This week, Bambu Lab announced a new integration with Polar3D, the Cincinnati, Ohio-based creator of the Polar Cloud platform.This educational fleet management system enables schools and districts to more easily manage dozens—even hundreds—of Bambu Lab printers across libraries, schools, and makerspaces from one secure dashboard.“We’re proud to partner with Bambu Lab to bring professional-grade 3D printing into the hands of students and educators,” said Van Morris, the CEO of Polar3D.
“This collaboration empowers schools with a seamless, cloud-based solution that makes managing high-performance 3D printers easier than ever.” The Polar Cloud platform, used by over 6,800 schools around the world, was purpose-built for education, offering cross-curricular lesson ideas, projects, and tools to help students engage in STEM education.A major challenge that schools face is scaling 3D printing without overwhelming the IT staff, and especially the educators themselves.I’ve often heard of K-12 schools that have invested in 3D printers, but not in how to use them, which leads to the systems sitting in the corner of the classroom gathering dust.
Not only is that a waste of money, but it’s also a missed opportunity to teach the future workforce about additive manufacturing.The browser-based Polar Cloud platform offers secure remote access, cloud storage, simplified slicing, job queues, and even detailed analytics.It works with Chromebooks and other devices, which ensures secure web-based student access.
There are different access levels, so beginners can submit print job requests through guided workflows, while more experienced students can access the slicer directly.By taking away the operational burdens from teachers, they can focus on teaching, and the students are able to create more easily.“Schools tell us constantly how difficult it is to manage 3D printing programs at scale.
Our mission with Polar Cloud is to eliminate that burden,” said Morris.“Working with the Bambu Lab team has been a true partnership.Their printers set the performance standard, and now, with this integration, districts everywhere can bring that power into their classrooms with confidence.” With this new integration, Bambu printers at schools and districts can be connected directly to the Polar Cloud.
This way, teachers can easily and remotely manage printer fleets, monitor printing, and schedule print jobs, all while maintaining the necessary compliance and security standards of schools.This partnership leverages Bambu Lab’s Local Server SDK, which helps maintain data privacy and provides secure API access.This keeps all sensitive school and student data protected, but without sacrificing fleet management capabilities.
“By opening our SDK and partnering with Polar3D, we’re making it possible for schools and districts to integrate Bambu printers into proven education ecosystems.Together, we’re making it easier for educators and students to unlock creativity and innovation in their classrooms, backed by the data and visibility that district leaders need to scale confidently,” said Nadia Yaakoubi, the Head of PR and Communications at Bambu Lab.Currently, this integration supports the Bambu X1C, A1 Mini, and P1P 3D printers, though future releases are planned for the H2 Series and X1E.
The Polar Cloud platform gives each school its own digital hub with role-based permissions, so students can submit their requests and teachers can manage the queue through real-time text and email notifications.It also integrates directly with design platforms like Onshape and Tinkercad, and offers advanced reporting on material costs, printer usage, and print history, which is very helpful when it comes to budget planning.Detailed analytics are available to help identify high-performing programs, as well as the schools that need a little more support The integration is now available to all Polar Cloud subscribers and Bambu Lab 3D printer owners.
Images courtesy of Polar3D
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