User:Eric Prindible/Blogs

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Blog 1: Thingiverse

Torus Knot
I. Something beautiful/amazing

The complex geometry of this shape perfectly illustrates a huge advantage of additive manufacturing. I would assume other processes (i.e CNC routing) of manufacturing would have a much more difficult time handling this type of shape.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:231413





Almost anotomically accurate chess piece
II. Something funny/strange

Chess's attempt at becoming a spectator sport.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:230724






Swole T-rex
III. Something useless

Well I wouldn't know what to do with it.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:216933






Bag Holder
IV. Something useful

This is obvious... Makes trying to take only one trip for the groceries actually possible. Could also be slightly modified to double as brass knuckles.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:26767






Trumpet mouthpiece
V. Something that surprised me

I happen to play trumpet and most trumpet players like having a variety of mouthpieces at their disposal. This could allow you to completely personalize the bowl size and depth for WAY cheaper than it would be to have one custom made for you. Also, some larger mouthpieces for other instruments (i.e tubas) can cost upwards of over $100. 3D printing a mouthpiece would only cost the price of the printing material.

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:232074



Blog 2: Marcin Jakubowski: Open-Sourced Ecology

Background:

Marcin Jakubowski is a technology enthusiast with a dream of creating an open-source set of tools for a civilization to sustain a comfortable existence. His project titled The Global Village Construction Set contains over 50 "tools" in which a small group of people could easily gather the parts and assemble. These tools alone are supposedly enough to build a self-sustaining society.

http://www.ted.com/talks/marcin_jakubowski.html


Personal Opinion:

I often find myself wishing I lived during simpler times. Our civilization's economies have grown to be extremely complex, creating a dependency for a plethora of services and goods. This extreme dependency also creates friction from the competitive market and lack of availability of these services and resources. Trade Secrets, patents, lawsuits are all products of the way we drive our economy. Instead, Marcin calls for an open collaboration between people for the betterment of society, not profit. Marcin's project would allow a civilization to avoid the extra costs from the market's profit margin and also drastically decreasing start up costs. I appreciate the idea of living with a simple and self-sufficient group of people, so I feel as though I see eye to eye with him on his concept.


New Yorker Article:


On Dec 13, 2013, Emily Eakin of the New Yorker released an article on Marcin's "Civilization Kit". Marcin wrote a rebuttle regarding 8 key misconceptions with her article. I'll keep this section short: The author of the article did not clearly understand the objective of Marcin. She spent the article critiquing the way Marcin's "Factor e Farm" preformed their designs and work. Along with this, she made a few controversial statements about how the project makes use of it's donations. Basically she focused on small shortcomings that any project would have without addressing their overall progress fairly. Marcin's response was just.


NEW YORKER: http://archives.newyorker.com/?i=2013-12-23#folio=070

RESPONSE: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/New_Yorker_-_Article_Response


OSE Applications at PSU

Not entirely sure I have any outstanding ideas in regards to this, but I did come up with two:

1.) Open-Source Textbooks/Subject Notes:

ACCESS TO KNOWLEDGE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO BE BOUGHT. Textbooks could be run like wikipedia and registered professors could constantly edit/collaborate on them providing an up-to-date perspective on the material. No need to release a new edition every year either.

Bad news(?) - This would be the Student Bookstore's demise.

2.) Open-Source Dorm Dining Hall:

Every dorm building roof has a garden maintained by the students, chickens for eggs, brewing equipment for beer, etc. Inside there would be an area where students could prepare and eat the self-produced produce.



Blog 3: Kansas teen uses 3D printer to make hand for boy

Mason Wilde, a young tech-enthusiast from Kansas, worked with a young child with a disabled hand to help build a prosthetic hand in which they could 3D print at a local library. Before learning about 3D printing, the young child named Matthew never showed interest in obtaining a prosthetic limb. The fact that the child took to bettering himself because he was so inspired by 3D printing is very inspiring itself. This article is a perfect example that displays how useful and easy 3D printing can be implemented on a small scale.

The original "Robohand" design was created by Ivan Owens along with help from Richard Van As. If I were to undergo this project myself, I would draft up my own set of parts ensuring a proper, unique fit. I would probably however use a commercial printer for better accuracy than using a RepRap.

A Google search of "Kansas teen 3d print hand" returned an endless list of websites referencing the article. Definitely a good, positive, news story that will help move 3d printing forward. Better than the common news of 3d printed guns and such.

Article: http://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/31/4790811/kansas-teen-uses-3-d-printer-to.html

Blog 4: Responses to Blog 2

Teammates Responses:

The general consensus of my team deemed the OSE project as a good, positive open-source idea. However, Drew brought up some points that initially didn't cross my mind. He questioned the ease of assembly of various machines that the OSE had developed. Most of these machines require specific skills such as welding experience and probably a decent amount of electronics background. When it comes to implementing these systems into third world countries, these skills might be found scarcely or not at all throughout the population. Not only that, but the raw materials needed for the construction of these machines could also be difficult to acquire in a third world country. OSE has been very successful, but only within a well developed part of the world. I would be curious to see the problems that arise when this project is taken on in a less developed environment.

Classmate Responses:

A couple different people brought up the issue of the danger of using homemade equipment that can be constructed improperly. Such large machines such as tractors could fail under loading potentially causing harm to the operator. Beyond the machinery failing, the people constructing the machines could be unskilled and also end up hurting themselves in the process. Tom Vassa brought up an idea to send a designated skilled technician to oversee the production of the product which could cut down on these risks.