Formlabs
T
here´s something special about having a company like Formlabs ask for permission to use one of your designs for a product launch. I´m not gonna lie here but the fact that they think that putting in the time and effort it takes to build such a project is worth it and will bring value to them is of course flattering and gives your a confidence a nice boost. Obviously i said yes!
How and why
Formlabs contacted me mid september saying that they would be releasing a new line of resins in the of October and they wanted to use the OpenRC 450 Quadcopter (among other designs) to promote one of these resins called “Tough”. The Tough Resin is designed to be compareable to ABS with similar mechanical properties perfect for a project like the OpenRC 450 Quadcopter.
Designed for FDM
One of the challenges faced by Formlabs was the fact that it´s a solid body design. 
As Formlabs software “Preform” doesn´t allow for gradual infill like a regular style FDM printer or some other softwares for SLA printing they had to hollow out the bodies in clever ways. But it didn´t seem like a huge problem and they were nice enough to send some updates on the progress during the build. I really love the look of the parts printed in the tough resin with a semi transparent look.
The result
They printed all the parts, added electronics and still had time to fly it and get some filming done for the promo video. Well done Formlabs. I think it looks amazing and i´m proud to see my design be a part of this product launch. Check out their video here or go to the Formlabs website for more pictures and info!
If you want to see more of the OpenRC 450 Quadcopter check out the video below.