BMW invests in a company building a 3D printer based on MIT technology

Material is dispensed, or drawn, into a gel bath. Images: RLP

BMW is the lead investor in Rapid Liquid Print, a startup developing a 3D printer designed to use industry-standard elastomers to produce soft, flexible products that need minimal postprocessing. MIT granted RLP an exclusive license to use the gel-printing technology, devised at the Massachusetts university’s Self-Assembly Lab.

The German automaker said of the investment, “We believe that RLP is disrupting the elastomeric 3D-printing space and breaking the limits of innovation within the industry. Our investment will support Rapid Liquid Print as they further develop their 3D printing solutions to expand within existing customers and into new customers with additional applications and materials.”

The RLP process begins with a 3D part file uploaded to the company’s CAM software, followed by loading the printer with material. The printer then dispenses the material within a gel bath, and the part cures in the gel without application of heat or UV light. Finally, the part is removed from the bath and simply washed clean with water.

RLP cites the following advantages of its technology:

• Prints objects in minutes rather than the hours or days needed with competitive products.

• Prints large objects, such as a hammock structure printed in an 8-ft.-dia. tank without support structures.

• Uses printing materials from established suppliers, resulting in printed objects that exhibit properties expected from an elastomeric product.

• Eliminates the long lead times and high initial costs common with traditional manufacturing methods like injection molding.

RLP was founded by Schendy Kernizan, who previously co-directed and led researchers and students at MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab. The company’s co-founders, all of whom also are associated with the lab, are Bjørn Sparrman, Skylar Tibbits, and Jared Laucks.

You can read the complete press release here.