Australian company SPEE3D has released SPEE3DCraft; the first end-to-end metal manufacturing training-based simulator which allows users to explore genuine metal 3D printing technologies and processes directly from their PC.
The free-to-download simulator grants engineering craftspeople and those in the manufacturing trade the opportunity to discover real-life metal 3D printing workflows using the same technology and equipment developed by SPEE3D.
"SPEE3DCraft shows people how SPEE3D's metal 3D printing process works from start to finish in a way unlike anything seen before," SPEE3D CTO Steve Camilleri said. "From aspiring engineers to manufacturing craftspeople, we are excited to see how it inspires the practice of those who use it."
In SPEE3DCraft users play as a craftsperson. They are tasked to understand and interact with additive manufacturing technology and machinery to design, print, post-process and supply as many metal parts as possible. The user's score is determined based on how many high-quality metal parts they can deliver within a time limit.
Almost every aspect of the simulator has been programmed to be a reflection of the existing SPEE3D process and its technology. For example, the duration of each operation in SPEE3DCraft, from printing to post-processing the metal part is scaled to real time. Even the CAD station featured in the SPEE3DCraft simulator has been designed to imitate real Autodesk Fusion 360 CAD software that is used in the actual SPEE3D process.
“Autodesk Fusion 360 exists to provide users the power to create anything," Alexander Oster, Autodesk Director of Additive Manufacturing, said. "SPEE3D brings a paradigm shift to metal additive manufacturing, providing dramatic reductions in production costs that will be revolutionary for the industry.
"Having representation of Fusion 360 in SPEE3DCraft is really unique, and we’re excited to see how it drives our complementary technologies providing value to new and existing users”.