Re: [ox-en] Fabbers
- From: Stefan Merten <smerten oekonux.de>
- Date: Sat, 11 Nov 2006 17:57:15 +0100
Hi Robert and list!
Last week (8 days ago) Robert Reed wrote:
Fabbers are here!!
http://128.253.249.235/wiki/index.php
That sounds really great. Here is a bigger excerpt from
http://synth1.mae.cornell.edu/wiki/index.php?title=Fab%40Home:Overview
Universal manufacturing embodied as todays freeform fabrication
systems has like universal computers the potential to transform
human society to a degree that few creations ever have. The ability
to directly fabricate functional custom objects could transform the
way we design, make, deliver and consume products. But not less
importantly, rapid prototyping technology has the potential to
redefine the designer. By eliminating many of the barriers of
resource and skill that currently prevent ordinary inventors from
realizing their own ideas, fabbers can democratize innovation
[1,2,3]. Ubiquitous automated manufacturing can thus open the door
to a new class of independent designers, a marketplace of printable
blueprints, and a new economy of custom products. Just like the
Internet and MP3s have freed musical talent from control of big
labels, so can widespread RP divorce technological innovation from
the control of big corporations.
Despite the formidable potential of rapid prototyping technology,
its acceptance over the last two decades has remained
disappointingly slow [4]. At present SFF systems remain very
expensive and complex, focused on production of mechanical parts,
and used primarily by corporate engineers, designers, and architects
for prototyping and visualization. These factors are linked in a
vicious cycle which slows the development of the technology: Niche
applications imply a small demand for machines, while small demand
for machines keeps the machines costly and complex, limiting them to
niche applications. Alternatively, if one could provide either a
large market for SFF machines and products or a simple and cheap SFF
machine with which end users could invent products and applications,
then this same feedback coupling could instead drive a rapid
expansion in SFF technology and applications.
Learning from the history of the computer revolution
In attempt to break the vicious cycle of expensive equipment and
niche applications, there are many lessons to be learned from the
rise and growth of an equivalently universal technology: The
computer. The parallels between universal computation technology and
universal manufacturing technologies are astounding. Though the
universal computer in its modern architecture was realized in the
40s [6], two decades passed before it reached any significant
commercial acceptance. Early inventors themselves could not foresee
its huge potential, famously anticipating a need for as many as five
or six machines in the US [6]. The early commercial mainframes of
the 60s were used mostly for niche applications such as payroll and
military calculations. Like todays rapid prototyping machines, these
early mainframes cost tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars,
required hours to complete a single job, had the size of a large
refrigerator and required trained technicians to operate and
maintain.
Though it was clear to early manufacturers that the home market
offered great potential, it was unclear how to successfully capture
that market. Early attempts of the computer industry to break into
the home market through niche killer apps failed miserably: Some
brands targeted niche domains such as Honeywells kitchen Computer
geared towards recipes (Figure a). Its high cost and narrow
application prevented it from success. Though several other home
computers came out in the early 70s [8], the MITS Altair 8800
(Figure b,c) is generally credited as sparking the home computer
revolution. Designed and sold through Popular Electronics as a $400
kit, the Alltair 8800 broke the chicken-and-egg cycle: Hobbyists and
experts could now afford to dabble with computers, develop and
exchange software and numerous hardware accessory projects. The
availability of computers made it worthwhile to write software, and
the availability of software made it worthwhile to buy computers.
Computer history had entered its exponential growth era.
Based on this history, it seems reasonable to imagine a low-cost
multi-material SFF system in ones home, which could produce objects
or even complete integrated devices from designs which are shared or
purchased online [3]. Should such systems become as available as
personal computers or printers are today, the invention and
personalization of small devices could become as ubiquitous as music
sharing is today. MITs FabLab project [1] provides ample evidence
that providing people with automated fabrication tools serves as an
innovation catalyst; ordinary folk, with seemingly no technical
background quickly learn to exploit these tools to design and
realize new inventions. The only thing now missing is the low cost,
hackable rapid prototyper kit.
Goal of this project
Inspired by this history, the goal of this project is to offer an
open-source, low-cost, personal SFF system kit, which we call
Fab Home. The aim of this project is to put SFF technology into the
hands of those same curious, inventive, and entrepreneurial
citizens. In addition, through this Wiki web site we hope to inspire
users of Fab Home to exchange their ideas for applications and their
improvements to the hardware and software with us and each other.
Several machines are already in use.
Mit Freien Grüßen
Stefan
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