Is the RepRap evolving fast enough for a monthly magazine?, maybe you could start off with a quarterly publication.by elf - RepRap magazine
The next big advance in reprap must be faster printing, maybe one that works like a laser printer, a heated drum carrying an electrostatic charge picks up a layer of "plastic dust", the heated drum melts this dust and then rolls it on to the printed object. Alternatively, the print could be made up of 0.5mm layers of plastic (from a reel), "carved" to suit the print required and then added to thby elf - General
Here is an article on fluidics from encyclopedia Britannica Fluidicsby elf - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
Since you ask, I have just found a pdf describing a pneumatic 8-bit microprocessor, I have not had a chance to read it yet, but you can pneumatic microprocessor Some years ago I saw a photograph or drawing of a microscopic steam engine which had a drop of water trapped in a very small hydraulic cylinder, a heating wire turned that drop of water into steam that then expanded, pushing against a piby elf - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
Perhaps you could trace the outline of your printed object with a shaped hot end, melting the surface and smoothing it like a lathe taking the surface off a piece of metal. This would of course require development of software and a special hot end.by elf - General
You could try to design a hydraulic computer that uses water passing or not through valves, as its gates. I think you just need 4 types of gate, AND, OR, NAND, NOR. Wouldn't it be great if we could print the controller as part of a hydraulically driven (no stepper motors) RepRap printer.by elf - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
Once the quadcopter's positional control is sufficiently developed, you could give it a pair of legs so it can perch on suitable surfaces to save energy. Next you give it a plastic extruder on an x/y chassis, and you are no longer limited in your build area, of course the quadcopter, just like birds nestbuilding, will have to keep getting more plastic to use in it's printing. If it were large enoby elf - Let's design something! (I've got an idea ...)
Buback Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > elf Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > I do not want to have to build an entirely new > > machine every couple of years to take advantage > of > > the latest ideas. > > As you add parts, piece by piece, your eventually > going to end up with a "new"by elf - Developers
I do not understand why you are afraid of the word standard, you can call it whatever you like BUT, I do not want to have to build an entirely new machine every couple of years to take advantage of the latest ideas.by elf - Developers
This and other threads have started because there were no "general guidelines" or DNA for the variations so we ended up with many species of reprap and no indications of what are the strengths and weaknesses of each design, demanding a lot of research by the builder as to what to build. But, if we have some common ground between all developments, then all machines can be upgraded with the ideas tby elf - Developers
I have re-read this thread more carefully and see that traumflag has already said what I said in my post, I also see that some people say that a Standard will not be followed because it would cost slightly more, but if it works the extra cost will more than pay for itself in better, faster prints and less wasted plastic. I see in this thread concerns about electrical safety, EMI shielding and coby elf - Developers
All the "things" mentioned in this thread should have been replaced by better "things" within 5 years and so cannot be called a Standard, a better name would be a "list of recommended parts". To me a Standard will mean that new parts("things") developed 5 years from now will fit whatever machine that I build in the future, provided my machine is also designed with the Standard in mind. Think ofby elf - Developers
Could Reprap print drive belts? as these seem to be hard to find and expensive.by elf - Mechanics
For a larger reprap, just build it like a suspension bridge, have an arch from which is suspended the gantry.by elf - General