Imagine if you could print glass objects just like you print plastic on a home 3D printer, but with extreme precision. Instead of using giant furnaces and dangerous chemicals to mold glass, this technology uses a laser to melt a glass thread into any shape. It allows people to create tiny, complex glass parts without needing a massive factory or a sterile cleanroom.
Traditional glass manufacturing is energy-inefficient and expensive, requiring massive infrastructure, extreme heat, and corrosive chemicals. This makes it nearly impossible for companies to quickly iterate or create complex, high-resolution glass geometries.
A Direct Glass Laser Deposition (DGLD) 3D printing system. This includes custom slicer software, a stable feeding system, and a new 3D stage module.
If you are a biotech lab dealing with the high cost of custom microfluidic chips — this project developed a 3D printing system that creates organ-on-a-chip structures with resolutions of 100-250 µm. This allows for faster iteration of lab-on-a-chip designs without expensive infrastructure.
If you are an optics manufacturer dealing with the difficulty of creating complex free-form lenses — this project developed Direct Glass Laser Deposition that prints high-resolution glass structures. This reduces the need for corrosive chemicals and high-temperature industrial furnaces.
If you are a luxury brand dealing with long lead times for custom glass geometries — this project developed a system to print glass from filament without post-processing. This enables the creation of decorative arts and customized parts with short lead-times.
Based on available project data, the specific commercial price of the printer is not listed, though it is described as a cost-efficient alternative to traditional glass fabrication.
The technology is designed to replace large-scale infrastructure and cleanrooms, though current achievements focus on high-resolution structures (100-250 µm) and prototyping services.
The Direct Glass Laser Deposition (DGLD) technology is protected by multiple pending patents.
The project objective states that the system enables the printing of customized glass parts with short lead-time compared to traditional methods.
The system requires no special infrastructure or cleanrooms and includes a custom Nobula slicer software for operators.
The project is led by a single Swedish SME, Nobula3D AB, with a 100% industry ratio. This lean structure indicates a highly focused commercial drive, moving directly from development to market traction without the typical academic overhead of a larger consortium.
Contact NOBULA3D AB in Sweden
Contact us to connect with Nobula3D for custom glass prototyping.
