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I just had the idea, so this is a braindump. Would be very thankful for feedback and scrutiny of my thinking / assumptions.
Problem: It´s a pain in the butt, when some small piece of household appliances break down. In the past few weeks, I wanted to replace a broken piece of my lawnmower and a broken piece of our baby stroller and I´m not even that kind of guy that fixes stuff in the house all the time.
For both parts, I had to google the supplier and the parts and find out that a replacement would cost at least 20 € plus shipment costs.
I caught myself thinking: "I wish I could just scan it and 3D print a replacement part without having to search or drive to the next possible shop that could potentially have the spare part."
Buying a 3D printer and a 3D scanner is too expensive just for those 2 parts every few weeks / months.
Solution: Setting up a local 3D printing and scanning shop could be one solution for many people.
For the parts I wanted to replace, a low accuracy scanner, such as a simple iphone or a tablet can suffice, as long as one takes several pictures from different directions (photogrammetry).
There are several apps that can be used to combine the pictures and create an .STL file that can be used on a 3D printer.
Taking several pictures from several directions could be automated by a simple fixture that I can design and set up myself (good thing I´m an engineer lol). But this can wait for a later stage. In the beginning, the customer can just come in the shop, place the part on a table and use the iphone or table I can have in the shop to do it manually.
A simple SLA 3D printer should suffice for the kinds of parts I have in mind. The 3D printer can work on standard Nylon filament (PLA).
Depending on the size of the part, a cost can be calculated automatically based on the amount of filament used for the part plus overhead.
CENTS:
Control - No
Entry - Effort to search for equipment, commission it, test it out. Expertise to automate and make use idiot-safe.
Need - It has to be tested, I don´t know how many people would jump on this and if they would pay enough to do it.
Time - I want to avoid waiting around in the shop until someone comes. One alternative would be to set up an online shop that creates a ticket. The customer can use this ticket to enter the shop and use the equipment. The problem is that I have to automate the use of the equipment in a way that anyone can do it without damaging it and without getting frustrated on how to get good results.
Scale - As long as it runs automatically and idiot-safe, the shop can be set up on many different cities. Maybe through a franchise system.
Next Steps:
Problem: It´s a pain in the butt, when some small piece of household appliances break down. In the past few weeks, I wanted to replace a broken piece of my lawnmower and a broken piece of our baby stroller and I´m not even that kind of guy that fixes stuff in the house all the time.
For both parts, I had to google the supplier and the parts and find out that a replacement would cost at least 20 € plus shipment costs.
I caught myself thinking: "I wish I could just scan it and 3D print a replacement part without having to search or drive to the next possible shop that could potentially have the spare part."
Buying a 3D printer and a 3D scanner is too expensive just for those 2 parts every few weeks / months.
Solution: Setting up a local 3D printing and scanning shop could be one solution for many people.
For the parts I wanted to replace, a low accuracy scanner, such as a simple iphone or a tablet can suffice, as long as one takes several pictures from different directions (photogrammetry).
There are several apps that can be used to combine the pictures and create an .STL file that can be used on a 3D printer.
Taking several pictures from several directions could be automated by a simple fixture that I can design and set up myself (good thing I´m an engineer lol). But this can wait for a later stage. In the beginning, the customer can just come in the shop, place the part on a table and use the iphone or table I can have in the shop to do it manually.
A simple SLA 3D printer should suffice for the kinds of parts I have in mind. The 3D printer can work on standard Nylon filament (PLA).
Depending on the size of the part, a cost can be calculated automatically based on the amount of filament used for the part plus overhead.
CENTS:
Control - No
Entry - Effort to search for equipment, commission it, test it out. Expertise to automate and make use idiot-safe.
Need - It has to be tested, I don´t know how many people would jump on this and if they would pay enough to do it.
Time - I want to avoid waiting around in the shop until someone comes. One alternative would be to set up an online shop that creates a ticket. The customer can use this ticket to enter the shop and use the equipment. The problem is that I have to automate the use of the equipment in a way that anyone can do it without damaging it and without getting frustrated on how to get good results.
Scale - As long as it runs automatically and idiot-safe, the shop can be set up on many different cities. Maybe through a franchise system.
Next Steps:
- Set up a small local campaign advertising that I want to open such a shop. I can ask people to either give a thumbs up or give feedback on the types of parts they wanted to replace before seeing the ad or even send money to get the shop going (e.g. through a link to crowdfunding).
- Research the cost for the minimum viable product and how much overhead it creates.
- Create concepts for automation and idiot-safe use.
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