Industry innovations powered by digital manufacturing

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.

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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.

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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.

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ZERMATTVIEW

Art | Injection Moulding

ZERMATTVIEW – a modern interpretation of the Matterhorn as it appears from the village of Zermatt.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Xinix Ai

Robotics | 3D Printing – Selective Laser Sintering

Xinix Ai Robot – all-terrain robot that explores tropical rainforests and identifies species living in them.

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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.

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Brighten up your desk and keep the creative juices flowing with an inspiring innovation every month in the Protolabs 2024 calendar. Request your free copy today here.!