Adoption and expansion of a 3D printer selection engine

Abstract

Many big 3D printer manufacturing companies provide their printer specifications in disparate format making an "apples to apples" comparisons difficult. The purpose of the 3D printer selection engine is to display printer specification in a common format so users are able to make appropriate comparisons. It is anticipated the 3D printer selection engine, which is a first of its kind, can help the world's growing maker movement select appropriate 3D printers. This paper focuses on the expansion and dissemination of a previously conceived 3D Printer selection engine. Technologies and tools used for the deployment of the web based selection engine are covered in the paper. The 3D printer selection engine previously designed, along with the website interface has been hosted on the university webpage. Student feedback on the usability and design of the webpage has been assessed and is reported in this paper. Assessment results indicated that the 3D printer selection engine is a novel idea and a useful tool and has been well designed. The results also suggest that making the site more visually appealing, including help buttons, and providing explanations and definitions of words and materials can improve the 3D printer selection engine.