RepRap – the self replicating machine
Ever wished that your new iPod could somehow self-replicate into two iPods every night? Or maybe every other hour? Christmas would be so much more fun… and less expensive 
Adrian Bowyer is thinking on somewhat similar lines. A senior lecturer in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath, Adrian is credited with the invention of the revolutionary RepRap Project – an open-source self-replicating 3D printer. As per The Guardian, “[RepRap] has been called the invention that will bring down global capitalism, start a second industrial revolution and save the environment…”.
RepRap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper. Adrian defines it as a practical self-copying 3D printer that builds the parts up in layers of plastics – in essence, a self-replicating machine. Not counting nuts and bolts RepRap can make 60% of its parts; the other parts are designed to be cheaply available everywhere.
This is an interesting coincidence: we can make 60% of our proteins; the other parts are evolved to be cheaply available everywhere. In this respect, RepRap machines could/would follow Darwin’s theory of evolution. And with the project now available in Open Source domain, natural selection seems all the more logical growth route.
Imagine the potential impact of this “magical wand”! Will this “demonetize money”? Check out the video below.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2906940287109861530
Tags: Adrian Bowyer, Coincidence, Darwin, Design, Featured, Global Capitalism, Google, Innovation, Invention, Magical Wand, Mechanical Engineering, Money Check, Natural Selection, New Ipod, Nuts And Bolts, Nuts Bolts, Plastics, Proteins, Psychologist, Rapid Prototyper, Reprap, Second Industrial Revolution, Senior Lecturer, Source Domain, Technology, Theory Of Evolution, University Of BathRelated posts
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