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3D Self-Replicating Printer to be Released Under GNU License

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the damned-recursion-damned-recursion dept.

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).'"

33 of 313 comments (clear)

  1. Skynet Tag by kylehase · · Score: 3, Funny

    Self replicating machines... need a Skynet tag.

    --
    You want fun, go home and buy a monkey!
  2. One Question by pete-classic · · Score: 5, Funny

    Can this printer print a printer so large it, in fact, can't print it?

    -Peter

  3. How long till the virus bots show up? by TheNarrator · · Score: 5, Funny

    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 researcherâ(TM)s desk, in Bath, in the UK, or the other way around.


    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.
  4. weapons [and?] sex toys by binarybum · · Score: 4, Funny


    "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." ... so that we can then use those to build more and better weapons [and] sex toys, drug paraphernalia.

    --
    ôó
  5. That's great... by PRMan · · Score: 4, Funny

    But the liquid plastic cartridges are $250 each...

    --
    Peter predicted that you would "deliberately forget" creation 2000 years ago...
  6. Re:Really? by BlackSnake112 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... There are many copies. And they have a plan.

  7. The singularity by Toonol · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.

  8. whoo! lego! by kris.montpetit · · Score: 4, Funny

    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

  9. Re:Really? by TheWanderingHermit · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... There are many copies. And they have a plan. But that's toasters, not printers...
  10. Free? They make all their money off the 3D ink! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Free? They make all their money off the 3D ink!

  11. Re:Really? by Grishnakh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Hey, racist terms like that aren't tolerated here!

  12. Re:Really? by Drooling+Iguana · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bah, the fax machine is just a waffle-iron with a phone attached!

    --
    ... I'm addicted to placebos
  13. I'll get it to make... by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.

    --
    Drill baby drill - on Mars
  14. Re:Really? by joaommp · · Score: 4, Funny

    They can replicate all they want, we will still find a way to disrupt them. If we get in real trouble and they go after the asgard core, we call our ancient next door.

    --
    Onda Technology Institute
  15. researcherÃ(TM)s by XanC · · Score: 2, Funny

    Anybody know what's causing that apostrophe gibberish?

  16. We're doomed! by countach · · Score: 5, Funny

    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!

    1. Re:We're doomed! by wellmington · · Score: 5, Funny

      I, for one, welcome our 3d printing, self replicating overlords. Surely they can't do any worse than our current burger eating, oil selling overlords.

    2. Re:We're doomed! by bigdavesmith · · Score: 2, Funny

      I'm betting you still have to put batteries in each new copy, or plug them in, which makes the entire thing take way too much effort for me...

  17. Here's a short-cut for ya by RexDevious · · Score: 5, Funny

    "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.

  18. Re:Version 1.0? by Torvaun · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm still not sure why we're going smaller on this. I want my Magrathea, dammit!

    --
    I see your informative link, and raise you a pithy comment.
  19. Self Replicating Printer by Isotopian · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

  20. Kiwi? by fm6 · · Score: 3, Funny

    A Kiwi open source developer... Do you mean the fruit, or the extinct flightless bird? Either way, I find it difficult to take the project seriously!
  21. Re:Really? by jameskojiro · · Score: 2, Funny

    They have toasters that can print burn patterns into toast, so there!

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
  22. Re:Really? by inkyblue2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Actual printing of semiconductor devices is still in the early research and implementation phase at various corporations and universities. Printable motors are the remaining practical hurdle. lol. i'm almost done building a space shuttle out of papier mache. the only parts i'm still working on are the engines and the heat shielding for re-entry. consider this a 0.1 version.
  23. Re:Really? by davetd02 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Until they can print toasters on toast we're safe.

    If a toaster can toast itself, is it self-aware?

  24. Re:Text by bdwebb · · Score: 2, Funny

    "I think they're web server was built..."

    You keep using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means...

  25. Re:Really? by ah42 · · Score: 5, Funny

    No, it's toast.

  26. You've got to tell them... by DragonHawk · · Score: 2, Funny

    TFA said the typically-used plastic on these printers is PLA, polylactose acid, which is made from lactose, an ingredient in milk, human muscles, and various other biological sources... RepRap ink is people!
    --

    dragonhawk@iname.microsoft.com
    I do not like Microsoft. Remove them from my email address.
  27. Re:Really? by Yvan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

    May I suggest sodium bicarbonate and vinegar? Or maybe Diet Coke and Mentos?

  28. Damn those new-fangled printers by ignavus · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.
  29. Re:Really? by nametaken · · Score: 3, Funny

    I've heard about your replicating printer problem, and thought I might be able to help. I'm going to recommend time dilation and superconductors for this one. It's the answer to everything really.

    Hugs n' Kisses,
    Sam

  30. Re:Really? by mimada · · Score: 2, Funny

    There are at least seven copies of the RepRap machine in the world that Olliver knows about. He obviously doesn't know about the final five.
  31. Nah... by LanMan04 · · Score: 5, Funny

    If a toaster can toast itself, is it self-aware? Nope, it just gets hairy palms.
    --
    With the first link, the chain is forged.