The Mits Multifab 3D printer is the world’s first 3D printer that can use up to 10 different types of materials at once.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also known as MIT, have managed to create a new machine that’s easy to use and far less expensive that any other model on the market.

Your usual 3D printer is capable of printing with just one material at a time. Intricate and complex objects require time and patience. Assembling your end product can quickly become a chore, mainly because it’s time consuming.

However, if you sought after a machine capable of using 3 different types of materials, the price tag of $250,000 would have definitely been a deal breaker. No more, says MIT.

The Mits Multifab 3D printer built by CSAIL, which is the institute’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, costs under $7,000. Researchers used off-the-shelf components.

But that’s not the only great thing about the Mits. You see, the team behind the project have also added a machine vision into the device. Now it can scan objects, self-correct and self-calibrate. Its new scanning functionality means that  any object can be embedded into a 3D printed project.

You could just scan your smartphone on the printbed and have your machine create a special customized case.

Self-correcting means that the machine saves a lot of time, wasted material and effort on your part. The printer checks the build for errors, and if they are present, it adjust itself accordingly so you don’t have to scrape the whole thing.

Extruders have been built from piezoelectric inkjet printheads. Imagine the width of a human hair. Now cut it half in size, and that’s the  print resolution that these microscopic droplets of polymer extrude at – 40 micrometers.

A wide array of materials can be used with the Mits. The team has experimented with co-polymers, solvent-based materials and hydrogels. These were just experiments, however.

The Mits mainly uses rigid or high refractive materials, flexibile or elastic materials. Researchers have built smartphone cases, flexible fabric, a microlens array, a colorful tire, a fibre optic bundle and a LED lens.

All of that under $7,000.

We covered 3D printers a while back, but honestly, the Mits Multifab 3D Printer takes the cake. There isn’t anything else on the market like the Mits. When and if it will have a commercial release, be sure that we’re going to review it. 3D print enthusiasts rejoice!

Would you buy the Mits? Do you think there’s something better on the market? Tell us in the comments section below!

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