3D Printing

Universal charging cable created with 3D printing

2nd December 2020
Alex Lynn
0

One charging cable that will fit all your devices for years? Sounds like a fairy tale? The Australian company Volta, together with an Italian collective Metafora Design, has created a product proving it to be possible. The cable has been designed and printed with the use of Zortrax 3D printing Ecosystem.

Volta Spark is a universal charging cable that will come in handy for anyone who owns any electrical device. Although cables with interchangeable tips already exist on the market, manufacturers and designers declare that none of them is so resistant to damages.

Made with ultra-strong tangle-free military-grade nylon, this cable claims to be ten times more durable than other market offers and comes with a lifetime warranty. The benefits of the cable have already been outlined by the community of Indiegogo crowdfunding website, where the campaign goal was met with the 2,000% of its completion.

Together with Volta Metafora Design had three months to design a perfect cable that would allow the connection of tips adapted to different devices with the help of magnets. The studio aimed to create a solution that would be both convenient and elegant. Due to the specificity of the project, it would be too difficult to assess its functionality without 3D printing the prototypes.

One of the Co-founders of Metafora Design said: “We knew that the use of a 3D printer is necessary to properly assess the proportions of the final product. When creating our first concept, everything seemed to be perfectly calculated, but printing the element revealed up to 4mm of oversize. This is a huge error for such a project. Initially, the client wasn’t inclined to print and test all the elements because of potentially high costs.

“However, printing prototypes for such type of a project can be completed on a desktop printer that minimises the costs and provides an irreplaceable help in the design process.”

All the prototypes of the device were made on Zortrax printers. The original prototype was printed on the M200 Plus printer with Zortrax Z-HIPS and Z-PLA Pro filament. This print helped the designers to introduce changes and refine their design in the fastest way. The final prototype was made on the Zortrax Inkspire resin printer, which ensures exceptional, microscopical printing accuracy.          

Designers' skills combined with the appropriate tools allowed for the creation of a unique device. Placing magnet tips in Volta Spark has enabled users to conveniently switch the cable between the devices, whenever they need to charge them.

Thanks to high durability and a lifetime warranty of the product, the customers can rely on the cable to always be ready to charge their devices, which is crucial in today's digitised world. The Volta Spark is compatible with Apple MacBook Pro, iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel XL, or any micro USB devices.

The cable is currently in mass production and will soon be available for regular online sale.

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