Original post:
http://www.solartraction.com/the-700-3d-printer-that-prints-itself/
http://www.solartraction.com
For related greening of the economy, design and engineering resources, Design for Disassembly, Eco-Design, Environment and AD Technology guidelines related to this can be downloaded for free at:
Solar Traction
Weekly sustainability blog – writing our common sustainable future
the $700 3-d printer that prints itself
The world moves on so fast, but being in it we do not always see that. Every day we are bombarded with miracles created by human ingenuity in the form of technology – in every sphere: medical, productivity, communication, human provisions – not forgetting entertainment! – yet we insist on focusing on the problems of the world, not seeing that all these amazing solutions to the same problems are being handed to us on a plate.
We have the technology! All we need is the collective willpower, and the ability to put aside petty differences to do something sensible and logical: create the better, cleaner world we are capable of creating, one we can be proud of passing on to our children and grandchildren.
Every week, almost daily in fact I come across advances in technology that are such gifts in our move towards a sustainable world. Recently though it was more the use of technology that struck me as I came across the concept of open source hardware.
What is open source? Many of us have heard of open source software – it’s quite common. You might even be using it without knowing it. Widely used open source software includes WordPress (used by over 200 million web sites, including my own), Mozilla Firefox (a web browser with around 1/3 of the market), and for the musically-minded like myself – I didn’t say I was any good at it – there’s the Audacity audio editor.
And if you want a free equivalent of the Microsoft Office application I use to write this blog there is the totally free Open Office package. It’s pretty impressive, although it does seem to take longer to load.
What about open source hardware?
Until a few days ago it didn’t occur to me this was an option. But yes, there is such a thing as open source hardware too, electronics designs which are available to anyone to access and use.
When you buy electronics – a laptop, or a mobile phone or tablet for example – you also get the hardware at the core of it (say the motherboard, SIM card or memory chip) too. But you cannot access it because the design belongs to the manufacturer, and is therefore commercially sensitive. Open source hardware however is
- inherently open design, the blueprints are available to all
- collaborative, functionality can evolve very quickly and bugs removed
The Open Source Hardware Association, Oshwa http://www.oshwa.org/ is a central body for Open Source hardware.
Sean “xobs” Cross and Bunnie Huang drew this idea to my attention by designing and building their own open source laptop through their Singapore-based company Sutajio Ko-Usagi .
Although Cross and Huang were largely focused on the security implications of proprietary hardware (the fact you don’t know who’s done what with them) the same principles can be applied to the idea of sustainable and more upgradeable designs for computerised devices, or designs suitable for developing countries (see Appropriate Technology) .
In a world of increasing population and scarce natural resources the idea that people might collaborate on, say, what the most sustainable motherboard design – the least environmentally damaging, the most upgradeable – is exciting. And not just people but anyone who wants to be involved can be part of the design too. So if someone in say New Zealand discovers a new material that is less hazardous, more readily available, safer, more energy efficient that works just as well, or even better than the one commonly used in motherboards, that new material can go into the design and be available to all.
Arduino Diecimila open source mini-notebook PC
Licensing open source hardware. One issue that needs to be addressed is that of licensing. You don’t want your sustainable design to be tangled up in an expensive legal tussle with a giant hardware vendor.
open source Beagleboard robot
Of course the design is the meat in the sandwich as far as electronic devices go, the intellectual property that enables manufacturers to turn a profit in an increasingly competitive world. So why would anyone want to give that up? Maybe they wouldn’t, but then again … they might have to. The business models of the 21st century are changing, fast. Open source 3D printers. Very much in the news these days is the use of 3D printers, which are coming into the mainstream faster than we might realise, and which offer mind-boggling potential for humanity.
The RepRap 3D printer project allows anyone to build their own 3D printer for around 500 euro ($700). You can use it to make plastic items for yourself, and you can then print out all the parts for another 3D printer for a friend! The idea was created by Adrian Bowyer of Bath University, UK, a man whose name I believe we will all one day know, inspired by symbiosis in nature http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRap . At the moment the basic material is plastic, but as new materials are found for 3D printers these can be used to make things from (how about a beautiful wind-up watch made with plastic and a metal with a low boiling point?), and since the aim of the project to put “a factory in everyone’s home” the potential implications of projects like this could be huge – for rich nations, developing nations and sustainability.
On the question of business models and how economies work, what happens to traditional manufacturing when anyone can make for themselves many things they previously would have bought from someone else? The tycoon of the 21st century wears not a top-hat but a baseball cap, the wrong way round.
For related greening of the economy, design and engineering resources, Design for Disassembly, Eco-Design, Environment and AD Technology guidelines related to this can be downloaded for free at:
