Ex Apple Employee Designs a 3D Printer 'Done Right' and It Looks Fantastic. Meet Obsidian by Kodama, Inc.

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Jul 06, 2017, 09:22 ET

SAN FRANCISCO, July 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Kodama first appeared on the scene in 2016 when they released Trinus on Kickstarter. Trinus is a combination 3D printer and laser engraver for home use that was successfully delivered to over 3000 backers in 80+ countries.

Following that first success in 2016, on Monday, June 26 Kodama, Inc. launched their second Kickstarter campaign: Obsidian, the game-changing 3D printer that aims to deliver $1000 print quality at a $99 price tag. Their funding goal was reached in just three minutes and managed to raise $500,000 in only three days.

"We felt there was too much of a gap between cheap, hard to assemble kits and overpriced 'consumer' machines like Ultimaker2go and the Replicator Mini." -Michael Husmann, founder and CEO of Kodama.

The Obsidian crowdfunding campaign is now LIVE on Kickstarter: http://kck.st/2tczGtc

Obsidian starts at $99 and is a category-killing 3D printer. Starting from just $99 you get an exquisite 3D printer that creates high-quality prints.

The $99 dollar entry-level set is aimed at fulfilling Kodama's mission of making 3D printing accessible to everyone, whether it's a design student in college or a designer in a developing country. Its $250 deluxe kit offers a robust set of features aimed at dethroning two $1000+ titans: Ultimaker2go and Replicator Mini+.

3D printers are like magic boxes. Put in some files and you get more than just a photo or a song, you get real-life tangible objects you can hold in your hand. The problem is that up until now most kits on the market requires hours of assembly and digging through forums and guides in order to one up and running and calibrated correctly, and that's just for printing. If you want convenience features like a camera, remote control, and a touchscreen be prepared to spend days ordering parts and installing software and hoping it all works out.

Obsidian removes all those steps and gives you an all in one 3D printer experience. When you unbox it, all you have to do is plug it in, load the filament, and you're ready to go. The deluxe kit's smart touch screen and iOS/Android app let you control your most important print settings from anywhere. Obsidian Deluxe comes with a built-in camera that lets you monitor your prints from anywhere and record time lapses or stream your print. It's smart enough to tell you if there's something wrong or needs your attention with alerts or voice prompts.

"We looked at and tested every 3D printer out there, talked about what was wrong with each one, and used that to come up with Obsidian"
-Team Kodama

Many common annoyances are handled with Obsidian. Its magnetic detachable print bed makes it easy to remove prints, its LED light gives you a clear view of how your print is going, even in the dark. Its bowden extruder makes it seamless to load filament and its quick-release nozzle make changing nozzles easy.

Obsidian is designed to inspire. It's more than just a tool to make prints, it's meant to be looked at, with its automobile inspired injection-molded body and chamfered edges.

"Whenever we have a prototype Obsidian in a room, the reaction is always the same 'what's that, it looks cool.' It's not just another box or appliance in your workspace, Obsidian is something you want to display alongside your other electronics. We believe aesthetics are an important part of mass adoption of a new technology," -Bojan S, industrial designer

Features

All Obsidians come with a built in spool holder, an LED light that illuminates the print bed area, a quick release nozzle that makes it easy to change nozzles, and a magnetic detachable print bed. All models promise the same print quality, and early print demonstrations show impressive results. The Plus and Deluxe version add convenience features like power outage recovery and touchscreen control. The deluxe version takes it one step further by making the touchscreen an Android-powered smart screen, this turns 3D printing into a killer app with remote control of your printer with an Android and iOS app. The Deluxe's camera can record time lapses, or live stream your prints, and while monitoring you can pause or control print settings. Currently, 3D printing hobbyists go to great lengths and spend hours setting up dedicated print computers or raspberry Pi's that they can remotely connect to with Octoprint and Repetier, and Kodama offers an out-of-the-box solution that doesn't cost $1000.

Pledge Tiers & Add-Ons

$99
Obsidian 3D Printer
400g Obsidian PLA Filament

$149
Obsidian 3D Printer
LCD Touchscreen
400g Obsidian PLA Filament

$249
Obsidian 3D Printer
Smart Touchscreen
Print-Monitoring Camera
Heated Bed
400g Obsidian PLA Filament

The Background

Obsidian has been in development since 2015, and is Kodama's first in-house self-designed 3D printer, in collaboration with an all-star team of various industry experts. Kodama founder and CEO Michael Husmann is a former project manager at Apple. The mechanics and internals were handled by an ex Bosch engineer with 3D printing experience. Quality control and electronics were done in consultation with a Singapore-based electrical engineer with 30 years experience. Obsidian' UI/UX designer works for a major automobile manufacturer. Assembly line bids are in discussion with Flextronics (who assembled the original Trinus) and Foxconn.

The team members working on Obsidian's development and Kickstarter campaign come with experience proven in their fields and lessons learned during the Trinus campaign and delivery.

The Impossible

"We want the Obsidian launch to be our smoothest launch ever, and everything we learned with Trinus is going into that. What suppliers we can trust, which couriers we can rely on, what's our plan B..."-Michael Husmann, founder, and CEO of Kodama.

Kodama offers 3D printing accessories, add ons and filaments. With Trinus it learned that customers who purchase the base model kit later come back for upgrades and add ons as they get more comfortable with 3D printing.

The combination of a lean team, manufacturing knowledge, and after sales come together to allow Kodama to make this incredible offer.

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SOURCE Kodama, Inc. San Francisco