Friday, March 5, 2010
MakerBot, 3D printing on the cheap
This looks pretty cool, 3D printing using ABS plastic with a robot design from MakerBot. Not that I'll be rushing out to get the plans, but there's a cool video on YouTube I saw through Robert L. Balliot's Ocean State Librarian blog's Research Link of the Week. Request for you Robert, please provide a permalink for the current research link, not just the past ones. While he suggests public libraries invest in this technology, many libraries such as my own can't even afford to buy books and other resources due to cutbacks. So I don't think something like this will be at the top of their list. This seems to be something that would currently be of more interest to an artist coop.
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Yes, but there is big money available to support math / sciences / robotics. The entire robot is $1000 and the ‘toner’ is incredibly cheap ABS.
ReplyDeleteIt may be hard for an individual to justify the cost, but a community should be able to get behind it. As always, there would be resistance to adopting technology. But, given that it is Open Source, I bet a very effective and convincing grant could be devised justifying system purchases, maintenance and ongoing support.
Artist co-ops are just one possibility for partnership. Schools, cottage manufacturers, and Star Wars fans are also out there. :)
R. Balliot - http://oceanstatelibrarian.com
http://livestream.com/publibtv