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"The U1 didn't get here alone — it stood on the shoulders of a community decades in the making," said Blayne Sapelli, Head of Global PR at Snapmaker. "This fund is how we say thank you, and how we keep that movement going. We give back, and the community builds forward — together."
Supporting open-source projects is nothing new to Snapmaker. Full Spectrum, a tool that visually mixes layers of color in FDM printing, recently launched as an experimental, open-source project. The designer, Radu (aka Ratdoux), designed it inside OrcaSlicer, using a U1 tool changer as the test bed. Bambu Lab made the tool more user-friendly by inserting a clone of it into Bambu Studio. Snapmaker doubled down by inviting Radu to Shenzhen, China, to chat with their team and then offered him a job to head up its color printing initiative. Full Spectrum, along with a new tool called Surface Color Stitch, will be included in Snapmaker Orca . Sapelli said Full Spectrum will remain open-source, which allows other companies, like Prusa Research’s ColorMix, to share advancements.
“We believe the most important innovations in the maker community come from the maker community,” said Daniel Chen, CEO of Snapmaker. “Ratdoux’s work represents exactly the kind of experimentation and creativity we want to nurture. We are honored to have him join our team."
Sapelli told Tom’s Hardware that the remaining $100,000 of the Innovation Fund will be used for an Open Competition to sponsor future projects. Phase 1 starts now and runs to September 7, and will award 20 prizes. Phase 2 will award another 20 prizes and start in October and conclude at the end of the year.
Louis Rossmann taunts Bambu Lab by hosting banned 3D Printer firmware fork, dares $1 billion company to sue him
Non-profit investigates Bambu Lab for violating open-source license
Key considerations
- Investor positioning can change fast
- Volatility remains possible near catalysts
- Macro rates and liquidity can dominate flows
Reference reading
- https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/3d-printing/snapmaker-launches-usd150-000-innovation-fund-for-open-source-3d-printing-cash-rewards-target-developers-backing-the-u1-toolchanger-across-klipper-orcaslicer-and-moonraker-ecosystems#main
- https://www.tomshardware.com/membership
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Informational only. No financial advice. Do your own research.