We Design and Produce 3D Printers

We talked to Massimo​ Moretti of WASP on how to develop and assemble 3D printers for everybody to finance the project of a big 3D printer for clay houses and this is what he had to say.

First of all, how are you and your family doing in these COVID-19 times?

Massimo​ Moretti: Fortunately, my family is fine, and all the members of the WASP​ company​are safe too. We respect the protocols to guarantee safety to all our Team. There was a meeting with doctors in WASP to transmit practical guidelines for self-defence from Covid to employees. WASP, in partnership with Doctor Giorgio Noera, internationally renowned Heart Surgeon of HRS (Health Research and Development SRL), has set up a Self-evaluation and Self-medication Kit​. It permits to manage first days of sickness and understand when it is necessary to call E.R. Number. Prof Noera is an expert in Sanitary Emergencies thanks to his work as Member of the Technical Scientific Committee of Military Health and the Ministry of Defense. He is also a Professor in Disaster Medicine at the Modena University.

Tell us about you, your career, how you founded WASP.

Massimo​ Moretti: Magically attracted by the sparks of my father’s grinder, I grew up in a small mechanical laboratory at home, and I was delighted in building works to aggregate my peers. I graduated in 1974 as an electronic technician, and then I started developing products. I collaborated with Research Centres, Universities, R&D Departments, prominent national and international companies to create industrial automation projects, 3D modelling and prototyping in the field of mechanics and interior design cosmetics and chemistry fields.

In my first 30 years of activity, I filed for about twenty patents before moving to open source and creative commons. My way of working is through invention and innovation. In my research path, essential for product development, I have been approaching 3D printing since 2000.

In 2012, together with a group of young designers, I founded WASP (World’s​ Advanced Saving Project),​a company that designs, produces and sells 3D printers Made in Italy all over the world. I take inspiration from nature and from the Potter Wasp’s observation, which builds its own nest with material recovered from the surrounding environment. I led WASP to produce large 3D printers able to build houses with natural materials and available on the territory, at a cost tending zero.

The revenue from the sale of 3d printers is in the research and development of integrated projects aiming to a production revolution that has the spread of prosperity as its primary aim. Research that moves ahead hand in hand with eco-friendly, bio-materials and sustainable economic models. I take education courses and increase research in the open-source world to spread knowledge and tools identically.

How does WASP innovate?

Massimo​ Moretti: “Small slight thoughts take shape by depositing” I’m used to saying. Thanks to 3D printing, I try to invent innovative solutions every day to meet human needs: food, health, work, energy, art and culture. For WASP, research and development are fundamental assets of the company. Together with Universities, Research Centers, Institutes and big companies, we try to develop the technology to give the possibility to make the best choices in all areas of 3D printing application.

How the coronavirus pandemic affects your business, and how are you coping?

Massimo​ Moretti: In March, when the protective devices were not available, WASP​ immediately put itself at the community’s service. For example, WASP has developed an open-source process that starts from the 3D scan of the face and allows you to customize and produce a tailor-made mask for each user. The wearer scanning uses photogrammetry with a standard smartphone camera from a distance of 1 meter. All the photos taken go through reprocessing to create a 3D mesh. Our goal was to make the 3D printed face mask perfectly ergonomic, following the facial features like a second skin, a result we achieved using the My​ Face Mask​Blender add-on. We have also designed and produced a protective visor that is now part of our habits, My​ Space Shield​. It protects us by closing on the head. A thin transparent PET film covers the nose, eyes, and mouth.

Another protective device is My​ Space Helmet​: a drip protective and ventilated Helmet with an integrated filter. Nose, mouth, eyes, ears: everything is enclosed in a pressurized casing and once worn, you feel protected, without the limitation of breathing capacity caused by the masks. The clean air comes from above, while small holes allow the sound to enter the ears area. This device wants to fulfil the prerogative to go close to another person without the risk of contamination. During the pandemic, we produced and donated these products to those who were on the front line against Covid-19.

Did you have to make difficult choices, and what are the lessons learned?

Massimo​ Moretti: Each of us has made difficult choices and will continue to make them until Covid is defeated. I had to close the production department, but we worked to help others with our research. I think that together we can get the best results​. My vision of Shamballa,​the ideal place to live, now, is more and more relevant.

How do you deal with stress and anxiety?

Massimo​ Moretti: I take long bike rides on the hills of our beautiful Romagna listening classics of Indian Tibetan Catholic Spirituality on Audible. I only interrupt the listening to look at the landscape around me.

Who are your competitors? And how do you plan to stay in the game?

Massimo​ Moretti: The 3D printing sector is very competitive. In the United States, Germany and Israel, there are very prepared people. Our motto is: “Your dimension, your material, our mission” means that we put the customer at the centre of our work. Flexibility, resilience, and willingness to respond to human needs with 3D printing are our plans to stay in the game.

Your final thoughts?

Massimo​ Moretti: I believe that we can solve world issues with technical knowledge, turning the earth into a Paradise without much effort and excellent benefits. The most advanced technology is at the service of our wonderful blue planet. In the future, we will look at this period as a moment of collective madness: a society that destroys its home (its planet) to increase the numbers written in the banks. Competition is taking place. We have to decide which side we’re on, even if we have to boycott who is destroying the planet.

Our final project is to print a house model complete with all the parts necessary for a man or a family to live freely. The house and its components will be 3D printed so the project can be replicated and improved by each participant. It is a project where every man contributes, so in the future, every human being will have food, home, energy, health care, economic independence, and culture as a birthright. It sounds like a utopia, but it’s a thousand times easier to build a house like WASP does than to build a base on the moon. It is a hundred thousand times easier to build a home that frees man from needs on earth than a base on Mars. We are doing it in open source. Anyone who wants to participate is welcome.

Your website?

www.3dwasp.com