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This page describes something which is no longer the most recent version. For the replacement version see: none


This page has been flagged as containing duplicate material that Combinatorics Problem also attempts to cover.
These pages should be merged such that both pages do not attempt to cover the duplicate topics.

Documentation

Warning, this page is utterly out of date.
McWire->WolfStrap
Darwin->Mendel
etc->etc 2.0
--Sebastien Bailard 02:33, 8 September 2010 (UTC)

Machines

  • RepRap Options - a page that describes whichever machine is currently a well-documented and recommended RepRap design. The designs typically assume you already have a RepRap available to build the next RepRap. (This is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem).
  • What Tooling Do You Have - a page that helps you choose a bootstrap pathway towards building a RepRap when you don't already have a RepRap. Such bootstrap pathways typically involve building an intermediate RepStrap machine.
  • RepRap - definition of a 'RepRap' machine
  • RepStrap - definition of a 'RepStrap' machine

While the Mendel can already make some interesting objects, people (hopefully including yourself, dear reader) keep finding ways to push the boundaries of its capabilities and improve it in other ways.

Some historically important and promising research developments include:

Machines can be thought of as a "stack" of various components: the tool head, the positioning system, the electronics, the firmware, the software, ...

Positioning Systems

The mechanics, also called the positioning system, are how you move the toolheads around in 3D space.

One of the things we've striven for in this project to achieve modularity with our designs. The mechanical system is one system of a RepRap machine that is suitable for this. For a normal RepRap machine you have 3 Axes: X, Y, and Z. Regardless of which axis you place the build area on, and which axis you place the toolheads on, it all functions nearly identically regardless of which electronics system you are using.

Read more on the mechanical system, or skip to the recommended McWire Cartesian Bot.


Print Heads

The toolheads are the things that actually lay down the build material.

Currently, there is only one toolhead that is ready for general use, the Thermoplastic Extruder. However, eventually we would like to support many different toolheads from simple markers for drawing to support material extruders to paste extruder to lasers for cutting/sintering to wax deposition heads for doing metal casting. If you have a toolhead that does not heavily stress the cartesian bot, then it would be well suited for the RepRap platform.

Read more on the toolheads system or skip to the Thermoplastic Extruder.

Electronics

The electronics are the brains of a RepRap system.

The electronics system is another area that is suited for modularity. There are basically two interfaces between the various systems: the computer/RepRap interface and the electronics/machine interface. These are generally the same regardless of which system of electronics you are using.

Read more on the electronics system or skip to the recommended Arduino based electronics.

Software



Developer Documentation

Economics


Presentations and Talks

Here are the slides (usually in Open Office format) for talks and presentations given by members of the RepRap team at conferences and meetings.

Archived Documentation

Earlier versions of various RepRap documentation preserved here for historical reasons.

ReallyOldStuff

Here you can find stuff from the really early days of RepRap. It's been moved to ReallyOldStuff so the documentation page stays clear and concise.