Unbelievable! A 3 dimensional object duplicator.

A corporation in Burlington Massachusetts has developed a machine that can take a complex 3 dimensional object and duplicate it with a printing machine.

Apparently, this thing has been out for a while. This is the first time I've ever heard of it though. I do see some real potential in this technology to change the way we do industry. It might need some improvements, but the ground is established now. The first computers took up entire rooms and had very little processing power. Nowadays, something that fits in your pocket has a lot more processing power than the first computers did. I see this as the start of new, much more efficient, industrial processes.



www.youtube.com...

This isn't that new..

Originally posted by mb2591
This isn't that new..

Oh. I thought it was, I've never heard of it before. It's still amazing to me. This could be improved and could change the world and the way we do things.

this has been out for a while..

Originally posted by smithjustinb

Originally posted by mb2591
This isn't that new..

Oh. I thought it was, I've never heard of it before. It's still amazing to me. This could be improved and could change the world and the way we do things.

I mean 3d printing isn't new its been around for a couple years.

reply to post by smithjustinb


I think these have been around for about 20 years.

But now they have a printer which can print another printer! That's right it makes a copy of itself. It could be a crucial step in the evolution of machines.

3D printer to churn out copies of itself
Self replicating printer

Yes, this has been around a few years, but is still pretty cool.
Now I'm ready for the replicator, able to molecularly assemble any material item! It was that invention, according to Jean Luc , that freed humankind from the current bonds, because everyone's needs were met. Therefore, people could focus on different things such as creativity, theories, inventions and ways to better our existence. Schweet!
More on 3d printing:
This printer can make buildings!
www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

spec

Oh # here come the terminators.

reply to post by smithjustinb


This technology has been built off of the rapid prototype machines. The technology is just getting better and better. Once they can actually increase the speed in making a part and using other material like steel, copper or wood, it's use will be endless. Pretty soon manufacturers won't have to keep an inventory of parts. They'll just have to print them out when they need them.

That is pretty incredible! I saw this clip on tv a few weeks ago. Along the same lines.... scientists are working on something called "bioprinting" in which they replace ink in a printer with bio material (cellular information) to actually "print" an organ that can be used in a transplant.
Bioprinting to Create Synthetic Organs
Discover Magazine - Printer to Create Human Heart

Technology is getting pretty gnarly!!

3D printers are old hat.

There are plenty of websites online that show how you can make them at home.

Some have built them to print custom chocolates

...and, as always, there is someone who take it to an extreme.

www.instructables.com...

This reminds me of Star Trek -- Next Gen .. and "replicators" ... they never make anything, they just "replicate it".

This also reminds me of Ancient Sumeria where the "templates" to make things were kept by Enki, but Inanna got a whole lot of them from him one way or another .. These were for bigger things than chocolates or machines, they were for civilizations, etc ... ... but look where they ended up.

Maybe this makes factories and people look less necessary to the process, but life, real life is made stronger and more resilient by numbers.

Many experiments prove that groups of animals will survive any given stress much better and in greater numbers if they start with greater numbers of individuals!! ... So ... ..... remembering the nobles having to dig their own potatoes and plant, spin, and weave their own linen ... after the black death created the first of our "trade societies" .. --- ... I hope they keep a good and humanitarian perspective .. after they can clone a civilization!!

Originally posted by polarwarrior
I think these have been around for about 20 years.

But now they have a printer which can print another printer!

3D printer to churn out copies of itself
Self replicating printer

No, they don't. Did you read your own links?

"[Bowyer] is referring to something that does not exist and has not been demonstrated. Will it develop in the future? Unlikely."

It does not exist. Why would you claim it does (maybe you didn't read the article)?

But yes the OP device has been out for quite a while.

reply to post by Arbitrageur


Had to watch the video without sound due to crappy computer. So I am wondering, of what materials are the end results comprised? The spanner they printed certainly did not look like steel to me, and some of the assorted items that had been previously constructed by the machine, looked as if they had been tie dyed (and I am assuming that this was caused by the printer changing the chemical mixture it was using).

The way they get the moving parts is a trick, its not as simple as they say. The scanner can not see internal parts, so they have to model the moving bits using a computer program based on what they already know about how it works. In otherwords, you couldn't scan a closed metal box with an unknown inside it, print it and then open up the printed box and the original box and see the same thing inside both.

It is still neat, but I would have abused the printed wrench alot more.

reply to post by XL5


Print me of a car and a new house!

Originally posted by Arbitrageur

Originally posted by polarwarrior
I think these have been around for about 20 years.

But now they have a printer which can print another printer!

3D printer to churn out copies of itself
Self replicating printer

No, they don't. Did you read your own links?

"[Bowyer] is referring to something that does not exist and has not been demonstrated. Will it develop in the future? Unlikely."

It does not exist. Why would you claim it does (maybe you didn't read the article)?

But yes the OP device has been out for quite a while.

Your right they hadn't back in 2005 when that first link was written, but things have moved on in the last 6 years.....

23 March 2005: The RepRap blog is started.

13 September 2006: The RepRap 0.2 prototype successfully printed the first part of itself which was subsequently used to replace an identical part originally created by a commercial 3D printer.

9 February 2008: RepRap 1.0 "Darwin" had successfully made at least one instance of over half its total rapid-prototyped parts.

14 April 2008: Possibly the first end-user item is made by a RepRap: a clamp to hold an iPod securely to the dashboard of a Ford Fiesta.

29 May 2008: Within a few minutes of being assembled, the first completed "child" machine made the first part for a "grandchild" at the University of Bath, UK.

23 September 2008: it is reported that at least 100 copies had been produced in various countries. The exact number of RepRap in circulation at that time is unknown.[5]

30 November 2008: First documented "in the wild" replication occurs. Replication completed by Wade Bortz, the first user outside of the developers team to produce a complete set for another person.[6]

20 April 2009: Announcement of first electronic circuit boards produced automatically with a RepRap. Using an automated control system and a swappable head system capable of printing both plastic and conductive solder. Part is later integrated into the RepRap that made it.[7]

2 October 2009: The second generation design, called "Mendel", prints its first part. The Mendel's shape resembles a triangular prism rather than a cube.

13 October 2009: RepRap 2.0 "Mendel" is completed.[8]

27 January 2010: The Foresight Institute announced the "Kartik M. Gada Humanitarian Innovation Prize" for the design and construction of an improved RepRap. There are two prizes, one of US$20,000, and another of $80,000.[9] The administration of the prize was later transferred to Humanity+.[10]

31 August 2010: The third generation design, "Huxley", is officially named. Development is based on a miniaturized version of the Mendel hardware with 30% of the original print volume
en.wikipedia.org...

Why would you claim it does

Because it does.

Originally posted by XL5
The way they get the moving parts is a trick, its not as simple as they say. The scanner can not see internal parts, so they have to model the moving bits using a computer program based on what they already know about how it works. In otherwords, you couldn't scan a closed metal box with an unknown inside it, print it and then open up the printed box and the original box and see the same thing inside both.

It is still neat, but I would have abused the printed wrench alot more.

Why couldn't they x-ray it?

I went to school today and told people about this, and it turns out, they have one of these at my school, lol. I had no idea.

You can't really X-ray metal too well without needing a very powerful X-ray unit. Metals like to reflect X-rays instead of letting them go through. You would not want to be any where near the room where a wrench was being seen though with X-rays, unless its in a safe made of 1-3 inch lead panels.