Fire up your 3D printer! Honda releases data for several of its past concepts [w/video]

Thu, 30 Jan 2014

Futurists have been treating 3D printing like it is the second coming of the Industrial Revolution for years. Everyone will have a 3D printer in their garage and be able make practically anything at home before you know it, right? Well... not quite.

While we can imagine a piece of trim breaking on our car and being able to download the file to print a new one at home, the reality is that 3D printing is still in its earliest stages as a consumer device. Still, Honda is capitalizing on the technology by allowing people to make models of its concept cars at home.

The Honda 3D Design Archive currently consists of five models based on the Fuya-Jo, FSR, Kiwami, Puyo, and NSX concepts. The printer files can be downloaded from the web and carry Creative Commons 4.0 licenses, which allow them to be freely shared. Honda promises that more files will be added to the archive soon.

Honda's 3D Design Archive may be providing little more than toys at present, but it shows exciting promise for the future. Scroll down to watch a time-lapse video of Honda printing its Puyo concept.

Honda Releases 3D Data of Its Concept Models - Providing opportunity to experience Honda's "art of manufacturing" with a 3D printer

TOKYO, Japan, January 28, 2014 - Honda Motor Co., Ltd. released three-dimensional (3D) data for exterior designs of concept models Honda has introduced in the past. The data is offered based on version 4.0 of Creative Commons* licenses, a new set of copyright licensing standards for the Internet age. With the data downloaded from the special website "Honda 3D Design Archives," Honda's concept models can easily be replicated by a household 3D printer, which is becoming more popular in recent years. By offering data of its concept models, which embody the spirit of "Honda Design," Honda offers opportunity to enjoy a simulated experience of Honda's "art of manufacturing."

Honda is currently promoting a new global branding project under which Honda's unique approaches and thoughts toward the "art of manufacturing" appeal to a wide range of people. Following the release of a Honda brand commercial film titled "Super ultra daydreams," which debuted at the start of Honda's press conference at the Tokyo Motor Show last year, the release of the 3D data through the "Honda 3D Design Archives" will be the second initiative under this project.

Due to the latest technological innovations and the introduction of affordable household 3D printers, the "art of manufacturing" in society is experiencing fundamental change. Against the backdrop of such change, Honda designed this project in an effort to identify new ways of communication beyond the conventional framework between a manufacturer and its users. Honda is hoping to see the emergence of outstanding future automobile designers and engineers from the users who are inspired by this project.

By Chris Bruce