While still in the prototyping phase, Aurora Labs’ large format technology is slowly reaching its goal. The large format printing tech aims to be the fastest printer of its scale. The current prototype has the ability to print simple objects on a slower mode. This milestone will then allow the company to make more adjustments to achieve their intended goals.

Even though the company calls it a slow mode, that term is slightly deceiving. In reality, slow in this case refers to around the average speed of a printer this size (3 kg/hour). Although, currently they have only displayed the printing of simpler objects and they want to make the process 100 times faster than it is currently. Eventually, the company wants the printer to be able to process 1 tonne per 24 hours.

“Reaching the ability to print simple parts slowly is the latest of our outlined steps towards the development of our Large Format Technology,” said David Budge, Managing Director of Aurora Labs. “When we talk about printing simple parts slowly, this is equivalent to the same speed of other metal 3D printers currently on the market, while printing complex parts rapidly is targeting speeds that are approximately 100 times faster than existing 3D printers.”

They demonstrated its capabilities by printing a 20 x 20 mm cube. While it may seem crude for now, this is a showcase of how the technology works and a confirmation that it has potential. The next goal is to exponentially increase speed and accuracy.

The company hopes to start full commercial production of medium and large format printers soon. It has officially set up a timeline over the next 10-11 months that is set to achieve this. It plans to debut these models at trade shows soon.