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RoboBeast: A Toughened 3D Printer

Posted by Soulskill on from the will-3d-print-you-a-beard dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Carpenter Richard van As shot to fame a year ago thanks to a 3D-printed prosthetic he developed to help him get back to work after an accident. A year later, RoboHand has helped hundreds of people who can't afford expensive prosthetics, and has been used all over the world. Now van As is back with RoboBeast — the 3D printer built to be extremely durable, designed specifically for taking RoboHand into conflict zones and areas of extreme poverty."

6 of 21 comments (clear)

  1. Recursive solution by tomhath · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Kudos to him for his work. Better for someone to just get this done instead of waiting for governments/UN/etc to finally get around to talking about it

    1. Re:Recursive solution by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Start the clock running to when he gets shut down for violating some patent or TOS. The problem is he's not using his invention to get rich.

      He's taking money out of the mouths of medical device industry CEOs. Can't let that happen.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  2. This could prove interesting. by allaunjsilverfox2 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If it proves sturdy enough, it could be used for quick and dirty parts durning disasters. Or even in situ repairs where humans can not go due to danger. For a example, a squad of drones carry the device itself and a explorer bot. And then you can print off custom tools needed for that situation.

    --
    Restore the madness of youth's lechery
  3. Old news. DeltaMaker already did it. by Thantik · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Deltamaker already did it, and is a much cooler machine to look at. No frame adjustments needed, automatic bed leveling, T-slot and makerslide based frame which is going to take a load of abuse before anything could actually damage it.

  4. Re:Old news. DeltaMaker already did it. by Cutterman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm South African and I've built stuff for Africa (a paraplegic turning frame).

    It has to be very simple and very very tough as well as repairable by the village blacksmith.

    I reckon van As knows more about it than you or Deltamaker.

    The Cutter

  5. This is what technology needs to be about. by erfunath · · Score: 2

    Making tech accessible to people in isolated parts of the world that need it more than I do is what excites me about tech. I used to live and work in the Alaskan bush, and dust threatened to kill just about everything with an on switch during the summer, and extreme cold during the winter. Now if only we had more people focusing on making reliable, effective, and modern tools like this, and fewer working on free-to-play games designed to suck out your money/identifying information/dignity/life force.