The technology to turn a digital spec into an actual piece of molded plastic has been around for a number of years now. But, as is the way of all technology, the price of that technology continues to plummet. Believe it or not, the printer shown here is available from a company called Desktop Factory for only $5000, about the price of the earliest laser printers.
This printer will take an AutoCAD-like spec and produce a simple, contiguous plastic piece, such as this one:
I want one!!!! First thing I’d do is make some Lego compatible pieces. Imagine the fun you could have with this and a Lego Mindstorms robotics kit…
Posted by Dave Mark on Nov 27, 2009 in Engineering
There are a number of videos that demo this amazing shredder. This is my favorite. Jump to about 57 seconds into the video if you want to skip the pictures of them building the shredder.
I find the idea of a shredder that can eat a refrigerator quite compelling. Enjoy!
This is beyond awesome. I SO want to do this to my car. From the folks at National Instruments’ Waterloo Labs. Check out their web site for plans, schematics and source code. Buh-rilliant!!!
I absolutely love this one. The Transition is a small airplane with wings that fold up so it can drive on surface roads. It uses unleaded gas, as opposed to significantly more expensive aviation fuel. Watch the demo below, then check out the Terrafugia web site…
