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A new mini robotic printer works simply by placing it on top of a piece of paper.
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Think of a printer that you can carry in your pocket alongside your cell phone. That is what Israel’s. Zuta (Aramaic for small) Labs is developing with investments from the crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com.
The printer is actually a small robot that can be connected to a cell phone. It has wheels and is operated simply by placing it on top of a piece of paper.
The Mini Mobile Robotic Printer has a battery that can be charged via USB cable and that lasts for up to an hour. It has an inkjet that can print out over 1, 000 pages.
The printer is activated by a sliding hatch on the bottom, which reveals the inkjet. It uses an omni-wheel system to allow it to turn in any direction. The first version of the new micro printer will print only in grayscale.
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The printer is 10 centimeters high, 11.5 centimeters in diameter and weighs only 300 grams. It will be available in black or white. It works with both Bluetooth and wireless and so it can interact with all sorts of portable devices.
The crowdfunding website Kickstarter.com is raising the funds for the project. The creators seek a modest sum of only $400, 000. They have already raised $377, 759 from 2, 254 different investors.
“We live in a world where people are constantly on the go and are running their chores everywhere, ” said Tuvia Elbaum, Zuta’s founder and president in a statement. “But there’s one office tool that’s still stuck behind, hasn’t changed in the past decade and isn’t mobile.” He was referring, onviously, to the printer.
Zuta unveiled their project at last week’s Microsoft Israel Thinknext event in Tel Aviv. Elbaum told the Times of Israel that Zuta received amazing responses at the conference.
“We have received offers from different companies to assist us with the design and manufacturing of our product. Once the campaign is over we will choose the best partners in order to certify that this printer will do the best possible job and look good while doing it, ” Elbaum told the Times of Israel.
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Tuvia Elbaum founded the company together with its CEO, Matan Caspi. The two studied business and technology together at Jerusalem’s college of technology. Tuvia Elbaum also founded Umoove Ltd, which produces a device that allows users to track people’s head movements.
“We started this project at our college, the Jerusalem College of Technology, in the Friedberg Entrepreneurship Program, ” Elbaum wrote on the project’s Kickstarter page. “Students of the program were instructed to come up with an idea and a sustainable business plan.
After going through the rigorous acceptance process, we got accepted and were given capital, usage of the college’s facilities, and guidance from the professors in order to start turning our dream into reality. We first built a proof of concept, then a minimal-functional prototype and are now working on designing the actual complete prototype.”
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“Everything today has gone mobile. Thanks to our smart phones, tablets and laptops we can leave our office while staying fully connected by doing work on the go. Well, almost…” says Zuta Labs. “There is one device that got left behind and seemed to miss the “mobile revolution train”- The Printer.”
The Mini Mobile Robotic Printer project began in March 2013. Zuta hopes to market the first one in January of 2015.
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