The participants in the competition will compete for the design, planning and XNUMXD printing of new versions of the CubeSat, a standard research satellite currently built in academic institutions, space startups and independent makers around the world
A growing number of aerospace companies have recently begun to embrace XNUMXD printing technology, changing the way new product prototypes are developed and even manufactured. Two of the leading companies in the global industry, Stratasys, and its subsidiary, MakerBot, decided to rise to the occasion and announced a competition centered on the design, planning and XNUMXD printing of new versions of the CubeSat, a standard research satellite currently built in academic institutions, space startups and independent makers around the world . The competition will be held on the GrabCAD website, home of the largest mechanical engineering community in the world.
The designs will be judged by the audience and a panel of on-site judges and the winners will enjoy cash prizes, MakerBot replicator printers and Stratasys printing services.
The first CubeSat was built already in 1999 and the construction of small satellites is one of the fastest growing areas of the space industry. "But, there are still the limitations of traditional production," says Eric Sheft, sales manager in the field of 30D printers at Systematics, MakerBot's representative in Israel. "The line has between 50-21 parts that need to be assembled manually. XNUMXD printing will allow competitors and the space industry in general to think differently about how to build satellites in the XNUMXst century. We are currently providing them with a new and challenging set of tools that will allow them to overcome a host of limitations. Beyond that, there is a new direction here in everything that involves production procedures that are becoming simpler, ones that allow automatic and much more efficient procedures."
The traditional CubeSat is a cube with dimensions of 10cmX10cmX10cm with a maximum weight of 1.33 kg and its enlargements can be planned up to dimensions of 3 times, 6 times and 12 times - proportionally.
Deadline for submission of competitors: June 22, 2015 on the website:
MakerBot manufactures home XNUMXD printers and serves, among others, engineers, architects, designers and educators. The company is represented in Israel by Systematics,
