10-02-2015: ONO (formerly OLO) made its debut as the world's first photopolymer 3D printer creating objects using a smartphone

Ultimately, it became one of the biggest disappointments in Kickstarter's history, where backers lost over $2.3 million (myself included)

On October 2, 2015, the 3D Printing Industry portal was the first to showcase OLO – the world’s first resin-based 3D printer that used a smartphone for layer curing, priced at just $99. The device was designed by the Italian company Solido3D (later renamed ONO 3D) and was immediately met with immense interest across the industry.

In March 2016, OLO launched on Kickstarter, raising $2,321,811 from 16,180 backers. Later, it changed its name to ONO (more on that in a moment), delayed the delivery time for the devices, and then delayed it again, and again… In 2019, 1,047 days after the campaign ended, the devices still hadn’t been delivered, and the company’s CEO made one last promise that he was working hard to make it happen (which he didn’t).

There’s only one right answer here – though I still don’t know which one. OLO/ONO was either one of the biggest scams in Kickstarter’s history or a tale of epic carelessness and incompetence by the project’s creators. It’s highly likely that Filippo Moroni is one of the most hated creators of a Kickstarter campaign. If you look through the comments under the campaign, you’ll see many explicit words. There are over 12,500 comments, and the last one was posted on September 25 of this year. That’s probably a record as well?

ONO was a small device measuring 18 x 12.8 x 18.5 cm. The build area was 7.2 x 12.4 x 5.2 cm, though it also depended on the size of the smartphone’s screen. The largest phone that could fit in the 3D printer was 5.8 inches. The 3D printer consisted of four components: the base where the smartphone was placed, a resin container with a printing film attached to the bottom, a build platform with arms moving along the Z-axis, and the upper cover housing stepper motors and an LED indicator for device mode changes. The phone was connected to the 3D printer via a standard headphone jack.

The Kickstarter campaign ended on April 20, 2016. In August, due to a conflict with another company over the rights to the name OLO, the product was renamed ONO. Deliveries were supposed to start by the end of 2016. However, the deadline was repeatedly pushed back due to technical issues, delayed certifications, multiple electronics failures requiring further certifications, hardware changes (such as switching from a headphone jack to Bluetooth), and so on and so forth… It was manufactured in China and got stuck there forever.

The project simply didn’t work out. Few people received ONO and shared their impressions, which ranged from poor to terrible. The device never really worked well.

I was one of the backers (who never received the device), so over the years, I’ve documented this project in great detail in numerous articles. The story is rich with incredibly absurd or just plain stupid twists and turns. Today, ONO stands as one of the symbols of a disastrously (un)fulfilled Kickstarter campaign.

Source: www.3dprintingindustry.com