…and lurves it.

CNET’s Rich Brown has some nice things to say about The Replicator, “the most capable 3D printer for under $2,000.”

Yes, but it’s also fun.  And what did Rich use that Mr. Jaws clip for?!

Stay tuned for Rich’s full review of The Replicator, which is due out tomorrow.

If this isn’t the most perfect MakerBot companion accessory, I don’t know what is.

 

Yes, that is a lasercut, open source, DIY custom cell phone, from the researchers at MIT’s High-Low Tech group. Those are all the things we love. These are the questions those guys and girls are asking themselves as they go.

How close can a homemade project come to the design of a cutting edge device? What are the economics of building a high-tech device in small quantities? Which parts are even available to individual consumers? What’s required for people to customize and build their own devices?

This looks like a great start. I really just want to see this being held by a MakerBot Arm.

 

There’s something so cool about Dualstrusion.

The winner of the Engineer vs. Designer iPhone design competition, aubenc, has just added a cool kind of mashup. Rather than mashing up two kinds of shapes, he alluded to two animals by adding a zebra pattern to his Paper Bird model.

Now who’s going to add a cheetah skin to cushwa’s Owl statue?

 

A group of designers at the Brooklyn consultancy Pensa did something really awesome last week, and graciously called it their own response to the “DIY ingenuity” of companies like MakerBot.

While we make machines that allow a person — among other pursuits — to prototype in plastic, the fellas at Pensa have made a machine that makes 2D and 3D shapes by systematically bending wire, and they’re calling it the DIWire Bender. Watch it in action.

This machine is a great peer of the MakerBot. As Pensa writes on their blog,

The closest thing to a machine that can output lines is a CNC wire bender, but these machines are used almost exclusively for mass production in factories. They are not used for rapid prototyping because the equipment is large, expensive and takes trained personnel to run. So, we decided to make the DIWire Bender.

I love this machine for its practicality, but the sculptural possibilities are endless, too. I can’t wait to see how far people in the DIY community push the DIWire Bender. This second video shows the production process from digital to tangible, which the Pensa blog outlines like this:

Simply draw curves in the computer, import the file into our software and press print. Our software can read vector files (e.g., Adobe Illustrator files), Rhino or Wavefront OBJ 3D files, text files of commands (e.g., feed 50 mm, bend 90° to right…) or pure coordinates (from 0,0,0 to 0,10,10 to….). All inputs are automatically translated into DIWire motor commands. During the print, the wire unwinds from a spool, passes through a series of wheels that straighten it, and then feeds through the bending head, which moves around in 3 dimensions to create the desired bends and curves.

More at the always great Core77.

So you all saw Andrew’s blog post last week about our visit with TEDx celebrity Thomas Suarez, right? Thomas spent a fun-filled, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory style day getting a tour of MakerBot’s BotFarm and BotCave with Bre. After he and Bre were done having lunch together Thomas joined me in the MBTV studio for a quick chat. He told me all about his beloved MakerBot Replicator and gave me a peek at how the future looks from the eyes of a 12-year-old. Today’s episode ends with another wonderful Spring-themed R.Maker Adventure – so be sure to stay tuned for that too.

For those of you who don’t know, the Raspberry Pi is a “credit-card sized computer that plugs into your TV and a keyboard.”   While “underpowered” compared to full sized traditional computers, there are some ground-breaking distinctions.  The Raspberry Pi Model B comes as a small computer motherboard with RCA video, audio, HDMI, LAN, two USB connections, and a small USB micro power connector on board – all for just $35.¹

After reading a review and setup guide article on the Raspberry Pi I couldn’t help but thinking back to a news piece about students working on a modular laptop that could easily be disassembled, repaired, and recycled by users without the use of any tools.  With a few minor changes, a Raspberry Pi could be easily adapted for use in a modular laptop.  As one MakerBot commentor, Scott Watkins noted, “A compact motherboard like that is really all that’s needed to make [the modular laptop] dream a reality.”

Between the just-released open source Raspberry Pi and printable Raspberry Pi cases on Thingiverse, there’s nothing to stop you from creating their very own custom laptop.  All it would really take to create your very own laptop would be a USB hub, a USB keyboard, USB LCD monitor, power supply and/or battery pack, connectors, and a 3D printed case to hold it all in.  I’d be willing to bet all the parts could be sourced for less than $250 plus a 3D printed case.

1. The Model A has only one USB port and no LAN ethernet port for $25! [↩]