From: Brock Hinzmann (bhinzmann@sric-bi.com)
Date: Thu Aug 25 2005 - 00:47:55 EEST
Volume 03 of Make Magazine offers >>A complete list of
tools you need to make almost anything<<, but prefaces it
with >>The Maker's Ultimate Tools<< It highlights:
3D Printer $25,000 (zcorp.com)
3D Scanner $30,000 (kmpi.konicaminolta.us)
Plasma Cutter $10,000 (toolking.com)
Laser Cutter $19,900 (epiloglaser.com)
Water Jet $100,000 (omax.com)
Various other hand tools, power tools, and accessories and
price ranges are listed, but I thought it was interesting
that the author, Saul Griffith, chose to highlight the
ones he did. Of course, Make appeals to hackers, who are
basically tearing something apart before they modify it to
do something other than that for which it was originally
intended. I noticed one of the associate editors will give
a talk at the next RoboNexus conference on how to hack
Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners.
Brock Hinzmann
On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 22:32:16 -0700
Steve Baker <sjbaker1@airmail.net> wrote:
>Andrew Werby wrote:
>> If they came with a 3d scanner built in, then we could
>>call them
>>Replicators...]
>
>This term could catch on because of StarTrek's use of the
>word for
>something VERY similar to one of these beasts.
>
>In the Trek universe, Replicators do not in fact *copy*
>something
>like a photocopier - they replicate something from an
>original that's
>stored or generated in their computers' memory...exactly
>as we propose.
>
>Mostly they use it for food items - but there were plenty
>of episodes
>where people used one to make items as diverse as musical
>instruments.
>(Data: "Computer please replicate me one Viola.")
>
>Words from StarTrek have DEFINITELY caught on for other
>technologies
>in the past.
>
>How come we have a 'Space Shuttle' ? The Enterprise had
>handy
>reusable 'Shuttles' that did the job of getting to and
>from orbit
>from the planet's surface carrying a handful of crew
>and/or a small
>cargo...pretty much exactly what our modern shuttle does.
> The NASA
>guys used that term because it had become descriptive
>(they also called
>the first prototype 'The Enterprise' - really trekkies
>would have gone
>with 'Gallileo').
>
>'Nanites' as a word for Nanotechnological Robots came
>from StarTrek.
>
>Everyone knows what a 'Holodeck' is - it's almost taken
>over from
>'Virtual Reality' as a term for that kind of device.
>
>I think 'Replicator' - 'Replicate' could catch on...now
>if only we
>could get the voice controls ("Earl Grey - Hot"), the
>pretty sparkly
>light and the 3 second build time from *any* materials!
>
>---------------------------- Steve Baker
>-------------------------
>HomeEmail: <sjbaker1@airmail.net> WorkEmail:
><sjbaker@link.com>
>HomePage : http://www.sjbaker.org
>Projects : http://plib.sf.net http://tuxaqfh.sf.net
> http://tuxkart.sf.net
>http://prettypoly.sf.net
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