I Will Print A New Part For You

At the University of Bath (UK) Dr Adrian Bowyer has been working on the Rep Rap project for some time. The goals are simple to state: to build a machine that can reproduce itself, and to make the plans for that machine readily and freely accessible to anyone interested.

A short (10 min.) video of Dr. Bowyer gives a good overview. And the RepRap Project site has more details for those looking for more detail.

The machine itself is a 3D printer, which of course must be connected to a computer to work. In principle, I suppose, the project might eventually build its own computer, but that seems a bit of a stretch at present. Still, the control for the 3D printer head is basically using instruction called "G-Code", a method, for positioning and controlling machine tools, that has been in use for many decades before small computers were available. It is entirely feasible to control the RepRap machine using a punched tape (though that seems somewhat archaic).

Is this just an interesting intellectual exercise? Well, no it isn't. It has important practical implications. Certainly there is the science fiction idea of a 3D printer ( a "replicator" in sci-fi parlance) on everyone's desktop. Perhaps, perhaps not. Not everyone is a designer, but anyone could "print" a model that was sent as a computer file in an email.

That is the real first implication of this concept. Everyone can recall when a repair technician came to your home or office only to leave for a few days because they had to "wait for a part to come in". Imagine instead if the technician said:

"I'll be back in a moment, I have to go down to the truck and I will print a new part for you."