Rawlings REV1X glove was features a lattice structure 3D printed with Carbon's Digital Light Synthesis technology.
3D printing company Carbon is continuing to kit out the world’s athletes with additively manufactured sports equipment, this time in the form of a new baseball glove design created with sporting goods manufacturer Rawlings, the Official Glove of Major League Baseball.
The REV1X is a new series of ultra-lightweight, form-fitting baseball gloves which feature an optimised lattice structure manufactured by Fast Radius at scale using Carbon’s Digital Light Synthesis technology. The glove, which is said to represent a "significant evolution" in glove design that dates back more than 75 years, also features a number of unique components including a lace-less web, adaptive fit system and Heart of the Hide leather palm and gusset.
“We are excited about the innovation Rawlings is bringing to baseball with the new REV1X glove,” said Phil DeSimone, co-founder, chief product and business development officer at Carbon. “These lattice structures are designed to add stiffness in the regions where it is necessary and soften regions where a certain flexure is required, adding another dimension of control in the design. During the design iterations, Rawlings was able to assemble and test the latticed finger pads right away, accelerating the product development cycle of about 10 months.”
Fast Radius is said to have quickly moved from prototyping to production to make the thumb and pinky inserts using Carbon’s technology, resulting in a glove that boasts thinner yet sturdier padding that won’t deteriorate over time.
“We were thrilled to help Rawlings scale production for this revolutionary glove,” said John Nanry, chief manufacturing officer at Fast Radius. “With our Cloud Manufacturing Platform and our expertise in additive, we were able to execute on a complex manufacturing process and get the REV1X gloves to market faster. Our mission is to make new things possible, and our partnership with Rawlings has allowed us to do just that for baseball players and fans everywhere.”
Years in the making, the collaboration also benefitted from several seasons worth of feedback from four-time All-Star shortstop for the New York Mets Francisco Lindor who will also be the face of the REV1X in the U.S.
"From the famous Bill Doak glove developed in the early 1920’s that was the first to include a pocket and web, to the creation of the Trap-Eze web in the late ‘50’s, to the newly released REV1X, Rawlings has always been at the forefront of glove technology and innovation,” said Ryan Farrar, senior director of ball gloves. “Rawlings continues to work alongside pros, the best in the game, to ensure our gloves are worthy of the highest-level of performance, and the feedback we’ve received from Francisco Lindor validates our belief that the REV1X will forever revolutionise defense.”
There are four models now available at retail in various sizes and patterns. Rawlings is the latest in a line of sporting goods brands to have leveraged Carbon's additive manufacturing technology to produce their next-generation products including Riddell and CMM Hockey which have used the process to create 3D printed liners for protective helmets, Specialized for a bike saddle that reflect's the rider’s geometry, and Adidas, which recently launched the latest iteration of its 4D running shoe with 3D printed lattice midsole.
Update: This story has been updated to clarify that Rawlings partnered with Fast Radius to manufacture the REV1X glove at scale using Carbon's DLS technology.
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