User:Kwc5097
I am a senior at Penn State studying Industrial Engineering and I'm excited to be in Section 1 of this RepRap class!
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Blog 1: Thingiverse Exploration
1. Useful: Water Tap Fountain
I think this is a great idea because I know I’ve wanted to drink out of the sink before and it is a messy process. If this device could be easily attached to any faucet for easy drinking, sinks everywhere could be turned into water fountains! It appears in the image that this device is leaking a lot of water, so maybe it is still in the works.
2. Artistic: Trilobite Articulatum
I was so drawn to this design because of how all of the pieces connect so seamlessly. A lot of time must have gone into the movement of this item and I appreciate how it is almost life-like.
3. Pointless: Donut with Sprinkles
I do appreciate that the doughnut has sprinkles and looks fairly life-like, but if I see a doughnut, I’m going to want to eat it. This is evil and inedible.
4. Funny: Bat-Signal
Batman is my favorite superhero and I would find any and every use for this portable bat-signal. Imagine how much danger and crime could be averted with a device like this.
5. Weird: Chick Egg Cup
If I am eating an egg out of this cup, I don’t want it to look like it will start walking away. I also don’t enjoy when my food resembles the animal it previously was. Needless to say, this egg cup freaks me out.
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Blog 2: RepRap Background
1. I think the idea of a 'self-replicating universal constructor' is already possible. The current open source 3D printers that are being constructed can already replicate many of their own parts and I don't doubt that they are capable of replicating ALL of their own parts. The parts in which a rapid-prototyping machine cannot replicate (e.g.screws, electronic chips, motors) are already being manufactured by various companies and I think it comes down to the precision of each print and the ability to print various materials. If this technology can be harnessed for a rapid-prototyping machine, the opportunities would be endless.
2. To me, the phrase 'wealth without money' means that something has value to someone or some group of people (intellectual, emotional, cultural, etc.) other than a monitary value. In the case of rapid-prototyping, I think the value in this revolution is that the ideas and innovations of people can be shared all over the world with others sharing a common interest or goal. This revolution is about knowledge, innovation and design rather than the notoriety of a few leaders. The sharing of ideas allows for the betterment of the project in a short amount of time. With so many collaborators and new ways of thinking, people are now able to replicate items with this kind of device in their own homes if they want to. This project has given the people access to this great technology, that would otherwise be very hard to access, wherever they choose to have it.
3. Since 2007, it is evident that rapid-prototyping devices have made great advances in technology and design. In the future I invision this device to assess its surroundings, identify a problem, and fix it. For example, it would have a database of knowledge of common items and how they are constructed. If an item that it recognises has been broken, it will realize what parts are missing and be able to create the correct parts on the existing broken item.
I could also see this device being integrated with photography. It would be interesting to see if this device could look at a 2D photograph of an item and create a 3D model of that item based on assumptions made by the RepRap.
The article by Adrian Bowyer regarding the background of the RepRap project alluded to the possibility of a device being able to recreate itself as well as assemble its parts. There could be building plans and written steps programmed into a RepRap to allow the device to identify certain parts (with the help of a camera) and place them together to create a working replication.
