DOWNLOADABLE THREE-DIMENSIONAL MODELS
A server is configured to store a number of different models of an object in machine-ready form corresponding to a number of different three-dimensional printers having differing capabilities and/or hardware configurations. When a user at a client device or a printer requests the object, the server automatically determines a printer type and selects a suitable, corresponding machine-ready model for immediate fabrication by the printer.
1 . A computer program product comprising computer-executable code embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps of:
storing a plurality of machine-ready models of an object, each one of the plurality of machine-ready models adapted for one of a number of types of three-dimensional printers each having a predetermined configuration; and
receiving a request from a client for the object through a data network;
identifying a three-dimensional printer associated with the client;
selecting one of the machine-ready models corresponding to the three-dimensional printer associated with the client; and
transmitting the one of the machine-ready models to the client through the data network.
2 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the request from the client includes a single action from the client in a web page served by a web server to the client.
3 . The computer program product of claim 2 further comprising code that performs the step of receiving the one of the machine-ready models at the client and transmitting the one of the machine-ready models from the client to the three-dimensional printer for fabrication.
4 . The computer program product of claim 2 wherein the client is configured to automatically store the machine-ready model on a removable memory device locally coupled to the client.
5 . The computer program product of claim 2 wherein the single action is a single mouse click from the client.
6 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the machine-ready models include g-code for fabricating the object.
7 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the client is the three-dimensional printer.
8 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the client is a computing device coupled in a communicating relationship with the three-dimensional printer.
9 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising code that performs the steps of:
receiving a digital model of the object through the data network; and
creating the plurality of machine-ready models based upon the digital model.
10 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising code that performs the step of storing a second plurality of machine-ready models for each of a plurality of objects.
11 . The computer program product of claim 10 further comprising code that performs the step of providing a user interface through the data network for the client to browse the plurality of objects and select one of the plurality of objects for fabrication.
12 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising code that performs the step of verifying a printability of each one of the machine-ready models on a corresponding one of the types of three-dimensional printers.
13 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising code that performs the step of storing metadata for the object.
14 . The computer program product of claim 13 wherein the metadata includes one or more of a computer rendering of the object, a photograph of the object, an author comment for the object, a number of downloads for the object, a category tag for the object, and a popularity rating for the object.
15 . The computer program product of claim 14 wherein the metadata includes the number of downloads for the object, wherein the number of downloads includes a number of downloads for each one of the machine-ready models for the object.
16 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising code that performs the step of modifying a selected one of the machine-ready models according to specific configuration information for the three-dimensional printer associated with the client.
17 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising code that performs the steps of:
automatically determining when a request to fabricate a selected one of the machine-ready models should be redirected to a second three-dimensional printer; and
performing a second selection of one of the machine-ready models corresponding to the second three-dimensional printer.
18 . The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising code that performs the step of managing a print queue for the three-dimensional printer and the second three-dimensional printer.
19 . The computer program product of claim 17 further comprising code that performs the step of managing a print queue for the client.
20 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the types of three-dimensional printers include different printers from a single manufacturer.
21 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the types of three-dimensional printers include printers using two or more printing technologies selected from a group including jet printing, stereolithography, fused deposition modeling, layered object manufacturing, and selective laser sintering.
22 . The computer program product of claim 1 wherein the predetermined configuration includes one or more hardware components of the three-dimensional printer.
23 . The computer program product of claim 22 wherein the one or more hardware components include one or more of a display, a heated build platform, a camera, a conveyor, and a color-mixer.
24 . The computer program product of claim 1 further comprising, when two or more of the machine-ready models are suitable for the three-dimensional printer associated with the client, selecting one of the two or more machine-ready models according to a predetermined criterion and transmitting the one of the two or more machine-ready models to the client.