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66 The PCB Design Magazine • March 2016 to a prototype that we could show off here at the show, took 59 hours. Where the rigid PCB and 3D printing really fit, as we see it, is in the support infrastructure for the manufacturing and finalizing of all of the emerging technolo- gies. Matties: Tell us how the customers are going to win by doing this. Johnson: It happens more and more with Ar- duinos and other microprocessors that are so accessible going onto projects that are getting smaller and smaller all the time. One example is a gentleman we were talking to who has an Ar- duino-based hummingbird feeder that adjusts, heats and cools the hummingbird feeder to keep the nectar just exactly right for his hum- mingbirds. These microprocessors are showing up in all sorts of applications. At what point do you program that, boot load that into your con- sumer device and get that running? You're going to need some jigs to do that even if you're just a small mom-and-pop shop doing that sort of thing, and that's exactly where 3D Fixtures benefits its customers. You can cus- tom design what you need for doing that part of your work. Get it made in one, two, or three days in quantities of four, five, or six very af- fordably, and get started. It beats the heck out of trying to do metalwork at a machine shop to fit that sort of a thing. Matties: Is the idea that they buy the printer? Johnson: No, we do the printing for them. All we need to do this is the mechanical design. We can even help with the design, but basically we need the CAD file (STL or STEP), and we run it though the printer. It's just the same exact busi- ness model as we've been running at Sunstone with PCBExpress® and ValueProto® for years and years. Matties: This is great, because the cost to buy a printer and all of the associated technology to go with it is a sizable investment for this sort of ap- plication. Johnson: Absolutely, it's a lot of money, and then the expertise to know how to run it. Ma- chine operation is important. One of the things that we learned in making this particular test jig was that if the printer isn't calibrated, you might end up with a jig that looks right but the piece won't fit. Matties: I liken this to the early days of typesetting when linotype came into use in publishing. There were service centers, but eventually linotype went away. What's the lifecycle of someone needing a supplier to when they're going to be able to buy the printer at an affordable price? Johnson: That's a great question. We'll all have to wait and see how that plays out with the dy- namics of how 3D printers are going to come down in price. We need to remember, though, that there are still successful print shops due to unique requirements, special formats, and ma- terials. The 3D printer that everyone can afford will not cover every need. We think there will always be a need for specialized 3D printing. It's been interesting to watch what's happened around this too, Barry. You've got the 3D printers that busted out sunstone circuits r&d: 3d printing great for prototyping Nolan Johnson, Sunstone product manager.