Re: Hybrid Machines

From: Marshall Burns (marshall@ennex.com)
Date: Mon Dec 15 1997 - 20:10:52 EET


Yakov Horenstein wrote:

> Maybe it's a dumb question, but how come no-one has come up with a combined
> additive/subtractive fabricator?

Dear Yakov,

     As several people have pointed out, we have do some hybrid machines today.
But you were probably referring to the use of CNC milling to carefully finish
the surface of an object made additively. This is a very important future
development. As I see it, the big problem is FIXTURING. To mill an object you
have to hold onto it good and tight. To hold onto an object you have to have a
place to grip it. But additive machines make objects of any arbitrary shape.
How do you design a machine that can hold onto anything of any shape? It's a
problem in robotics and artificail intelligence.

Best Regards,
Marshall Burns
marshall@ennex.com

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