By Nishant Arora

Los Angeles, Feb 7 (IANS): In a bid to empower all users -- regardless of 3D printing experience -- build durable and accurate prototypes, global 3D printing and additive manufacturing solutions company Stratasys Ltd on Monday unveiled its new FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)-based F123 Series.

The series with three models -- F170, F270 and F370 -- is designed to make professional rapid prototyping more productive for design workgroups, the company announced on the first day of the annual SOLIDWORKS World 2017 conference here.

Being attend by over 5,000 engineers and designers at the Los Angeles Convention Center, the four-day event is organised by Dassault Systèmes, the 3DEXPERIENCE Company and a world leader in 3D design software.

According to Stratasys, there is a vast market opportunity in product prototyping which is not being addressed by the current 3D-printing systems.

"The launch of the Stratasys F123 Series targets these product design workgroups, industrial designers, engineers, students and educators who demand a professional quality rapid prototyping solution," Zehavit Reisin, Vice President, Head of Rapid Prototyping Solutions, Stratasys, told reporters here.

A single Stratasys F123 Series 3D Printer addresses the complete prototyping workflow -- from initial concept verification to design validation and final functional performance.

Most operations are easily performed using a touchscreen user interface. Installing and replacing material is equally fast and easy.

"Just as robotic tools of the future will adapt to their envisioned usage environment, we worked with Stratasys to create a look, feel and ergonomic design for the F123 Series that would offer expertly crafted user interactions," added Andre de Salis, Creative Director, Designworks.

Stratasys also announced a GrabCAD Print Add-In for SOLIDWORKS.

The tool enables the user estimate and 3D print parts for a range of Stratasys systems, including the F123 Series, giving 3D printer access to the entire community of SOLIDWORKS design and engineering professionals.