feet long and 16 feet wide; the world’s first 3D-printed office has risen in Dubai; and, in April, we noted that an architectural icon decimated by ISIS in the Syrian city of Palmyra was honored with a 3D-printed replica in London.