In this weekend’s 3D Printing News Briefs, Farsoon Technologies has reached a milestone of 150 large-format metal 3D printing systems being sold globally.Snapmaker unveiled a new 3D printer, and researchers at Brown University have developed what they say is a smarter, faster 3D design algorithm.Finally, Fizik took home the gold at EUROBIKE, thanks to its custom 3D printed bike saddle.
Farsoon Reaches 150 Large-Format Metal 3D Printer Sales Worldwide Farsoon Technologies’ meter-scale metal 3D printing systems.Industrial additive manufacturing solutions provider Farsoon Technologies has reached an exciting milestone: 150 “meter-scale” large-format metal 3D printing systems sold around the world.20 of these sales came from the company’s flagship FS1521M series, featuring up to 32 x 500W lasers and build envelope up to 1530×1530×1650mm.
They’ve been integrated into full-cycle manufacturing workflows so industrial users, like OEMs, research institutions, and tier-1 suppliers, can achieve performance and productivity goals, and cost efficiency breakthroughs.One of these users is Falcontech, with dedicated production lines of nearly 40 meter-scale metal Farsoon systems to meet demands for batch manufacturing of end-use parts.As Farsoon wrote, “This achievement underscores the growing industrial demand for scalable, production-ready AM solutions in aerospace, energy, and automotive sectors.” Farsoon’s printers are helping to drive AM industrialization, with the FS1521M series particularly gaining recognition for its use in exacting applications like copper alloy thermal systems and titanium structural components.
This printer series has five core innovations that help it take on critical production hurdles, and the first one is a dual-layer airflow system, which solves smoke and particle removal challenges for process stability.Its high-capacity powder management system enables continuous production, while multi-laser calibration helps the system achieve ±0.05mm precision for more consistency in large builds.Finally, the MES platform reduces labor costs by 70% through its centralized production management, and an advanced software suite ensures real-time monitoring and traceability.
Snapmaker Returns to Kickstarter with Multicolor, Multimaterial, High-Speed U1 In 2017, Snapmaker famously launched its compact, all-metal, 3-in-1 Original 3D printer on Kickstarter, and raised $2.28 million.Two years later, the Snapmaker 2.0 became one of Kickstarter’s most successful technology campaigns, with $7.85 million raised from over 7,000 backers.Now, the startup is returning to its crowdsourcing roots to launch the high-efficiency Snapmaker U1, its most advanced consumer product yet.
It’s a multicolor, multimaterial, tool-changing system with four heads, intelligent features, 80% less filament waste, and five times more speed.The U1 was created for every type of maker, from upgrading home tools with clever hacks to designing toys and printing functional prototypes.It’s powered by a CoreXY system for high speed, and Snapmaker says the intelligent SnapSwap tool-changing system allows it to print multicolor and multimaterial models up to five times faster than its competitors.
The SnapSwap also doesn’t need to constantly purge during material changes, so less filament is wasted.Sign up here for exclusive launch updates, first-access Kickstarter rewards, and behind-the-scenes content as Snapmaker prepares the U1 for its official launch.“Kickstarter is where Snapmaker started, and our backers have always been a vital part of our journey.
With U1, we’re going back to our roots — combining what we’ve learned with what our community dreams of,” said Snapmaker’s CEO Daniel Chen.Researchers Speed Up Topology Optimization with 3D Design Algorithm A collaborative team of researchers from Brown University, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), and Norway’s Simula Research Laboratory developed a new 3D design algorithm that essentially optimizes topology optimization.This iterative, computer-driven technique determines the most effective way to distribute material in a design, repeatedly making small updates to the pattern and then testing the design’s physical properties after each change.
However, it’s a “computationally expensive” process, and algorithms can run for days on end to find the best design.The team’s new approach, called the SiMPL (Sigmoidal Mirror descent with a Projected Latent variable) method, helps the algorithm reach a final design in far less iterations by skipping unnecessary ones, resulting in faster and more stable topology optimization algorithms.Benchmark tests show that compared to traditional algorithms, this method needs up to 80% fewer iterations to arrive at an optimal design, making topology optimization more accessible for a wider range of industries.
Speaking of more accessible, the team has made a version of their algorithm that’s free for engineers and other researchers to use.“Our method beats some existing methods by four or five times in terms of efficiency.That’s a huge computational savings that could enable people to make designs more quickly and inexpensively, or to develop more complex designs with higher resolution,” explained Brendan Keith, an assistant professor of applied mathematics at Brown University.
You can learn more about the SiMPL method in the team’s published papers here and here.Fizik’s Custom 3D Printed Saddle Program Wins Gold at EUROBIKE Awards Last summer, Carbon and Fizik released custom 3D printed bike saddles under the One-to-One label, developed in partnership with bike-fit specialists gebioMized.This saddle personalization program was recently awarded one of the cycling industry’s most prestigious prizes by winning Gold in the Components category at the 2025 EUROBIKE Awards.
During dynamic fit sessions, the process captures a rider’s biometric data and pressure mapping, and uses the results to design a bike saddle that has specially tuned comfort zones.Each bespoke saddle is then 3D printed with Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis (DLS) process, featuring complex lattice structures for rider-specific cushioning.Depending on what each rider needs, the saddle can be softer where pressure relief is needed, and firmer where stability is important.
This helps improve pressure distribution, support, and overall performance.This news highlights a big step forward in the role that 3D printing can play in personalized cycling performance.“We are very happy to win this Eurobike Gold award this year,” said Alex Locatelli, Fizik Product Manager.
“We invested four to five years in the making with lots of people involved.So, I am very happy about it.” Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.Print Services Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.
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