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Halloween Pumpkin Carving With CNC Robotics

Posted by samzenpus on from the high-tech-carving dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A guy at Lumenlab has created a way to carve his face on a pumpkin using his DIY CNC gantry robot. I think this demonstration says a lot about the future ubiquity of the technology. I'm really looking forward to the day that I have one of these machines in my garage."

46 of 73 comments (clear)

  1. Holy Crap! by Capt+James+McCarthy · · Score: 4, Funny

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Fine_(actor)

    --
    There are no loopholes. It's either legal or it's not.
  2. This is really obligatory! by cosmocain · · Score: 4, Funny

    Take this!

  3. Very cool by shad0wfire1 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    These Guys have upgraded a hell of a lot since I first purchased the projector kit from them. Loved my projector :) New site looks amazing.

  4. nice pumpkin, but by v1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think I like the /. article pumpkin better. I can't imagine how you'd carve that thing... I mean, even the spikes... how? incredible.

    --
    I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
    1. Re:nice pumpkin, but by Clarious · · Score: 1

      I think I like the /. article pumpkin better. I can't imagine how you'd carve that thing... I mean, even the spikes... how? incredible.

      If you RTFA, then you will know that is not the pumpkin he carved, he used CNC machine to carve his face on a pumpkin, not a demonic face. It is still incredible though

    2. Re:nice pumpkin, but by cool_arrow · · Score: 1

      I don't think the spikes are carved. They are likely something like colored toothpicks stuck in after the cnc is done.

    3. Re:nice pumpkin, but by cool_arrow · · Score: 1

      nvm. they're different sizes. Carved maybe but not w/ cnc.

    4. Re:nice pumpkin, but by alx5000 · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well, and if you cared to read the comment you just replied to, you may find out that he already knows, and that he still likes the one samzenpus used better.

      And it's not demonic, FFS, it's a predator!

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    5. Re:nice pumpkin, but by svnt · · Score: 1

      Whoa whoa whoa I have to stop you.

      "a demonic face"

      A?! demonic face?!

      GTFO. Seriously. Try again tomorrow.

  5. Re:Whoa! by tritonman · · Score: 5, Funny

    That pumpkin is an abomination! It represents all that is wrong with the world taken over by robots, so much for the sanctity of halloween! I'm sure this one will make the baby jesus cry, when he created halloween, this is NOT what he had in mind!

  6. DOOOM by coleblak · · Score: 1

    Christ, I had a Doom flashback. It's too early in the morning for a pic like that. Nonetheles, AWESOME!

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  7. Wrong picture... taken from here by bryansj · · Score: 5, Informative

    This guy was on Food Network and won the pumpkin carving challenge. The Predator pumpkin shown was stolen from his site. http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm

    1. Re:Wrong picture... taken from here by HEbGb · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Exactly. The CNC methods are fun and all, but it's really offensive to have a solid, hand-carved artwork misattributed like that. The photo should be removed.

    2. Re:Wrong picture... taken from here by eonlabs · · Score: 1

      If the second pic was properly attributed to the site it came from I don't think it matters, but since it isn't, it either should be or be removed.

      Seconded!

      --
      I wouldn't consider the mad hatter mad. Just reality impaired. He sure can make a mean cup of tea.
    3. Re:Wrong picture... taken from here by svnt · · Score: 1

      Offensive? To who, pumpkin artists everywhere?

      What percentage of the population do you think that is? If we can't afford to offend pumpkin artists we have seriously gone off the deep end.

    4. Re:Wrong picture... taken from here by EdIII · · Score: 1

      No offense, but your an idiot.

      He was not talking about offending a small minority of people, which according to you does not matter since they are a minority. An offensive concept in of itself, I might add.

      What he was referring to, of which I agree, is that is offensive to mislead people and attribute one person's work to another regardless of the nature of that work and its popularity.

      This is about ethics and professional conduct in journalism.

    5. Re:Wrong picture... taken from here by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      I find it offensive to represent one person's work as someone else's, especially when one is machine-made and another is hand-made.

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    6. Re:Wrong picture... taken from here by Jrono · · Score: 1

      "Ethics" and "professional conduct"? On Slashdot?

      You must be new here... :-)

      But yeah, I had to browse through the comments to figure out where that picture came from. It's very annoying when things like this aren't properly attributed.

  8. Obligatory by cunniff · · Score: 1, Redundant

    I, for one, welcome our robotic CNC overlords.

  9. hmmm by thatskinnyguy · · Score: 1

    ROGR... is that any relation to the WOPR

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    The game.
  10. His face? by Joolz50 · · Score: 1

    ...A guy at Lumenlab has created a way to carve his face on a pumpkin ...

    Thats his face?

    1. Re:His face? by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      If it is, he's a dead ringer for my ex-wife!

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      Free Martian Whores!
  11. AVP by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    Alien Pumpkin versus Predator Pumpkin: Whoever Wins, We... get pumpkin pie

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  12. Massively misleading article summary and photo by nmg196 · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just in case it isn't obvious, the photo is NOT related to the article summary and the pumpkin was NOT carved on a CNC machine! This article is massively misleading. The photo was stolen from another site featuring hand-carved pumpkins. I doubt a CNC machine could even vaguely come close to doing that on a material so soft and flexible.

    1. Re:Massively misleading article summary and photo by mephistophyles · · Score: 1

      I think a CNC machine could actually... the main problem would be making sure the pumpkin doesn't move while you're working on it. The teeth would be hard to do, but a 3D CNC machine like certain specialized businesses and technical universities have should be able to make a decent attempt, but since the material is fairly fragile it'll take a while.

      whether a material is soft and flexible doesn't mean it can't be CNC'ed, it just means that the bit will have to rotate a lot faster and the movement speed will have to take into account the shape it's making... It's a challenge, but certainly not too difficult. It'll leave a mess that needs to be cleaned though...

    2. Re:Massively misleading article summary and photo by BLKMGK · · Score: 1

      Redundant but here's the site with that pumpkin - featured on DIGG awhile ago which is how I found it -> http://www.villafanestudios.com/pumpkins.htm

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    3. Re:Massively misleading article summary and photo by TheGeniusIsOut · · Score: 1

      The easiest way to work with soft and fragile materials like a pumpkin would be to deep-freeze it before carving.

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      Ignorance is Bliss -- And the Opposite is True -- Genius is Madness
    4. Re:Massively misleading article summary and photo by AlexBirch · · Score: 1

      Just in case it isn't obvious, the photo is NOT related to the article summary and the pumpkin was NOT carved on a CNC machine!

      OMG Slashdot uses misleading intro to increase their viewership, news at 11.

  13. I believe you but .... by frovingslosh · · Score: 1

    You would better support your statement by providing a link to the other site that you say exists. The problem that I have with the article is that he completely ignores the issue of irregular gourd shape, both outside and in. Lots of babble about converting the image to a depth map, but no mention at all of the bigger issue of how to map that to a irregular round surface. I don't believe this was done on this system either, but I find it hard to understand how you could make your claim and not provide a link.

    --
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  14. Nice carving, but ... by Muad'Dave · · Score: 5, Interesting

    ...I'd love to see the same sort of thing done from inside the pumpkin (through a hole in the top), without piercing the outside skin on the side. The pumpkin would look unmolested until you illuminated it from the inside. Wooo!!! Scary!!!

    --
    Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    1. Re:Nice carving, but ... by smellsofbikes · · Score: 1

      There's a famous Charles Addams cartoon that shows a field of pumpkins, with one in the foreground being carved from the inside: just a knife blade sticking out, busily cutting away...
      Alas, I can't find a pic online.

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      Nostalgia's not what it used to be.
    2. Re:Nice carving, but ... by cool_arrow · · Score: 1

      That would be cool. Perhaps cut the pumpkin in half, scrape out the gunk, cnc, and "glue" it back together.

    3. Re:Nice carving, but ... by RockDoctor · · Score: 1

      I can almost hear the flurry of foolish {Insert deity of your choice}-ian people (*) writing to {Insert idiotic excuse for a newspaper in your region} along the lines of "Look at this photo of a pumpkin I brought. It's got an image of [ {Insert deity of choice} OR {Insert angel of choice} OR {Insert demon of choice} OR {Insert politician of choice} ] and therefore proves that [ { ( {deity of choice} exists ) OR ( {politician of choice} is the [spawn of {devil of choice} ] OR [ favoured of {deity of choice} ] )

      Have I mismatched a parenthesis there?

      (*) I use the word "people" in an anatomical sense, not to imply any mental abilities that would make a mother amoeba proud.

      --
      Birds are not dinosaur descendants;birds are dinosaurs, for all useful meanings of "birds", "are" and "dinosaurs"
    4. Re:Nice carving, but ... by Muad'Dave · · Score: 1

      In my opinion, that would make it all worthwhile. 8-)

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      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
  15. Goat pic? by Zarniwoop · · Score: 1

    Ok... is it just me, or did the smaller pic look like a pumpkin goatse to anyone else?

    Oh god... the interwebs, they've rotted my brains.

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    Still not dead.
  16. the pumpkin is cool and all... by viridari · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...but Lumenlab is a much cooler site to go to in that they produce an affordable mini-CNC mill for $599 that is run by open source software.

  17. Re:Is that a pumpkin, or Nancy Pelosi's twat? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 1

    Offtopic? Offtopic? No, it's not offtopic. At least mod it correctly: It's either A) Funny or B) Troll. And damn, why do the mods have no sense of humor today?

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    My blog
  18. Silence....I kill you! by nevillethedevil · · Score: 1

    That guy is talented. Wait isn't this Ahmed the dead terrorist?

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  19. Re:Whoa! by popmaker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Jesus did not create halloween, and you must not anger the halloween spirits, or this will happen: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/in_the_know_has_halloween_become

  20. Get your facts straight! by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Hollowe'en wasn't created by :"Baby Jesus"! It was created by "I've returned from the dead and boy am I pissed" Zombie Jesus!"

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    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  21. Pumpkin Carved with a Laser Cutter by elkaim · · Score: 1
    In my lab at UC Santa Cruz, we used a laser cutter to carve our school logo into a pumpkin. One of the graduate students devised a rolling rig so that the distance to the surface of the pumpkin remained roughly constant, keeping the beam in focus. He made a video of the process seen at the link below.

    http://apps.soe.ucsc.edu/elkaim/archives/000333.html

  22. My ex did it by hand... by malachid69 · · Score: 1

    /></a>

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    1. Re:My ex did it by hand... by malachid69 · · Score: 1

      hmm, well, that's annoying...

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      http://www.google.com/profiles/malachid
    2. Re:My ex did it by hand... by malachid69 · · Score: 1

      Actually, that's in my album. I had just hit the copy-code button without really looking at it.

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      http://www.google.com/profiles/malachid
  23. Re:Whoa! by AlexBirch · · Score: 1

    You insensitive clod, Jesus created everything. Halloween, Buddha, Mohammedan, etc...

  24. Re:Whoa! by spitek · · Score: 1

    LEAVE OUR HOLIDAY's alone and well leave yours alone crazy freak!