Aleph Objects, Inc. was a small manufacturing company based in Loveland,

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Their business model focused around the development of

Open-source hardware Open-source hardware (OSH) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by this open-source culture movement and a ...

for

3D printing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the Manufacturing, construction of a three-dimensional object from a computer-aided design, CAD model or a digital 3D modeling, 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is ...

with full support for

Free and open-source software Free and open-source software (FOSS) is a term used to refer to groups of software consisting of both free software and open-source software where anyone is freely licensed to use, copy, study, and change the software in any way, and the source ...

LulzBot

The company is most well known for its LulzBot 3D printer product line, which although using some extruded aluminum railing and other mass-production components still remains true to

RepRap The RepRap project started in England in 2005 as a University of Bath initiative to develop a low-cost 3D printer that can print most of its own components, but it is now made up of hundreds of collaborators worldwide. RepRap is short for rep''lic ...

principles by having many components 3D printable. Due to its fully

open source hardware Open-source hardware (OSH) consists of physical artifacts of technology designed and offered by the open-design movement. Both free and open-source software (FOSS) and open-source hardware are created by this open-source culture movement and a ...

and

open source software Open-source software (OSS) is computer software that is released under a license in which the copyright holder grants users the rights to use, study, change, and distribute the software and its source code to anyone and for any purpose. Open ...

design, the LulzBot Taz 6 has received "Respects Your Freedom" certification from the

Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)#501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...

. In addition, the Lulzbot printers are often used in open-source tool chains on open source projects. For example,

Superior Enzymes Superior may refer to: *Superior (hierarchy), something which is higher in a hierarchical structure of any kind Places *Superior (proposed U.S. state), an unsuccessful proposal for the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to form a separate state *Lake ...

used a LulzBot TAZ in fabricating an open source photometer for

nitrate Nitrate is a polyatomic ion A polyatomic ion, also known as a molecular ion, is a covalent bonded set of two or more atoms, or of a metal complex, that can be considered to behave as a single unit and that has a net charge that is not zer ...

testing. Similarly, Lulzbot 3D printers are used in projects to create low-cost prosthetic hands. Due in a large part to relative ease of maintenance and use, Lulzbot printers are one of several desktop 3D printers have been recommended for libraries by reviewers. In its 2014 ''Ultimate Guide to 3D Printing'' special issue,

Make Magazine ''Make'' (stylized as ''Make:'' or ''MAKE:'') is an American magazine published by Make: Community LLC which focuses on Do It Yourself (DIY) and/or Do It With Others (DIWO) projects involving computers, electronics, metalworking, robotics, woodwork ...

awarded the Lulzbot TAZ "best documentation" of all the hobbyist-grade 3D printers that were tested. The TAZ 4 was released in early 2014 with several key improvements to the TAZ platform to make it more robust and capable. This included a newly engineered drive rod system, redesigned y-axis heated bed mounts, a 400 W power supply, and a fully assembled electronics case that would allow compatibility with subsequently released dual extruders. Its release was met with reviews praising its new engineering. The TAZ 5 was also rated higher than any other 3D printer on 3D Forged's list of best 3D printers. On June 15, 2014, a film crew from the Canadian-produced television show ''

How It's Made ''How It's Made'' (''Comment c'est fait'' in French) is a Canadian documentary television series that premiered on January 6, 2001, on the Discovery Channel in Canada and the Science Channel in the United States. The program is produced in t ...

'' visited the company's headquarters in Loveland, Colorado. There, they filmed a segment featuring the LulzBot TAZ 4 3D printer, which aired in an episode of ''How It's Made'' on

The Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

in 2015. On May 17, 2016, LulzBot released the TAZ 6, which featured such upgrades as, automated bed-leveling, automated nozzle cleaning, and an enclosed power supply, as well as improved firmware, support for new filament materials, a better heat sink, and more. In 3DForged.com's review of the TAZ 6, Brent Hale called the TAZ 6 "the best overall 3D printer I have ever used." However it was the less expensive model, the LulzBot Mini 2 that was named Best Intermediate Printer of the Year for 2019 by Tom's Guide. The Mediahq agreed, naming the Lulzbot Mini 2 the best 3D printer for enthusiasts in 2019. LulzBot expanded its innovation in the field of 3D printing by using

collagen Collagen () is the main structural protein in the extracellular matrix found in the body's various connective tissues. As the main component of connective tissue, it is the most abundant protein in mammals, making up from 25% to 35% of the whole ...

, as collagen makes up every single tissue in the human body. In summer 2019,

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

created a functional 3D printed human heart tissue utilizing LulzBot's "FRESH" process. In October 2019, due to cash flow problems, the company laid off 91 out of its 113 employees. In November 2019, Aleph Objects announced that all of its assets have been acquired by Fargo Additive Manufacturing Equipment 3D (FAME 3D).

Other products

Aleph Object's business is focused around their line of 3D printers, as such, they also sell plastic filament, printer accessories, and replacement parts.

References

3D printer companies Loveland, Colorado Manufacturing companies based in Colorado Fused filament fabrication {{US-manufacturing-company-stub

LulzBot

Other products

See also

References