I think that this would be a really useful contribution. Thanks David. Also, I fully take your point about standards not being a rigid constraint on innovation.by Adrian Bowyer - Developers
I agree about cost - it's the second most important aspect of the machine. The most important is how easy it is to copy, which more-or-less equates to how easy it is to put together and make work. That we can improve...by Adrian Bowyer - Developers
As I say - personally I am against a standard that will require all devices in the machine to have their own electronics. Before you know where you are, you start requiring every axis endstop to have a microcontroller attached :-) The other thing to think about on the electronics side is current. Heated beds need about 100 W. That has to be accommodated by any standard.by Adrian Bowyer - Developers
This is a very good idea. I particularly like the idea of combining the specification of standard mechanical and electrical interfaces. Of course, we'd have to try to make those as future-proof as possible, without making them over-complicated. For example, one could imagine an extruder with about five controls and as many sensors, all requiring electrical signals. But it would be a bad ideaby Adrian Bowyer - Developers
The closest thing to universality is STEP, I think: but this is not an area where I am up to date...by Adrian Bowyer - Developers
Certainly an XML wrapping is how you would store the files. But that's not the important thing. The important thing is the data structure inside the geometric modeller that it creates that represents the 3D solids when it reads one of those files in, or when you use it to edit the geometry of an object. That would almost certainly be a tree holding a Boolean/Algebraic expression. That expresby Adrian Bowyer - Developers
There's a difference between "objects supported by System-X" and the underlying representation used by System X. Every CAD system allows CSG operations to be done on objects, whatever the underlying representation. My point is that - for additive manufacturing - it would be really useful if the underlying representation was FRep/CSG. I just pointed to Pasko's work to show that complex geometryby Adrian Bowyer - Developers
Chamfer, blending, drafting, shelling, and tweaking can all be done with FRep too. See by Alexander Pasko and colleagues. But those are merely things designers want to do. As long as the underlying representation supports a rich enough geometry they will be possible somehow or other. The important thing is that that representation should allow the interior properties of things to be reprby Adrian Bowyer - Developers
One thing worth noting is that the internal representation of solids in a system is much more important than its API or interactive interface for long term. OpenSCAD is CSG (as was my SvLis system). POVRay (and most other systems) are BRep. If we want to represent, for example, objects with continuously varying internal properties like elasticity or conductivity then BRep is pretty much a non-by Adrian Bowyer - Developers
More years ago than I care to remember, I sort-of solved this problem. See here: The software is now moribund, but the idea of achieving all that you want by using OO techniques to extend a conventional language like C++ or Java to allow one to program solids in those still seems like a good one to me.by Adrian Bowyer - Developers
Hi Bay Area RUG! The guys below are offering RepRap a FREE stand at their show. Would you like to take advantage of this? I shall help in any way I can (including coming along, if I'm free and can find some money for a ticket - checking that now...). Best wishes Adrian BioMassiveTV wrote: > >> We would like to invite you to demonstrate RepRap at our upcoming event > >> inby Adrian Bowyer - California, San Francisco Bay Area RUG
My family and I have set up a small online shop to sell Mendel parts printed in RepRap Mendels. We have some in stock! Do visit it here: http://reprapltd.com Best wishes Adrianby Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
"Better" seems a matter of opinion :-) I bought one of the new Arduino Mega 2560s to try in a RepRap. When you plug it into your Linux box it no longer talks via /dev/ttyUSB0 but via /dev/ttyACM0. Fair enough. But when you try to connect to that port from within a Java program it won't open the port. I've checked for lock files and similar usual suspects... It must be possible, as the Arduby Adrian Bowyer - Controllers
Reece - great stuff. But can you re-arrange things on Sourceforge so it doesn't appear as the main RepRap download?by Adrian Bowyer - Experimental
I have been thinking about the next generation RepRaps we might make. What I think we might do is: 1. To refine Mendel into a multi-material machine, and 2. To develop a "minimal" RepRap Version III replicator (provisional name: Huxley) based on the Mendel Mini. Rhys has now got multi-materials working in Mendel; I think we'll be hard-pushed to cram them into a smaller machine, though. Plus Mby Adrian Bowyer - Huxley
I've just put a full set of all the reprapped parts for Mendel on Ebay here: Happy bidding!by Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
I've just put a full set of all the reprapped parts for Mendel on Ebay here: Happy bidding!by Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
I've just put a full set of all the reprapped parts for Mendel on Ebay here: Happy bidding!by Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
Good idea. At the moment it's just text in an OpenOffice document. I'll see if I can think of a suitable format.by Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
I have just put up a set of Mendel parts on Ebay. These are the first out of my Mendel with its new heated bed, so they are flat. The Ebay listing is here.by Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
I have just put up a set of Mendel parts on Ebay. These are the first out of my Mendel with its new heated bed, so they are flat. The Ebay listing is here.by Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
I have just put the Bath University RepRap Lab's first set of Mendel parts up on Ebay. As promised, these are for a fixed buy-it-now price of what they cost us to make (£40 including our time). These will probably go quite quickly, so hurry to: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110536540205by Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
I have just put up a set of Mendel parts on Ebay. These are the first out of my Mendel with its new heated bed, so they are flat. The Ebay listing is here.by Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
I have just put another full set of RepRap Mendel plastic parts on Ebay: Happy bidding! Best wishes Adrianby Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
I have just put another full set of RepRap Mendel plastic parts on Ebay: Happy bidding! Best wishes Adrianby Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
I and my family have formed a little company (RepRap Ltd) to sell RepRap-related stuff. We've just put a set of Mendel parts up on Ebay: Happy bidding! Adrianby Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
No - no heated platform. Though they are PLA, which is pretty good. As I mention in the Ebay advert, there is a slight bit of curling at the base. That was because I was trying to build them on something that was slightly too flexible. Now fixed for the next batch...by Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
I've made a set of PLA Mendel parts and have put them up on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110502502617 Half the profit will go back into RepRap; half will go to me. (As in personally. For beer.)by Adrian Bowyer - Plastic RepRap Parts for Sale
I've made a set of PLA Mendel parts and have put them up on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=110502502617 Half the profit will go back into RepRap; half will go to me. (As in personally. For beer.)by Adrian Bowyer - For Sale
Buzz has now fixed the old wiki page. MakerBot plug removed, and a redirect to here added at the top: - A.by Adrian Bowyer - Administration, Announcements, Policy