Virtual designs into physical objects
From AdCiv
 At the time of writing, humanity is at the peak of a revolution in storing, reproducing and manipulating information. We have technologies that give us an almost godlike command of information, allowing us to bend it according to every whim. Our command of information is decentralized, in the hands of anyone with access to increasingly cheap technology — and this has created a culture of true abundance in which information (including things like books and music) is given away freely. What if we could achieve the same mastery over physical objects? What if anyone with some inexpensive kit could conjure up a laptop computer, farm machinery or advanced robots? That is the direction that technology is now evolving in. We discuss here some of the currently-existing technologies for turning virtual designs into physical objects, but it is worth bearing in mind that now - in 2010 - the manufacturing revolution is at the same stage that the computer revolution was at in the 1960s; the technology does exist, but it is bulky, expensive, of limited functionality, and requires a certain amount of expertise to operate. However, trends of miniturization, open-sourcing and accessibility are proceeding rapidly. The ultimate pinnacle of this trend will be productive nanotechnology: when millions of tiny robots can be programmed to build any conceivable object with molecular precision. It is difficult to imagine scarcity existing at all in a civilization with such technology. Ways of physically forging collaborative designs created on a computer range from getting your hands dirty and crafting it yourself to sending the design (or parts of it) as an electronic file to an increasing number of computer-controlled manufacturing systems such as rapid prototyping or advanced multi-axis CNC machines What is illustrated in this section is that the world of atoms is starting to catch up with the world of bits in terms of ease of control and duplication. We are entering the age of digital manufacturing. Objects and machines are boiled down to pure information which can be instantly transmitted around the world and recreated physically wherever these 'fabbers' exist. This wiki is full of technological solutions to the problems that face humanity. But to implement these solutions, we need a way of manufacturing these technologies. The old economic model of producing technologies in large-scale factories and selling them at a profit is fine in some cases, but it has failed the world's poor, and it does not provide tailor-made products. But if fabrication technologies are spread around the world, anyone with a computer and raw materials can manufacture any electromechanical device they need or want. A corporate rollout of a new technology takes years: marketing campaigns must be designed, market research done, contracts signed, distributors arranged etc. With open-source hardware and distributed manufacturing you can have the latest technology the day it is invented. This is important in an era of rapid technological change. Here are some of the increasing number of methods available to bring virtual designs to life...
 eMachineShop have cleverly incorporated the limitations of their physical fabrication processes into the CAD program. This means that the company can be sure that they can make anything designed using their software. The company claims to handle part quantities from one-offs to runs up to a million.  A related company is Pad2Pad that provides a similar service for the creation of printed circuit boards (PCB). They also provide free design software that has circuit error-checking and costing built-in. When the design is completed it is sent electronically to the company who then fabricate the PCBs and return by post. They do not currently populate the boards with electronic components, although it is likely to be only a matter of time before a full electronics service such as this is offered. There is on-going research to create functional circuitry via cheaper methods, such as inkjet printing [1], that will make creating electronic circuits even more accessible. See also http://www.batchpcb.com   Computer controlled flexible manufacturing methods can even be applied to constructing buildings. Contour Crafting is a technique that has been developed by Behrokh Khoshnevis of the University of Southern California that involves building up the structure of the building in horizontal layers by squeezing out quick drying cement from a nozzle. By the time first layer has been drawn out, the first part to be laid will have solidified enough to take the second layer. This is much like the 'fused deposition modelling' Walls of building constructed using these methods do not have to be straight, on either the horizontal or vertical axes, so complex organic curved and domed buildings can be made, perhaps mimicking biological structures. Houses can be designed completely on computer, then the automated constructor gets to work with no human labour involved. Pipework and cabling could even be laid inside walls as they are being built. The team developing this technology in California reckon that the structure of a 2000 sq.ft two-storey house could be built within 24 hours. So it seems that this type of construction has the potential to be far faster, safer, cheaper and more flexible than conventional construction techniques. Also no house need ever look the same again... See also Loughborough University's research into what they call Freeform Construction
For more information on this see the section on advanced automation and automated infrastructure.
See Advanced automation#Nanotechnology
Keywords:
Craft the item yourself or in a group according to plans using your own skills and tools plus readily available 'off-the-shelf' components. Lo-tech but effective. Step-by-step 'how-to' guides, sometimes with video, are increasingly being published on the internet for this kind of project. See Instructables as a good example. Or someones else's... Small-scale local engineering firms that will make custom items to order have always been around, often specialising certain materials and techniques.    Fab Labs (fabrication laboratories, or fabulous laboratories) are small scale workshops with modern computer controlled equipment such as...
...giving the ability within one room to create just about anything from engines to electronic devices. The concept was developed at the Center for Bits and Atoms at MIT. Around 34 fab labs have been set up around the world so far to give ordinary people in deprived areas access to this type of machinery to help people create machines and devices for themselves and their community. A mobile FabLab: Commercial versions are now starting to spring too, see http://www.techshop.ws. Links
RepLab RepLabs: Open-source, replicable FabLabs. Very nascent but holds great promise as a concept. Conventional FabLabs use expensive commercial equipment - RepLab wants to reduce the cost by an order of magnitude and at the same time significantly increase functionality. RepLab is to be made entirely of machines whose designs are free and open-source, allowing anyone to build one, thus putting manufacturing of advanced electronics and machinery within anyone's reach. It would follow the RepRap principle of self-replication so that the equipment in a RepLab would be able to create another RepLab, just by downloading the designs from the Internet and inputting them to the machines. In principle: a multi-process, multi-material RepRap.  A group of people all wanting the same item to be made could get together and send the details of the design to a large-scale contract manufacturing and assembly company to make use of specialist facilities and economies of scale. This might be a 'base item' and each individual then customises and finishes off the product according to their tastes. The item could be anything from a car, a mobile phone, a computer or an entirely new machine or device that has only recently been thought up... See also Wired article "In the Next industrial revolution, atoms are the new bits". See also Joy de vivre concept. At some stage open-source systems will likely compete with this type of manufacturing too, bypassing the commercial aspect - however it makes some interesting large-scale things possible right now.
"The future is already here - it is just unevenly distributed" - William Gibson
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