Boffins build self-replicating replicating machine If none of the iPhone cases available suit your needs, then why not make your own? It’s possible, say a team of researchers that have designed a printer capable of making almost anything - including more of itself. Reprap_01 The RepRap 3D printer can make all sorts of objects, including itself The Replicating Rapid- …
Can it print the above? Wouldn't need to be incredibly compact I guess- just a parallel port and a couple of transistors/relays, a battery holder, a couple of motors, a nozzle of some description, a wiring loom, etc- and you could probably print that out in a decent space on a normal printer in a few layers (with the correct materials)...
There is already a system processes which dose the type of thing 1 is 3d printing and the othe is selective laser sintering - much advanced and more cutting edge and visitility as well as being able to make more complicated and advance moving parts.
Still bloody welll done i say for that price.
There is no mention of this:
http://fabathome.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
I cannot fail to see how they, being University boffins, could not have at least been influenced by it.
I saw FAB@Home a few years back and it is still awesome.
Cheers.
Sean
"Using its plans, the Bath University team claims a motivated amateur could build themselves a RepRap for around £300 (€380/$590)."
Given you can use these things to make more of themselves, shouldn't it be clarified whether this estimate requires you to have one already or not?
["i] headache tablets in mine
One initial machine provided with power and raw materials. Plug it in and let it run. Come back later and find at least four generations still working. Pull the plug before it gets out of hand. We can discuss the amount of human midwifery that might be permissible. Ideally, They (The Machines) should be able to take care of that themselves (plugging themselves into power for example).
Anything less (such as displayed here) is BS. There's a lot of metal and motors and wires in the second unit. Seems like a stretch to claim that they've accomplished anything significant.
The next step after basic meaningless reproduction (raises some interesting philosophical question abot humans...) would be to add some useful function. And scaling down to nano as mentioned above.
And the pcbs, and the stepper motors - printing the windings as layer upon layer of dots one on top of the other must be a bit tricky, no? And the wiring looms, and the heaters for the extruders, and the PIC chips?
Nah, I didn't think so. It can't. And if it can't, then it can't replicate itself - only part of itself. And not the clever bits either.
So the headline should not be 'machine replicates itself', it should be 'big complex machine makes a few of its own components'. And that's no more "self-replication" than many other much more long-established machines. I bet you'll find that the machine that makes nuts and bolts at the hardware factory has nuts and bolts among its components.
This is just a marketing announcement. It's not actually /true/ or anything.
Sad little people...It cannot completely self-replicate, ergo it must be crap...The price alone is worthy of note. A dimension machine capable of far shittier accuracies than mine cost my college $24,000. My machine cost Under $1,000 and only required a hack saw and a cordless drill to assemble. No, I didn't need a RepRap to make my RepStrap. I needed a brain. Also, the ability to create "MOST" of the components of a very complicated machine--compared in complexity to a modern microprocessor--isn't anything trivial as all of us working on this can attest. Further, since building the machine requires no specialized machinery and gives you a piece of specialized machinery when you are done, you can then build much more complex machines and parts aftterwords. This allows us to design much more elaborate and capable machines later as is the projects goals. Scoff now, cry later when you have to start from scratch building your own. And no--they will not be taking over the world. Why is it that you talk about robots in western nations and people get all afraid of them taking over the world? You don't see that in Japan. Stupid.
Demented Chihuahua
These machines can't replicate all by themselves. What they *can* do is print the custom plastic parts necessary to build a copy of itself. You still need: circuitry, metal hardware, a computer and software to run it. You also need someone clever enough to assemble it and get it running.
Nearly everything except the plastic bits are off-the-shelf parts. There are a few small machined parts but, if you can handle a hacksaw and drill press, you'll probably be OK. The PCBs are custom but the plans for them are freely available. So, assuming you can get someone to print off the plastic bits for you and you have a reasonable level of shop skills, you can build your own RepRap.
The "ink" is 3mm plastic welding rod, which is reasonably inexpensive and readily available.
In short, no, it's not a stand-alone, self-replicating life form. It's more a sort of parasite that required a constant supply of nerdiness to reproduce.
Looks like a nice project, i will be looking in to it - think of how useful a 3D printer could be, and at that cost it could be affordable... just hard to tell exactly what is involved in building one to see if it's viable for me to make one! if it is then i'm in...
Might be interesting to have multiple nozzles, stick some dye in with the plastic for the rods, real 3D printing :)
If you go to the rep rap home website (use google). They list suppliers. One of the suppliers makes basically complete hardware kits.
I think they are over stressing the self replicating part because it can't print the chips, capacitors, metal bars, and etc. the only thing it really can replicate of itself is the plastic parts.
One of the first things that they recommend after building the rep rap is to print spare parts (all of the little plastic parts that hold the thing together).
What this thing really is a cheap, reasonably large scale 3D printer. If you are an Industrially Designer you may have one that cost you 5 to 6 figures. This printer can be done for under 4 figures easily.
This would be great for modelers or designers. It is nice to see your product in real 3D.
It can't print PCBs yet, but it can't be far off... all you need is an acid resisting pen to draw out the circuit, a small drill head, and a solder extruder. Or you could print a flat insulating plastic sheet, and print on it with conductive ink.
Putting the components in would be tricky though. You'd need more than one 'print' head, one to place the part, and one to solder.
We at the Wax Cylinders Association believe that this technology is going to become the main culprit for the duplication of our member's IP. This is more damaging than even P2P and Terrorists COMBINED.
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On a more serious note, I can just imagine the spam this will attract. You think you're downloading a nice new tabletop, set it printing and go away to watch tv. On your return, you'd find a large plastic cock waiting for you bearing the slogan "Want one of these? Visit xxxcreditcardthief.co.ng".
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