The team from Zuta Labs Ltd wanted to bring printing into the twenty first century. They required the printer to be easily accessed through wireless communication but small enough to be portable. The Zuta printer is the robotic solution, currently running a Kickstarter campaign.
Zuta is driven by an omni-wheel system, a configuration familiar to veterans of FIRST Robotics. The polycarbonate shell is shaped to help the user place the printer at the top corner of the page for repeatable accurate printing.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1686304142/the-mini-mobile-robotic-printer
The first Kickstarter round of printers will weigh about 300g, with an 11.5cm diameter and 10cm height. A USB port in the bottom of the printer holds the lithium polymer battery. The battery will run for one hour off of a three hour charging time.
Computers should recognize Zuta as a printer because Zuta uses the BPP protocol. Android and iOS apps are being developed so that any Bluetooth device can control the printer.
Zuta started as a college project for Matan Caspi and Tuvia Elbaum at the Jerusalem College of Technology. They were tasked with creating a sustainable business plan around a new idea. Early funding came from the Friedberg Entrepreneurship Program for proof of concept modeling and early prototype builds.
Early estimates tell us that more than 1,000 pages can be printed with one standard HP inkjet cartridge. The speed is estimated to be 1.2 pages per minute, with a print quality of up to 96x192 dpi. Paper size can be set in the Zuta control interface and any size paper should be printable.
The idea for the Zuta is awesome and revolutionary. Backers of this project will pay around $200 for a printer that is estimated to be available in January 2015. The campaign has received $350,000 of its $400,000 goal in the first week and should have no problem meeting its funding target.
Zuta is very ambitious with its scope but the technology and manufacturing ideas all exist today. The Kickstarter video is very well done but I would love to see what happens when the Zuta gets to the end of a line of text and has to return to the left side of the page.