Design of the Week: The Tank

By on August 10th, 2015 in Design

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This week’s selection is “The Tank” by a Mr. Park from Korea. 

We learned about this incredible PLA-printed tank from Rokit, makers of 3D printers in Korea, whose equipment was used by Park to produce the Tank. 

The design involves approximately 1,500 separate 3D printed pieces, plus appropriate electronics to bring the tank to life. And it is alive! As you’ll see in the video below, the tank can not only motor freely, it also has an articulated cannon. 

The cannon also lights up with a blue LED. 

The Tank can be controlled remotely via an Android app, similar to other remote control devices. 

As you might imagine, this design is quite complex, and it apparently took Park some four months to complete the design and build the working Tank.  

Park brought this design to the attention of Rokit to demonstrate to the company what was possible on their desktop equipment. We’d say the Tank clearly demonstrates a great deal of capability! 

Is the design for the Tank available? We cannot locate it, but according to Park he “expects” to share the design to the world, but has some concerns about doing so at a reasonable price. 

This is an incredible demonstration for Rokit, who produce some fine equipment, but unfortunately are not yet easily obtained outside of Korea. We understand they’re seeking to establish relationships with resellers in the USA and other locations. 

Nevertheless, the fact that such an incredible model was produced on desktop 3D printing equipment does show the potential capability of many 3D printers. Perhaps even the one you’re using now. 

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!