TheDrive's Ford 3D Print-Off

[Andy]

Ford has started putting generic mounting points in their cars (I believe it's only now starting with their Maverick truck line), and then releasing relevant CAD models online so that people can 3D print interesting things for them. They call it the FITS ("Ford Integrated Tether System") system, because if you don't give your thing a cool acronym, then what are you even doing with your life? To drum up hype, they gave 2 of the trucks to editors of TheDrive, who are having a 3D print-off.

They're a couple of articles in so far, and have made some kind of interesting things:

• The initial announcement
• The first round of prints (I thought these were OK. Definitely "learning about the truck's dimensions" category)
• The second round of prints (getting better--someone figured out how to print new FITS mounts, as well as a FITS-mounted MOLLE-compatible grid)

 

[Eric]

I am big fan this approach for companies! Valve has done the same with their Valve Index VR headset with full cad files of the plastic housing for the controllers and headset available. They also included a small cover on the front that reveals space for hiding accessories and a USB port which I have seen people install fans for so far.

GitHub - ValveSoftware/IndexHardware

Contribute to ValveSoftware/IndexHardware development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com