China-based 3D printer manufacturerWiibooxhas announced the launch of its new food 3D printing extruder.
NamedLuckyBot, the device can be integrated with a wide variety of standard desktop 3D printers to transform them into dedicated food printers. Designed as a cost-effective alternative to the often pricey food printers available today, LuckyBot retails at $159 and is compatible with chocolate, peanut butter, cream, cheese, jam, mashed potatoes, salad dressings, and other soft foods.
Aimed at coffee and dessert businesses, chefs, bakers, or just food enthusiasts, the extruder is capable of fabricating both 2D and 3D custom designs.
Wiiboox wrote in a press release, “Many brands of food printers have gained popularity as a result of the coupling of 3D printing technology with food. However, the purpose-built 3D food printers on the market are too expensive.”
Covering all bases with Wiiboox
Founded in 2014 in Nanjing, Wiiboox sports an impressive portfolio of 3D printing systems covering the consumer, professional, and industrial sectors. With an R&D team and after-sales technical team from theUniversity of Southern CaliforniaandZhejiang University, the company serves a long list of customers including the likes ofProcter & Gamble,Oracle, andJaguar.
Wiiboox’s FFF lineup includes theThree-M and W200 3D printers, the first of which has an enclosed build volume of 310 x 310 x 350mm. Additionally, the SLA product line comprises the3DSL360, 3DSL450, and 3DSL600. These large-format machines offer replaceable resin baskets and are built for professional use.
The firm even offers its own set of industrial metal powder bed fusion 3D printers: theSLM150 and SLM280. The systems support a range of metal powders such as stainless steel 316L, aluminium alloys, titanium alloy, cobalt chromium alloy, and die steel.
The LuckyBot extruder
使用LuckyBot食品挤出机,用户根本不ed to remove the existing printhead on their 3D printers and connect the device in its place, which reportedly takes just a few minutes. Featuring a lightweight form factor, the extruder comes equipped with an ABS body, a stainless steel nozzle, and food-ready PP tubing. According to Wiiboox, the assembly is FCC and CE certified.
On the front of the LuckyBot is a temperature display along with three buttons to control the temperature and adjust the position of the lead screw. The hotend is capable of maintaining temperatures of up to 50°C with automated power-off functionality for added device safety. Thanks to the firm’s own integrated temperature control algorithms, the heat in the hotend is always accurate to within 0.5°C.
On the software side, LuckyBot doesn’t have its own print preparation program so it can be used in conjunction with standard FFF 3D printing slicers. As it stands, LuckyBot can be installed on “most FDM printers on the market”, includingCreality’sEnder series,Anycubic’sMega series, and theVoxelabAquila line of 3D printers.
Despite its relatively small size, the food 3D printing sector is an active one. Just this month, food 3D printing firmDigital Patisserieannounced the launch of itsnew pastry 3D printer, the Patiss3. Reportedly inspired by 3D printing technology developed atMIT, the extrusion-based system is aimed at pastry chefs, restaurants, and industrial biscuit factories, enabling users to fabricate edible freeform shapes at high speeds.
Elsewhere,Natural Machines, a Spain-based developer of food 3D printing technology, recently printed areplica of the world’s best tiramisu. The heart-shaped dessert took first place at last year’s Tiramisù World Cup (TWC), and has now been faithfully recreated using the firm’s proprietary Foodini additive manufacturing system.
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Featured image shows the LuckyBot food 3D printing extruder. Photo via Wiiboox.
