[Robotgroup] Researchers design open source 3D printer that costs $2, 400

[Vernon Graner]

FRom this link:

http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn10922-desktop-fabricator-may-kickstart-home-revolution.html

tiny here:

http://tinyurl.com/y4s847

comes this article:

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Desktop fabricator may kick-start home revolution

    * 17:59 09 January 2007
    * NewScientist.com news service
    * Tom Simonite

The Fab at Home device can be used to create 3D objects from various
materials (Image: Hod Lipson / Evan Malone)

A cheap self-assembly device capable of fabricating 3D objects has been
developed by US researchers. They hope the machine could kick start a
revolution in home fabrication – or "rapid prototyping" – just as early
computer kits sparked an explosion in home computing.

Rapid prototyping machines are already used by designers, engineers and
scientists to create one-off mechanical parts and models. These create
objects by depositing layer upon layer of liquid or powdered material.

These machines typically cost from $20,000 to $1.5 million, says Hod
Lipson from Carnegie Mellon University, US, who launched the Fab at Home
project with PhD student Evan Malone in October 2006.

The standard version of their Freeform fabricator – or "fabber" – is
about the size of a microwave oven and can be assembled for around $2400
(£1200). It can generate 3D objects from plastic and various other
materials. Full documentation on how to build and operate the machine,
along with all the software required, are available on the Fab at Home
website, and all designs, documents and software have been released for
free.
Many hands

"We are trying to get this technology into as many hands as possible,"
Malone told New Scientist. "The kit is designed to be as simple as
possible." Once the parts have been bought, a normal soldering iron and a
few screwdrivers are enough to put it together. "It's probably the
cheapest machine of this kind out there," he adds.

The machine connects to a desktop computer running software that controls
its operation. It then creates objects layer-by-layer by squeezing
material from a mechanically-controlled syringe. A video shows a
completed machine constructing a silicone bulb (16MB, wmv format).

Unlike commercial equipment, the Fab at Home machine is also designed to be
used with more than one material. So far it has been tested with
silicone, plaster, play-doh and even chocolate and icing. Different
materials can also be used to make a single object – the control software
prompts the user when to load new material into the machine.

Malone and Lipson hope Fab at Home will grow into a community of enthusiasts
who share designs for 3D objects and even modify the machines for
themselves. This will prompt the emergence of widespread personal
fabrication, Lipson hopes.

"We think it's a similar story to computers," he explains. "Mainframes
had existed for years, but personal computing only took off in the late
seventies." A cheap self-assembly computer called the Altair 8800,
launched in 1975, sparked the rapid development of personal computing, he
notes: "We hope Fab at Home can do the same for rapid prototyping."
Copy cat

Adrian Bowyer, who is also working on rapid prototyping machines at Bath
University, in the UK, agrees that the technology could have mass appeal
once the equipment is cheap enough. One of his own machines can even make
some of its own parts (see 3D printer to churn out copies of itself).

"Fab at Home is an interesting idea; it should be easy for anyone in the
world to build," Bowyer says. "Once you've used one you never want to go
back, it's liberating and enormously fun." Bowyer believes the technology
could one day even replace traditional models of manufacturing.

Bowyer adds that the Fab at Home machine could probably already be used to
make many cheap injection-moulded products already on the market: "I can
imagine people swapping plans of things to make online, or paying to
download them instead of going to the shop."
Related Articles

    * A plane you can print
    * http://www.newscientisttechnology.com/article/dn9602
    * 21 July 2006
    * Tailor-printed shoes will offer a perfect fit
    * http://www.newscientisttechnology.com/article/mg18925386.200
    * 15 February 2006
    * 3D printer to churn out copies of itself
    * http://www.newscientisttechnology.com/article/dn7165
    * 18 March 2005

Weblinks

    * Fab at Home
    * http://www.fabathome.org/
    * RepRap
    * http://reprap.org/


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