Home 3D Fabricator.

[Bouncing Zabaglione Bros.]

3D desktop fabricator for home may kickstart revolution.

A cheap self-assembly device capable of fabricating 3D objects has been developed by US researchers. They hope the machine could kick start a revolution in home fabrication – or "rapid prototyping" – just as early computer kits sparked an explosion in home computing.

Rapid prototyping machines are already used by designers, engineers and scientists to create one-off mechanical parts and models.

 

[digitalwanderer]

Very, very kewl!

 

[alt_nick]

I was just reading that before I came here

As posted at /., there is also an 'open-source' version for $400

 

[Bigus Dickus]

very nice. I think this just might start an invention revolution.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

I want one! This is awesome.

 

[Martin Eddy]

It's so Geeky! I love it.

 

[soylent]

Not to muddle their admirable goals, but their video of a sillicon bulb being manufactured makes me think the porn industry is going to have a field day if 3d printers ever become common and cheap for home use.

 

[Frank]

I want one!!! The OpenSource version would be perfect.

I am going to sell my managers into buying one, for experiments. And take it home for development.



If it delivers, I'll buy one myself as well.

 

[Bigus Dickus]

meh, after considering it more, I don't think it will spark a home inventor revolution after all. The material is limited in usefulness, and for most purposes 3D fab equates to being easier to look at than a screen. And the only people who are going to do this at home are the tech savvy who can already use CAD to do essentially the same imaging, and who would probably go through traditional channels anyway to actually be able to test most ideas instead of visualize them.

But it is way cool, and I wouldn't mind having one!