Autodesk, best known for software that help people design in 3D, has unveiled a new open software platform for 3D printing called Spark, along with a 3D printer to showcase the software.
The company said that its printer will serve as a reference implementation for Spark, and its design will be available publicly. The freely licensable platform and 3D printer will allow anyone to develop and experiment with the design and both software and hardware are scheduled to be released later this year.
"Together, these will provide the building blocks that product designers, hardware manufacturers, software developers and materials scientists can use to continue to explore the limits of 3D printing technology," Carl Bass, Autodesk president and CEO, wrote in a blog post.
The post also mentions that the company plans to work with hardware manufacturers over the coming months to integrate the Spark platform with current and future 3D printer designs. This will be an effort to overcome the fact that many 3D printer makers already distribute their own proprietary computer software, as pointed out by Bass in an interview with the WSJ, which can create a complication for users. Bass said that in some cases, customers are even tied to buying materials from the company that has sold them the printer.
On the other hand, Autodesk's 3D printer looks to be more flexible with materials as it plans to make it work with a wide range of supplier refills. The publication of the design of the printer also means that users can in-effect make their own clone devices.
Overall, it seems that rather than making money from hardware, Autodesk's main interest is to aid the progress of 3D printing by widely spreading its free Spark platform in the industry. Similies are drawn to how Google's Android software helped build a big market for compatible devices.
The WSJ also points out that Autodesk's 3D printer will most likely target professional users and won't initially have consumers in mind. The pricing of the printer is estimated around the $5,000 mark but no official confirmation has been given just yet.
