#3DStartup: Colossus on their large-scale yet easily transportable 3D printing system

Colossus, a startup based in Genk Belgium, has created one of the world’s largest and most advanced Fused Granular Fabrication (FGF) printers. It is also the first fully integrated transportable 3D printing system. The Colossus printer is the first system designed with a special accent on materials for furniture, construction applications and large size 3D objects. Special attention was placed on being able to work with recycled materials. Combining cutting-edge technology to give plastics a second life. Already large scale projects with recycled materials as well as festivals like like Tomorrowland, ABinbev, essencia and more. We had the opportunity to interview Philippe Daniel Mérillet, CEO and Founder of Colossus who told us a lot more about his company and how it is innovating in the 3D field.

3DN: Can you present yourself and tell us more about Colossus?

3DN: How did you come up with the idea of a 3D printer in a container?

Yannick Aerts (co-founder of Colossus) and myself were collecting and printing with plastic waste from “Pukklepop” a festival in Belgium. Yannick’s lifelong dream was to build a giant FGF printer and we knew the festival wanted to print furniture from their waste. So the idea was first to build a printer that would be big enough to print a chair in less than 3 hours. And secondly, make it transportable. Most robot arms are very expensive to move, and most printers need a closed environment, so building the printer in a container essentially reduces the cost of transport enormously, which makes it perfect for printing on location, for example at festivals. We could literally show up before the festival/fair started and print all the furniture and than leave.