Hasta La Gadget!

For centuries the creation of geared automata has been sort of a dark art. To design a mechanical device to move like a human or animal was a trick in itself and to build the gears and rods necessary to propel the thing was even trickier. A team of Disney researchers, however, have created a system that will let puppeteers and fans of clockwork build geared robots using 3D printings and some metal rods. Most important, they look far cooler than this dude.

The designers programmed the system to “try” different configurations of gears at different size ratios. This gave them a ready-made library of motions they could reproduce including odd parabolas, repeating ellipses, and even moves that look random. Write the researchers:

Once the system works on the screen the computer ensures that the gears don’t clash or interfere with the structural components. Then the designer can create a 3D object and print it out on any 3D printer. Think of it as a sort of library/workshop for geared robots that allows you to remix ready-made motions with a very simple toolkit. Disney Research, Zürich, Disney Research, Boston, ETH Zürich and MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory worked together to bring the project to fruition. It also works well with “squishy” objects like jellyfish, allowing for real-looking animals to move in real-looking ways.

via 3Ders

The Liberator gun made headlines when its creator fired up his 3D printer and created them, building firearms that actually fire out of little more than plastic components that combined cost little more than your average Blu-ray movie. Now, that pivotal moment in the history of DIY 3D printing is being ensconced in a London museum, Engadget reports.

Cody Wilson’s Liberator had its own misfires early on, which destroyed half the case, but later demos showed that it could fired multiple times. As John Biggs explained in a general overview, it technically can be printed at home by anyone who wants one, but not every self-printed version carries the history that these original Liberator models do.

Like Biggs pointed out, homemade guns aren’t new; it’s a long-established hobby, especially in the U.S., with a storied history. But whereas once it required a lathe and other ironworking tools and some kind of dedication and grit, now it pretty much can be managed by casual amateurs capable of spending quite a bit of money on a 3D printer and a proficiency in downloading files from the Internet.

The project being put together by the London Victoria & Albert museum is designed to showcase a range of “contemporary design projects,” of which the 3D-printed Liberator is a key example, and these will be displayed between September 14 – 22. So far, the Liberator hasn’t prompted a people’s revolution or a swell of murders, but getting eyes-on the originals still could be a story to tell the grandkids someday depending on how things shake out.

It was only a few months ago that the first fully 3D-printed gun was successfully fired. And it’s already made its way to a museum’s permanent collection. Not bad for a youngun’.

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Right now, there are dozens of theoretical proposals for how humans could eventually populate Mars (or the Moon), each as crazy as the next: Space elevator. Inflatables. Giant 3D printer. But there’s something wonderful about watching these zany concepts emerge, each with its own unique logic. The latest? A plan to create cave-like dwellings for the one-way astronauts aboard Mars One.

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Just a couple of weeks ago I thought that this versatile 3D printer was the 21st century printer, copier, scanner and fax machine. I was wrong. AIO Robotics’ Zeus 3D printer is that machine. It prints, scans, copies and faxes 3d objects. Yep, fax.

With Zeus, AIO Robotics is aiming at consumers who may not be as tech savvy as the other early adopters of 3D printing technology.

You can clearly see from its appearance and its user interface that the Zeus is designed to be accommodating and convenient. That’s why it has a fax function. Faxing with Zeus is a remote version of its copying function, which in turn is a combo of scanning and printing. When you select fax, Zeus scans the object to be copied then sends the 3D file to another Zeus printer via the Internet. The receiving Zeus printer will be the one to print the copy of the object, just like with a faxed document.

Pledge at least $1,999 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Zeus 3D printer as a reward. How awesome would it be if you could just ask Amazon – or your local pizza restaurant – to fax your order to you?