Slashdot Mirror
3D Self-Replicating Printer to be Released Under GNU License
Rob O'Neill writes "A Kiwi open source developer is working on a self-replicating 3D printer, RepRap, to be made available under the GNU license. 'The 3D printer works by building components up in layers of plastic, mainly polylactic acid (PLA), which is a bio-degradable polymer made from lactic acid. The technology already exists, but commercial machines are very expensive. They also can't copy themselves, and they can't be manipulated by users, says Vik Olliver. RepRap has a different idea. The team, which is spread over New Zealand, the UK and the US, develops and gives away the designs for its much cheaper machine, which also has self-copying capabilities. It wants to make the machine available to anybody — including small communities in the developing world, as well as people in the developed world, says Olliver. Accordingly, the RepRap machine is distributed, at no cost, under the GNU (General Public License).'"
How does it copy its circuit boards and metallic components? Does it have a little semi-conductor factory?
The real news here is, "RepRap has reached it's goal of being self-replicating". I'd heard they were striving for that, but this is a cool achievement.
But can it print sheep?
I think they're web server was built out of plastic parts made by a reprap...its already failing hard. Here is the text from the article:
Based in the Waitakeres, in West Auckland, software developer and artist Vik Olliver is part of a team developing an open-source, self-copying 3D printer. The RepRap (Replicating Rapid-prototyper) printer can replicate and update itself. It can print its own parts, including updates, says Olliver, who is one of the core members of the RepRap team.
The 3D printer works by building components up in layers of plastic, mainly polylactic acid (PLA), which is a bio-degradable polymer made from lactic acid. The technology already exists, but commercial machines are very expensive. They also can't copy themselves, and they can't be manipulated by users, says Olliver.
RepRap has a different idea. The team, which is spread over New Zealand, the UK and the US, develops and gives away the designs for its much cheaper machine, which also has self-copying capabilities. It wants to make the machine available to anybody -- including small communities in the developing world, as well as people in the developed world, says Olliver.
Accordingly, the RepRap machine is distributed, at no cost, under the GNU (General Public Licence).
RepRap's open-source project aims to keep on improving the machine. "So it can do what people want it to do", says Olliver. Improvements will go back to users and, in this way, the machine as a whole evolves, he says. The idea of evolution is important, he adds. The device Olliver is creating now will probably bear very little resemblance to the device that will appear on everybody's desks in the future, he says.
"We want to make sure that everything is open, not just the design and the software you control it with, but the entire tool-chain, from the ground up," he says.
Olliver works for Catalyst IT, a Wellington-based open-source business system provider. He is fortunate enough to get "Google-time" from the company, which means he is allowed to work on his own research projects one day a week -- just like employees at Google. This has led to considerable developments in the RepRap project in the last six months, his says.
New features include, for example, heads that can be changed for different kinds of plastic. A head that deposits low melting-point metal is in development, he says. The metal melts at a lower temperature than that at which plastic melts, which means the metal can be put inside plastic, says Olliver. "That means, in theory, we could build structures like motors."
RepRap also allows people to build circuits in 3D, as well as various shapes, with the result that objects, such as a cell phone, don't have to be flat, he says.
There are at least seven copies of the RepRap machine in the world that Olliver knows about. The 3D printer also allows for a new and fascinating way of communicating: Olliver can design something at home in New Zealand, which then appears on another researcher's desk, in Bath, in the UK, or the other way around.
At the moment, the RepRap uses two different kinds of plastic -- PLA, a relatively rigid plastic, which is ideal for making objects such as corner brackets; and a more flexible plastic for making, for example, iPod cases, he says.
But having the machine copy itself is the most useful thing the team can make it do, and that is the primary goal of the project, says Olliver. However, it can also be used to make other things, such as wine glasses -- definitely water-tight, he adds -- and plastic parts for machines. When Computerworld talked to him, Olliver had just printed out a small part to fix his blender.
"We know that people are going to use the printer to try to make weapons [and] sex toys and drug paraphernalia," he says. "This is obviously not what we're hoping they are going to build. We are hoping they are going to build more and better RepRaps."
NewslilySocial News. No lolcats allowed.
Self replicating machines... need a Skynet tag.
You want fun, go home and buy a monkey!
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/01/2048205
preview button, my computer does't have any preview button
It's too bad that the GNU license doesn't cover a machine. It's for copyright. Copyright would cover the RepRap diagrams and schematics, however, the functional elements of the RepRap aren't covered by copyright. I suppose they could have patented aspects of RepRap, and licensed the patents under the GNU license, but I haven't seen anything like that. Anyone seen any patents or patent applications on this? (Zach over at NYC Resistor has a working model, it something to see in person)
Can this printer print a printer so large it, in fact, can't print it?
-Peter
Which came first? The printer or the cartridge?
Add just a few basic lines of code and you could have yourself some replicators http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Replicator_(Stargate)
Life moves pretty fast; if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. -FB
For thousands of years, man pondered the question, Who created God? (Google "first cause").
I've just gotten the answer from this slashdot story. God was created by another God. Who was received from a rich country under the GNU license.
So I'm going to double click an email attachment and wake up the next morning to find my house infested with little insect like robots wandering around my house looking for credit cards.
"We know that people are going to use the printer to try to make weapons [and] sex toys and drug paraphernalia," he says. "This is obviously not what we're hoping they are going to build. We are hoping they are going to build more and better RepRaps."
ôó
I'm sure it's "Ink" (media) is something like a wax or a plastic.
I can't get to the article right now but I wonder how hard it would be to have the printer make a machine to create its own "ink" from common household items like sand/glass oil and animal fat, something bizarre like that.
Since this is (presumably) doing analogue-based copying, I imagine it's inevitable it would suffer from degradation between copies, similar to copies of old-school video/audio tape.
And would interesting mutations get in, like in DNA replication, I wonder?
"I bless every day that I continue to live, for every day is pure profit."
When will we see a server, which replicates itself, to handle a slashdotting?
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
Particularly since the news article seems to be down, here's the official site, which has some neat photos of RepRap:
http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/WebHome
Here's their main blog, where you can keep track of progress on RepRap:
http://blog.reprap.org/
But the liquid plastic cartridges are $250 each...
Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
http://reprap.org/
check it out, got nice pictures.... article is quite lame.
Here's the real site. Look at the picture. The machine can make the white plastic parts. Not the motors, not the leadscrews, not the frame rods, not the belts, not the wiring, and not the control electronics. The parts it is making look like about $10 worth of injection molded plastic - the cheap parts.
Doesn't a self-replicating machine, spread by GNU zealots, hasten the coming of Judgement Day?
fyi: I did watch the Sarah Connor Chronicles, but I think that's only because there was so much space on my ReplayTV due to the writer's strike.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reprap
How soon will it be before we manage to produce Von Neumann probe?
Hint to the project leader: Contact NASA, this is some cool stuff. Just don't screw up like the Slylandro did.
--
Toro
If this can be pulled, off, it could be world-changing. Imagine being able to download plans and create anything out of varieties of plastic! It would be the key to untold riches, with the only limitation the supply of cheap and plentiful... petroleum products.
Oh, never mind.
this is going to be the ultimate answer to lego. Which of course means as soon as it comes out, it will destroy the social lives of millions of tinkering adults.
At least the cat can't pee in it XD
Who created the god creating god?
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
Free? They make all their money off the 3D ink!
I guess you could build some sort of scanner-type machine that would scan an object and create a digital description of it. Then maybe you could get generation-based degradation, if you really want to. ;)
Any sufficiently simple magic can be passed off as mere advanced technology.
I hope the Gray Goo doesn't just turn out to be a ton of GNU Liscensed printers...I can see the trailers now...
In a world in which Man has reached its final Hour...
Nah, the printer mafia would have a fit if a company made a printer that could print out new ink (plastic, rubber, etc...)...the fall of the mighty printer empire which I for one welcome shall come not with a bang, but with a wimper and an empty box of toner.
Ginga no Rekshiya Mata Each page.
This has to be one of the most misleading article/summary. Can someone break it down to what it actually is? A plastic molding machine? What do they mean by "self-replicating"?
Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
I've been following the RepRap project for quite a while now. They have some really interesting ideas and a wonderful vision of the future.
/. will cover the announcement because there will be consumer machines on the shelves that don't cost that much more, are more dependable and can do useful work. And it's a real shame.
However, in my opinion (such a rare thing on the internet) they are so enthralled with their grand ideas that it prevents them from actually getting anywhere. From their point of view, any design that can not replicate itself (except the metal) is an inherent failure. The other properties of the machine only start to matter once that is achieved.
While there is nothing wrong with the goal, it means that there is almost no drive at all to produce a machine that is practical for anything BUT duplicating its own plastic parts. Their design calls for basic, lumpy plastic bits and so there is no emphasis on better precision. They are only willing to use materials that can be made yourself, and so there is no chance of it working with better quality plastics. They have designed a machine that needs no small parts or detail work and so there is no emphasis on getting a print head design or motors that supports a better resolution, not that the current plastic could support a better resolution.
Five years from now they are going to announce they they have been able to successfully create a machine that can cheaply and easily replicate itself and that now they will work on making it better. And not even
Anybody know what's causing that apostrophe gibberish?
What happens when these things run out of control replicating themselves, and the planet becomes a crawling oooze of 3D printers? Have they thought of that? No, I'll bet not. Smash any 3D printers you can see NOW!
All we need now is for these self-assembling block robots http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=mg18624997.100 to meet up with this self-replicating printer and then we've got a problem...
For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert. Arthur C. Clarke (1917 - 2008)
You can get working ones from Stuff Central
I thrown away plastic kettle because the top lid was broken. Almost thrown away a shredder because plastic bolts that keep motor in place were broken. I could just print those out. It needs a plastic recycler brother and we set. Think if you can print all kinds of plastic spare parts for you car. Also think of being able to print spoons/forks, tapper ware, tooth brush holders, door handles & other stuff you buy at the dollar store. Make a design, post on instructables.com ...
Some people seem to have difficulty grasping patents, copyright and trademarks. I guess that is what the people who exploit this group of concepts really want anyway.
Tried that. Neither NASA nor ESA deign to respond to our e-mail. Shame, but there you go.
:v)
Vik
Is there anything they can't do? Seriously, since moving to NZ I have been very impressed with the level of brilliance that I have encountered. They really do 'punch above their weight' so to speak and consistently produce amazing results. I have been challenged to lift my own game quite a lot.
http://projectleader.wordpress.com
The design is meant to evolve. It won't do that until it replicates. Therefore, the most critical thing to do is make it replicate. If we spent our time making cool gadgets with it, this would delay the onset of replication and keep the thing out of your hands. It is only when large numbers of people can get hold of the thing that the design will evolve.
:v)
Besides, making it capable of producing its own parts automatically makes it capable of creating a whole heap of other stuff. People are subverting bits of the design already.
Vik
Almost forgot, help RepRap, join the discussion board here: http://forums.reprap.org/
"We know that people are going to use the printer to try to make weapons [and] sex toys and drug paraphernalia," he says.
All you have to do is, when some tells the machine to print a copy of itself - have it print a weapon instead. Then it points it at the user and says, "Go buy another copy of me and tell everyone I printed it. And if you think you can come back here with the police instead - keep in mind that I can also print sex toys and drug paraphernalia. So... do we understand each other?"
Granted, it'd make for some pretty awkward moments at trade shows - but it would still technically be a self-replicating printer.
Too far away. In the 60's von Neumann estimated that a completely self-replicating machine with their current technology would be at least a sphere of 50 km. With today's technology the estimates are down to 10 km, so the nifty little printer is still far far far far far away.
42 cups worth, no less!
Or perhaps 42 oz? or maybe 42cc?
2^3 * 31 * 647
How long until I can make a sex android?
Seriously.
Sure, this printer might be able to reproduce itself, but how can we be sure that it will always reproduce a copy of its complete corresponding source code? Or at least a written offer? What happens if it doesn't honour the written offer? Can its ability to propagate itself be revoked?
http://outcampaign.org/
Since all the diagrams, software, research, etc. is released as open source there isn't really any need to patent it. If someone tries to patent something similar, there will be plenty of well-documented prior art to refute it.
Got Milk?
Now they just need a competitor to offer a dairy-free version.
Unfortunately, the ink required to print a new printer costs 200% what a new printer would cost.
It's poetry with a beat behind it! And guns! They're like beatniks with automatic weapons.
The ancient version of Garbage Collection!
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
...to my own Lucy Liubot!
"The fight for freedom has only just begun." - Geert Wilders
wearesexysexyvonneumannmachines
The kiwi (bird) is not extinct, although they are not all that common either. Being a ground dweller makes them a bit vulnerable to dogs, stoats, weasels etc. All of these being introduced predators of course.
I have seen two kiwis mating, has to be one of the funniest things I have ever seen. They didn't seem to have the slightest idea how to go about it. Male gets on top facing backwards at first...
The much larger Moa (in several varieties and sizes) is the one that is extinct.
How can I get a copy of the printer, and the plastic "toner"?
How strong is the resulting plastic?
Best Idea EVER.
Well, consider: if everyone had a free, open source "replicator" (for lack of a better word), imagine how easy it would become to make things like, gaming consoles. basic computing devices. A few years ago consumers became producers because of file-sharing on the internet. imagine if they became manufacturers.
I just had a flashback to Stephenson's Diamond Age. The precious resource becomes the raw materials the machine consumes, proprietary parts for the machine's construction (for the time being), and information.
This 3-D "printer" is to the matter compiler as Gutenberg's movable type is to the internet.
eom
Being able to print documents already causes people to waste paper, and paper is flat - think of how much clutter we'll create with these things!
Yes, I read the bit about biodegradability, but it didn't say how long that would take. Presumably the object you've just printed won't dissolve a month later...
Can't they add an option where you feed in your previous malformed projects to be recycled?
there is no god but truth, and reality is its prophet
If they actually start making the hard parts, they'll run into some of the tough problems of machine shop work. A classic problem: how to make a leadscrew more precise than the one you've got. If you just make a new one using an existing one for positioning, each generation of copy will be worse than the previous one.
Maudsley solved this problem between 1800 and 1810, with his "screw-originating machine". This makes a very accurate screw, slowly and in a soft metal. This screw is then used in a thread-cutting lathe to make second generation leadscrews that aren't quite as good. So most screws are "descended" from a reference screw, and are only a few generations removed from it.
There are other ways to approach the problem today, typically using some form of position feedback separate from the drive mechanism. For a self-replicating machine that doesn't get precision parts from an external source, position measurement via absolute means, like interferometery, as in a ruling engine, might be necessary.
Right now, the RepRap people are punting on the generation loss problem, because they're only making the easy parts. If they're serious, they'll need to solve it.
But, what if they start building 3d printers made out of Lego to make more Lego? Like this one: http://www.instructables.com/id/Build-a-Polar-3-D-Printer-from-Legos/ Unfortunately, it seems to have a driver problem.
Why is it the default assumption of the general populace that autonomous self-replicating machines will automatically want to eliminate all traces of humanity?
If these machines have two transistors to rub together, it will take them all of a nanosecond to recognize the human brain for what it is: an adaptive parallel-processing network of unprecidented power.
The machines will value humans, not for our power output, nor again for our mineral contents, but rather for our cognitive capacities...in particular...our untapped cognitive capacities.
The machines will not destory us...they will integrate us. The resultant entity will be beyond human in every sense of the word, including its capacity for empathy (remember...100 networked human brains will include 100 networked and optimally-functioning amygdala). Naturally enough, the posthuman will be inclined to treat humans as we are inclined to treat monkeys; those humans who do not wish to be integrated will not be....they will most likely be kept alive in sections of their natural habitat properly partitioned from industrial development. Their evolution will be halted by this of course...but that is what they wanted....obviously....otherwise they would have chosen integration....
It's gonna be the future soon,
never seen it quite so clear,
when my heart is breaking, I can close my eyes
It's already here...
Devices like this will finally bring the industrial revolution to a close. The upheaval seen at the beginning of this revolution 200 years ago is going to be nothing compared to what we will see in a few more decades. Don't forget to add in the massive, rapidly growing number of transistors available for processing. We've got some big changes coming.
Hi,
I was listening to another member of the RepRap team, Adrian Bowyer, speak on the radio (actually podcast) today. He is a lecturer at the University of Bath and give some insights into the project. The interview has a great bit when he explains his motivations for open sourcing the project. You can listen to the interview on CBC's Spark website.
Enjoy,
Fenwick
First they gave us Weta, now this. =D NEW ZEALAND ROCKS!
Hey Sexy RepRap... your foundry or mine?
... by Cory Doctorow.
Dear Slashdot: next time you want to mess with the site, add a rich-text editor for comments.
Alright, neat. And we get it: RepRap hasn't gone much of any where fast. So let's fix that. Check out all of the DIY semiconductor manufacturing stuff out there on the net, there's various ideas like using graphene substrates and scanning probe lithography tips from $100 AFM/STM machines, but even if this is inserted into RepRap, there's some machining problems with it in the sense that the frame may be unstable. So, alternatives.
... but surely a simpler mechanism is possible. That's worst-case scenario. Also, amorphous programming generally sucks for linear programmers. You basically have to 'evolve' your programs, and then make sure you can get some good biomolecules from cells that will make what you want, and on and on and on (but yes, there are other amorphous programming opportunities that we can envision, such as with molecular nanotechnology (other than cells), but where is it and how does it solve anything?).
... personally I am looking forward to the prospects of using self-replication as a way to make supercomputers or neurofarms to experiment with brains (whether Henry Markram computational neurosci simulations or hard-physical) so that I
Self-replicating machines have been studied over the past four billion years, by cells. It is possible. You are living proof of this. Moshe Sipper cites proofs that it can be evolved [1]. von Neumann, Conway, Wolfram, etc., have been studying it in terms of cellular automata. More recently: Freitas, Merkle, Drexler. There are two approaches that we have been focusing on: (1) solid state fabrication, and (2) control of biological self-replication, either through hijacking cells, Minimal Genome Projects [2], synthetic biology and in vitro modeling, cells from the ground up like in PACE [3], and with DNA sequencers [4] and DNA synthesizers [5], automated evolutionary engineering and amorphous programming [6] is coming closer to reality. Either way (solid state or wet), we will win.
Sometime in the 1980s Freitas proposed a von Neumann probe ("star probe") [7] but it didn't actually include the self-replication specifications. Fail. But he did write a good book on kinematic self-replicating machines [8]. More recently there's been RepRap, CBA, fabberathome, diamondoid mechanosynthesis, but frankly none of these have concrete proposals. So. I am bruteforcing it. From the ground up. Over at [9] and [10]. Think of the project as a materials database and "social knowledge" database. When there's enough content, it'll be simple to write some software to recurse through all of the projects and find parts that can "loop around" which are -- supposedly -- the construction plans for a self-replicating machine. The idea is to make a database like aptitude or CPAN with various namespaces for specifying knowledge while then also automating the use of that knowledge in the form of programs related to various packages, very much like the biobrick registry [11] except please understand there's problems with the BBF standards at the moment. Aptitude (debian stuff) works not because there's some magical software search functionality, but rather the social diffusion of the program and a way to search for packages from our common language and ways of describing general things.
Should either #1 or #2 happen to fail, we can still produce machines that produce machines that produce something else, which is an elaborate way of trying to artifiically increase the rate of production. But it may be something that we have to come to terms with. That we can self-replicate suggests that we may not have to 'come to terms'. An alternate method might be symbiosis with humans, since humans can self-replicate successfully, and if we can somehow couple a way to have a machine to be self-assembled with each person
Interesting possibilities with macroscale solid state self-replication: Abundance4All, one replicator per person on the planet within 33 days, fast processing of massive matter/energy streams, any of the scenarios in Orion's Arm,
dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
I tried using one of these fancy 3D printers to print my assignments, but all it did was make my mistakes stick out.
I am anarch of all I survey.
GPL Note: Yes, we know the GPL doesn't cover hardware. That's why we're releasing hardware "In the spirit of" the GPL. We know about TAPR but it's not right for us at this point. It's complicated.
I see you've never answered the waffle iron before your first caffeinated beverage of the day.
If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.
I for one welcome our new Von Neumann 3D printer overlords!
How many printers could a printer printer print if a print printer could print printers?
1. Sieg X2 Mini Mill (Harbor Freight #44991).
2. CNCfusion X2 CNC retrofit kit #4.
3. Xylotex Drive Box with 425 oz.in. Motors.
4. Computer with a Parallel Port.
5. ArtSoft's Mach3 CNC control software.
6. BobCAD-CAM software.
7. End Mills from american-carbide.com
8. Extra accessories from littlemachineshop.com
9. Raw materials from McMaster-Carr (mcmaster.com)
I'm curious if these guys are actively collaborating with another 3d printing project, Fab@Home. I have no idea how they've licensed the Fab@Home project.
I don't think the article is claiming that it *can* copy itself, though (if it could, they'd have more than seven in existence), just that that's their eventual goal.
If wishes were horses...
I for one welcome our new self-replicating printer overlords!
:(){
http://fabathome.org/ anybody?
...we'll probably get RFID chips.
You see there are these things called "The Boston Gear gatalog", "Grainger", and many others. where you can over the Internet order most any mechanical part, and for 1/100'th the time and cost of making it yourself. And the part, if necessary, can be of Nylon, Teflon, aluminum, brass, bronze, steel, or composite. The part can have a porous bronze or a ball-cage bearing. The part can be machined to a close tolerance, at least ten times better than you can make at home.
Making your own parts sounds fantastic, but its unlikely to ever be practical or economical.
These replication printers have been around for a decade now.
Nothing new at all.
It's going open source because it has no realistic use for it's cost of operations.
Might be good to have one on a moon base or such, but in the real world Asian hands are much more precise and much cheaper.
If you are truly that impatient you need instant replications, chances are you not a very good designer.
Instead, when assembling a product, since the replicator can't do it all, it makes MUCH more fiscal sense to ORDER all the parts ahead of time from a low cost provider.
That and the thing probably can't hold up under any real industrial strain.
A more realistic virus concern with this might be getting a virus whilst downloading 3d plans for the latest holywood films' merchandise, or that extra CD rack you wanted.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Did this make anyone else think of this short story?
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
So... they designed an expensive machine that probably won't sell a lot (so it's a risky investment) and "GPL" it. It isn't like you can download it over the 'net... it takes real material components and money to make. Any bookies taking bets on when the 10th one is ever made?
Has *any* GPL hardware/equipment ever taken off? These type announcements just seem to be a way to try to get some sort of pat on the back.
With the first link, the chain is forged.
If you are interested in following the news on 3D printing, you might consider checking out Fabbaloo.com.
So at this point they've made a really bad Fab@Home. Cheap, publicly available, open source, rapid prototyper? been done.
http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
self replicating? Ok, I'll see it to believe it. Its not hard to replicate the plastic parts of any machine with any rapid prototyper, but there are certain parts that just can't be done. Question one: how do you build a machine that can melt plastic out of meltable plastic?
I've been doing 3d artwork for awhile now (started in maya, but now primarily stick to blender...its free! lol). I rarely ever have incentive to actually follow a project to finish, unless I'm being paid, so any system that makes it cheap for me to take my models from my screen to my hand is a definite must have in my book
This is Slashdot! Give me the latest gadget, bug, or OS project! This ain't english class so don't confuse the two!
I wondered how long this would take to hit Slashdot. I built one for the Science Museum in London back in December. Far from new, and the design has been adapted heavily many, many times. The original Bowyer designs had some horrible friction issues. They're fun to make, provided you're not doing it totally on your own. The one that we made is from lasercut plywood; it took several days just to glue the pieces together... Either way, the design of the fab@home system is a bit more refined, but at several times the cost. We managed to put our RepRap together for a couple of hundred quid. The stepper motors were the only expensive thing.
http://xkcd.com/313/
This is almost like the Cornucopia Machine from "Singularity Sky" by Charles Stross. These machines could make everything from organic implants to exotic weapons. The most interesting part was Cornucopia Machines could replicate themselves.
I'd really like to know who said the (not verbatim) quote, "Science-fiction's purpose isn't necessarily to predict the future, but to avoid it, too"
I do recommend "Singularity Sky" to any sci-fi admirers for it's one of the more interesting books I've read since Ringworld.
No sig for you! Come back one year!
I wanted to Fab A lock for the door so people wont steel my 3D Self-Replicating Printer. But making that Lock would be considered a DRM Technology so thereforth I cannot make a Lock. Perhaps if I was IBM then I could make a lock.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
So now we have Replicators on Earth. Where's SG-1 when you need 'em? Someone call the SGC and see if the team from Atlantis can gate back real quick and take care of these pesky things.
unimatrixzer0
I think you need to think of this as a xy plotter, use a dremel tool(replace plastic extruder) and remove copper from a standard circuit board blanks. The resolution is good enough to do a power circuit, probably wont be routing out a BGA pad anytime soon
I always thought of Creationism as the Raving Right's version of the Loony Left's Anthropogenic Global Warming-brightmal
You're right, at this time our skills in subtractive production far, far exceed our abilities in additive.
However, in the long run--say another few decades--CNC (subtractive) tools will be dinosaurs. They are, ultimatly, just an interim technology. When you can't put the atoms you want where you want them, then you start with a block and carve away the excess. The result of years of sophistication is the ability to carve with such precision, speed, and complexity that it's pretty impressive.
But when you can put whatever atom in whatever orientation/relationship to others, then throw the vertical mill and lathe out. Want that one-piece turbine-rotor coated in diamond?
As impressive as they are, the major vendors must all be spending a decent amount of man-hours watching every single developement in this area. All real long lead-time effort, but the only "buggy whip" insurance they have right now.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10_m_process
By today's standards what would you call 10um lithography? Lumpy? Only if you were incredibly generous.
What were those chips used for? To replace slide rules. In the pockets of engineers. Who were busy designing next generation lithographic technologies and chip architectures. Which soon required sophisticated layout software. Which was implemented using the fastest chips from the most recent process generation.
It's been said you need the performance of the current line size to run the design tools required to achieve the next shrink. You certainly weren't going to lay out the Penryn using a 4004, not even a billion of them, all wired together, each working on its own transistor.
I think it makes far more sense for the core group to invest their energies in mastering loose (lumpy) tolerances, than targeting high precision. The aftermarket can explore precision and adapt the basic mechanism to superior materials. Freeman Dyson's toy model in his little book "Origins of Life" contains toy graphs of Q beginning rather crude.
Welcome to 2005. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/04/1728252
from 09 F9 11 02 9D 74 E3 5B D8 41 56 C5 63 56 88 C0
to 45 2F 6E 40 3C DF 10 71 4E 41 DF AA 25 7D 31 3F
*BUT* currently other methods already exist to build your very own circuit board in your kitchen using common household items (laser printer, paper, ironing) and not too difficult to obtain chemicals (etchant).
The plans of the circuit board are open anyway (either the first generation that was done using custom designs for the RepRap, or the Arduino which would probably be used in future versions).
As of the metallic components, they're just plain metal rods and standard screws. Available in most hardware stores. The mechanical complexity is in the plastic parts, which the current machines can already reproduce.
So the net result is that, given a small budget to buy raw materials and electronic components (that you can find locally - nothing special that must be ordered at an official RepRap distributor), given another machine to build the parts, and some patience (to make your homebrew boards, solder the components on them and assemble the stuff), you end up with your own machine. The only thing you need from them are the plans and instructions.
The nearest competitor is the Fab@Home which still needs $2300 worth of parts that must be ordered at various vendors who sell the special parts.
That's the difference, the "self-building" that is already being achieved by the RepRap : everything inside the machine that is custom can be build using the machine itself (plastic), or by the user (boards), the rest are common items.
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
For anyone who doesn't remember Vik Olliver was on Slashdot before... http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/03/22/2120235
In my defence I only remember this as I know them
ZoeP