Industry innovations powered by digital manufacturing
At Protolabs, we have the privilege to support many innovative and industry-disrupting projects, which is why we are bringing back our Parts Calendar to share a handful of these innovations with you.
04 Dec, 2023. 3 min read
As we draw closer to the end of 2023, we wanted to take the time to reflect on a handful (12 to be exact) of innovative projects we’ve been a part of that are really driving industry change and paving the way in their respective industries. And don’t forget, you can keep inspired throughout the whole of 2024 with your free Protolabs calendar!
Small Robot Company
Robotics and Agriculture | Injection Moulding
SSD Mount and Steering Actuator Cap for the Tom V4 – a scanning robot, which scans crops and identifies individual plants, gathering data on plant and weed distribution to determine the optimum treatment path.
PolarCool
Sports & Leisure and Medical | Injection Moulding
PolarCap® System – medical cooling in the sports and athletics area. It aims to quickly lower the brain temperature in a controlled manner following head trauma directly at the sports facility where the injury occurred.
General Drones
Aerospace and Marine | 3D Printing – Multi Jet Fusion and Selective Laser Sintering
Auxdron LFG – rescue drone used for responding to emergencies at sea to reduce rescue times.
ZERMATTVIEW
Art | Injection Moulding
ZERMATTVIEW – a modern interpretation of the Matterhorn as it appears from the village of Zermatt.
Salta Lure
Fishing and Recreational | 3D Printing – Direct Metal Laser Sintering and Selective Laser Sintering
Hybrid-Head Skirted Trolling Lure and FRED (Fast Running Extremely Deep) Lure – produced to bridge a gap in the market for faster-running and deeper-diving lures.
Pansatori GmbH
Medical | 3D Printing – Direct Metal Laser Sintering and Injection Moulding
ForgTin - a wearable device that limits the effects of tinnitus by applying pressure to points around the ear.
Soccerment
Sports & Leisure | Injection Moulding
XSEED (Smart Shin Pads) – smart shin pads for football data collection. Monitors, analyses and shares a footballer’s performance data through a dedicated app and dashboard.
Mindsett
Energy | Injection Moulding
PRISMTM – an asset-level energy monitor that is a vital and intelligent energy-saving tool. It gives customers the power to save a minimum of 20% on energy bills, helps adjust the user’s mindset and drives long-term behavioural change around energy consumption.
Mahle
Automotive | CNC Machining
Complex Aluminium Parts for Prototyping – concept and design validation and extensive endurance safety tests for developing a new generation of high-voltage heaters compatible with the 800-volt architecture in fast-charging electric vehicles.
Ascilion
Medical | Injection Moulding
Blood Sampling Tool – uses a large number of tiny, hollow, silicone microneedles on a chip, which then, with the help of a vacuum, draws the liquid from a patient. The microneedles are so small that they only penetrate the outermost layers of skin. This means it doesn’t hurt, feeling merely as if touching a Velcro strap.
Xinix Ai
Robotics | 3D Printing – Selective Laser Sintering
Xinix Ai Robot – all-terrain robot that explores tropical rainforests and identifies species living in them.
Lyfecycle
Jewellery | Injection Moulding
“Reach for Change” Bracelet – produced using one-of-a-kind sustainable beads repurposed from used Lyfecycle cups, an adjustable cord from recovered plastic bottles and a recycled fair trade silver emblem, the Bracelet is made to raise awareness and provoke global change in response to the plastic pollution issue.