GreenBulb is now supporting an interesting project for a 3D printer called MakiBox, so that some of the prototypes can be made in house. This project is being advertised on Makible, a fund raising site specialising in manufacturing and distribution. Makible guarantees that successfully funded projects will be made in a sustainable and responsible manner, that supporters will receive their funded products according to the arranged deadlines or they will be refunded and that profit will be fairly shared with the makers.

The MakiBox A6 is able to print out something that is 1/4 the size of the printer itself, but it is still only the size of a sheet of paper. We have already blogged about Additive Manufacturing, and MakiBox is a step forward in its development. It can be a useful tool for makers, designers, students, engineers and anyone that wants to make things they can’t find in a store.

This trend might be good news to the automakers, but it also leads to quite a big downside: a massive rise in traffic. However, the ever expanding urban population needs to keep moving, so fortunately the Chinese government does have a solution. Building mega buses could be the way forward.

The 3D Fast Bus from the Shenzhen Hashi Future Parking Equipment Company is an example of this solution. This huge prototype can carry up to 1,000 passengers, but its most innovative feature is its design. It skips traffic problems by straddling the road, allowing it to cruise over traffic congestion or allowing traffic to flow underneath it when it is stopped. Passengers ride in a cabin 5m above the ground, on wheels supported on streamlined stilts.

Designers of the 3D Fast Bus say the electric bus could reduce gridlocked traffic by up to 30% and cost only 10% of the price of an underground transportation system to build.