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).'"

Comments

Really?

[Anonymous Coward]

How does it copy its circuit boards and metallic components? Does it have a little semi-conductor factory?

Re:Really?

[BlackSnake112]

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

Re:Really?

[PinkFuzzyBunny]

Currently the machine can produce %60 (by mass) of it's non-electronic components with the remainder being largely commonly available (metric) hardware like rods and bolts. Work is underway on a printhead capable of printing circuit traces via solder type alloys. 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. So granted this is a 0.1 version. It still however represents an order of magnitude drop in the price of 3d printing devices, and thus seems worth some attention.
Also as to the applicability of the GPL to a device, It is the plans, designs, and instructions which are GPL'ed and, Yes copyright has been used in attempts to control physical device distribution(Epson printer cartridges I believe).

Re:Really?

[Drooling Iguana]

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

Re:Really?

[inkyblue2]

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.

Re:Really?

[ah42]

No, it's toast.

so last year

[jim.hansson]

http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/01/2048205

Re:so last year

[jim.hansson]

and here is one more, not the same but close http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/24/1713208

One Question

[pete-classic]

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

-Peter

Re:Real headline

[nog_lorp]

Well, it is free as in thought. They give you plans for it. There is a 'not-for-profit' store for kits, setup by reprap.org - http://reprap.org/bin/view/Main/PartsSupplies

How long till the virus bots show up?

[TheNarrator]

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.

Re:It doesn't really self-replicate

[Grishnakh]

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.

Wrong; that's not $10 worth of injected-molded plastic, that's thousands of dollars worth at least.

Injection-molded plastic, as the name implies, requires a mold, and a machine to inject plastic with. Molds are expensive, as are these machines. Do you have the facilities at home to make injection-molded plastic parts? No? Then it's going to cost you a fair bit of money to send your CAD drawings to a place for them to make a mold and produce parts for you in large quantities. You say you only need one? Too bad. The cost isn't much different whether you want one or 1000.

That "$10 worth" of parts is only $10 when someone has gone to the trouble of making molds and doing a production run in the thousands or more.

With a machine like this, those parts can be made for next to nothing. You'll still have to add motors, leadscrews, belts, wiring, etc., but all that stuff is easily bought off-the-shelf, since it's all standardized. Special plastic parts for your particular application aren't available off-the-shelf, and that's the problem solved here.

Missing the forest

[Telvin_3d]

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.

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 /. 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.

We're doomed!

[countach]

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!

Re:We're doomed!

[wellmington]

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.

Here's a short-cut for ya

[RexDevious]

"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.

Nah...

[LanMan04]

If a toaster can toast itself, is it self-aware? Nope, it just gets hairy palms.