Tuesday, December 5, 2006

RepRap

Imagine which thing can bring down global capitalism?The"self-replicating rapid prototyper",or RepRap.This machine that prints 3Dimensional objects from a digitial design.The best feature of it is,anybody can download sought-after-design off the interent and print it out."If people can make anything for themselves what's the point in going to the shops?"said Dr.Adrian Bowyer at bath University,England who started the project.
Till date, the machine has made belt buckle,a scale architectural model and even one of its own components.Dr.Bowyer said that soon it would be able to make items using other materials.It could make almost any item that people want.
However, few rapid prototyping machines that manufacture objects from digital designs have been from 1980s,most of those cost above20,000dollor and most of them specialised industrial application.
The difference with RepRap,which is the size of a fridge,is that the idea behind it are not owned by anyone.Dr .Bowyer's vision is a machine that can be made,adapted and improved by its users.
If Dr.Bowyer's vision is realised there could be profound implications for the global economy.Instead of large companies manufacturing large numbers of consumer goods and distrubting them to shops, consumers would buy or share designs on the internet..
"In 30-40 years,replicators are going to be able to make things out of all sorts of stuff."predicted Dr.Bowyer.
Interesting to see how the whole world will react and adapt this wonderfull invention.
Posted by Ajay :: 6:37 PM :: 1 comments

Post a Comment

---------------oOo---------------