Verification

What is Verification?

     Since the Positron Project is completely open source, this means that anyone can build their own kit, and any manufacturer can sell kits (as long as the Creative Commons is followed). Unlike standard Cartesian style 3D Printers, the Positron has turned 3D Printer design on it’s head (literally), and with this new form of printer will come various manufacturing challenges. Many experienced manufacturers may not have an issue bringing the Positron to market, but we wish to offer our assistance to those willing to work with us to ensure high quality kits are produced. This lead our team to come up with the idea of “Verification” – a service provided by the Positron 3D team which offers Quality Assurance and testing from the original designers of the Positron Printer. 

    As mentioned before, manufacturers do not need Verification in order to produce and sell Positron kits as long as the Creative Commons is followed, but with an Official Verification from the Positron 3D Team, we can assure any potential buyers that the kit they are buying has been tested by our team, and is either on par with the original Positron or it performs better. We’ll get into details on how we will test that later. Once we are able to verify the kits, we ship them back to the manufacturer so that they can use the verified kits within their own internal Quality Assurance testing.

Benefits of Verification

     As mentioned above, Verification isn’t just a stamp of approval. It is a way to ensure that all kits produced are of high quality, a way for our team to provide Design & Production support to Manufacturers, a way for us to assist in Part Sourcing, and it allows our team to officially refer the Positron community to Verified Kit Manufacturers. Working together, we are able to provide;

  1. Quality Assurance
  2. Design & Production Support
  3. Part Sourcing
  4. Official Promotion
Quality Assurance

     First, let’s go over Quality Assurance. As discussed prior, the Positron Team is happy to help with testing the printer kits to compare it and test it alongside the original Positron printer. This will allow us to ensure that subsequent kits produced are of equal quality and performance, or better in comparison to the original printer. How this will work is pretty straight forward; A Manufacturer wishing to become verified will need to ship out at least two units to members of our team, from there, our team will go through a rigorous testing process to ensure that the machine meets expectations. Our testing will include;

  1. Ease of Assembly
  2. Quality of Materials
  3. Endurance Testing
  4. Quality & Performance Testing
  5. Ease of Maintenance & Setup

     Once testing is completed, we will ship back the units to the manufacturer for it to be used as a reference for their internal Quality Assurance Testing.

Design & Product Support

     Manufacturers may have many questions about how some parts of the machine were designed to function, or why we made certain choices during the design process. It’s important to understand why some decisions were made, and why some parts were used over others. This context can be important for producing high quality kits, and we want to make sure that we are available and able to provide this context. Additionally, we built and designed the Positron with the machines we had available at our University, specialized machine shops may have more accurate or precise machines that we do not have access to. Since different Manufacturers may have different tools available to them, or may not have the same parts available, we would like to offer Design & Product support in order to help Manufacturers bring the Positron to Market.

Part Sourcing

     Right now, it is incredibly difficult to source some parts needed for the Positron. Manufacturer’s within the United States may find it very difficult to find Synchromesh Cables and Raspberry Pi’s. That’s where we can help! We’ve had many specialty companies reach out to us who are not interested in producing full kits, but would be able to produce various parts of the kit such as Hot Ends, PCBs, Motors, etc. Our hope is that we can help establish lines of communication between these Part Manufacturers and Kit Manufacturers to help everyone create and develop supply chains that future Positrons can utilize. The past few years have shown us just how fragile Supply Chains can be, so we’d like to help establish robust supply chains across the world.

Official Promotion

     There are many members of the 3D Printing community that are very excited for Positron, and what it could mean for the future of 3D printing as a whole. However, we must address the elephant in the room, which simply put, is Low Quality Clones. Just like any printer made today, we know that these clones are inevitable. By Centralizing a list of our Verified Part & Kit Manufacturers into one place (this website), our community can help point each other to this central resource where they can purchase Full Kits, Parts, and Accessories straight from verified Manufacturers. This will help build trust and reputation within the community, as we can ensure that the Manufacturers we work with are producing products with the community in mind.

How to become Verified

     Becoming Verified is pretty straight forward, and it is composed of Three primary requirements;

  1. Quality Assurance Testing
  2. Periodic Testing & Design Improvements
  3. Supporting Positron 3D

     As mentioned above, Quality Assurance testing is to be done by our team. To complete this, we ask that Kit Manufacturers send at least two members of our team a kit to test. At the conclusion of the test, we will send the kit back to the Manufacturer. Since Positron has been an open source project, we ask that Manufacturers pay for shipping. This whole process allows us to ensure that the Manufacturer is determined to bring the Positron to market, from production to shipping.

     Secondly, as the nature of the Positron Project is Open Source, the printer is subject to change over time. We hope that our Kit Manufacturers are able to keep up with the current design, but we understand that changing production lines is not easy. Any changes that fix an issue with the printer will be required, but updates that don’t fix major issues will not be required. We will work with Manufacturers whenever we deem that a significant update has been made.

     Lastly, we ask that any and all Manufactures working with us provide a small cut of the profits (8% or more) with Positron 3D. Our team is composed primarily of full-time Students who devoted a year to bring Positron to life, and we are hoping to continue to manage and maintain the Positron Project. With the support of Manufacturers giving us a small percentage of each sale, we can ensure that we can continue to devote our time to improving Positron, and helping our community and manufacturers bring quality products to market.

     If you would like to become verified, please click the button below, and a member of our team will reach out to discuss.

Inquire for Verification