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First Factory Use Of 'Replicator' For Spare Parts
maddogsparky writes: "Over at Spacedaily, there is an article about how a 3D printer was used to fabricate a replacement part in a production environment--the first known case. They've also done some tests in NASA's vomit comet and are planning on a shuttle test for applications on the ISS or Mars trip."
Heh, cool you can now replace those *missing* lego pieces! =) (or create new ones??)
I SURVIVED THE GREAT SLASHDOT BLACKOUT OF 2002!
First of all, all things aside, this is just plain cool. It shows a potentially helpful technology doing its job under real-life conditions. This looks like a solid demonstration of the practicality of the technology. I expect this example will be used again and again to show why the fabrication technology is a good idea.
Now, unfortunately, come the repercussions in our copyright/patent/IP-obsessed age. Now that someone can whip up things easily, we're going to see a repeat of the fears that led us to the DMCA, et al. These machines could concievably duplicate something you don't have the right to - time for massive government controls!
Let's hope we're all well-armed mentally for the next conflict.
"The Sage treasures Unity and measures all things by it" - Lao Tzu
Yes, probably a temporary replacement, but don't count out what polymers can do.
Some years ago I was told of a project to make a plastic clip for an overhead window (sunroof for houses). The window manufacturer was quite concerned about the strength and had the perception that any and all plastics were not likely to be good enough. Eventually the material used was a tougher nylon, with something like 30% glass fiber reinforcement.
When the first pieces were tried there was an attempt to break them, to show that "mere plastic" just would not do. Sure enough the piece disassembled and a chunk went flying across the room. As comments were being made about inferior product someone retrieved the broken part. The nylon had held, but a steel pin had not. There were no more arguments about 'cheap plastic' from then on.
While glass fiber reinforcement is probably out for this 3-D printing, polycarbonate is some pretty tough stuff (but subject to chemical attack by a few common things..) and plastics can be recycled. This may make much sense in space applications. If a part is needed, make it, and put the old part back into the source mix and use the molecules over again.
I don't subscribe to RMS's GNUtopian vision.
Xerox officials held an emergency press conference Wedensday to announce a
total recall of all Reprotron 5000 Three-Dimensional Copy Machines.
Xerox stock has plummeted to a new all-time low since the release of the
innovative device. Xerox hailed the Reprotron 5000 as a "new revolution in
copying" when it introduced the machine just two weeks ago, and market
insiders were certain that the copier would send Xerox stock through the
roof.
At a demonstration of the Reprotron in August, Xerox staffers made full
three-dimensional copies of an Oriental vase, a bowl of fruit, and a perfect
red rose. Reporters were invited to sample apples and oranges copied from
the original fruit, though Xerox technicians did warn that the copied fruit
might taste slightly of toner. John Thompson (inventor of the Reprotron)
stepped forward to make a copy of a Manhattan phone book, but accidentally
copied his hand and forearm. He quickly disposed of the highly detailed,
frantically wiggling half-limb as it slid out of the copier's delivery slot.
But Xerox wasn't ready for what happened next. "We assumed that people would
behave as responsible, thinking human beings with this copier, and obviously
we were wrong," Thompson states. From all across the USA, reports have been
filing in of the copier being used in what Thompson calls "sick, greedy
ways."
At a Copy Center in Austin, Texas, a couple was arrested for making 15
copies of their three-year-old son, Jeremy, and then refusing to pay for the
copies, claiming that some of the new children were "smudged." Local
authorities were uncertain as to which charges should be pressed.
In Union City, Arizona, Treasury Department officials are investigating
reports of a secretary who allegedly copied a single bar of gold bullion 150
times. A task force investigator stated, "Granted, it takes money to make
money, but we're almost certain that this action is in violation of some
laws."
Xerox officials are also under fire from consumers, due to rumors that the
three-dimensional copying technology is imperfect. Harold Butz of Peoria,
Pennsylvania, made a copy of a common cement brick spray-painted gold. Butz
claims he was "shocked and dismayed" when he discovered that the
machine-made copy was 22-karat solid gold. "All I wanted was a really good
copy of a cement brick spray-painted gold'" Butz stated. "What the hell am I
going to do with this thing?"
Xerox plans to scrap all the machines they are able to recall, but Thompson
expressed concern over the so-called "black market Reprotrons."
"Apparently some sick and greedy people discovered that if they had two
machines, they could use one to make a working copy of the other," Thompson
revealed. "To tell the truth, we only sold two machines in all - to the
Cappelli family, a New Jersey based Meat packing firm. These copy pirates
should be aware that as with anything that is copied from a copy and so on,
there are bound to be defects in the copies produced. We have no idea what
kind of stuff will pop out of the slot when a person copies something on a
fourth- or fifth-generation machine." Thompson declined to comment on
reports that hundreds of the pirated machines have a human thumb attached to
the coin slot which constantly wiggles - the result of a person's thumb
getting in the way during one of the original copier-to-copier copies.
"Ultimately, we're not too worried," Thompson stated. "People owning the
copiers will eventually run out of the fluid that make the machine work, and
we've taken all the fluid off the market. A machine can only last two weeks
or so without a fluid refill, and there won't be any fluid refills." When
asked why people with copiers couldn't simply make copies of the fluid
cannisters they already have, Xerox officials hastily ended the press
conference, stating that they "need to reconsider a few things."
Krispy Cream is people
No. Previous items built by 3D printers haven't been strong enough to actually use. The first ones were weak plastic, and then there were wax models- you could see what it would look like, you could turn it over in your hands and fit it together, but it wouldn't actually work.
This is the only time anyone has actually put it straight into a real machine. (Although people have built molds using this technology; it's close but no cigar IMO.)
-WolfWithoutAClause
"Gravity is only a theory, not a fact!"