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For this class we write weekly blogs on a variety of topics that have to do with 3D printing.

Blog 1: Thingiverse

We had to explore around on Thingiverse and find different items.

An item that is amazing/beautiful

Here is a marble machine that is powered by a small electric motor. I find this marble machine pretty amazing because of its creativity. I don't think it does anything particularly useful, but it is a good example of a fun projected that can be created with a 3D printer. Source

An item that is funny or strange

Seeing a printed version of the Mac OSX trash bin made me laugh. This is one of many designs I found that have little practical uses, but are incredibly intricate. I suppose it would make an interesting paper weight though. This was also a top contender for the next category: An item that is useless. Source

An item that is useless

Here is a miniature Nintendo (notice the size of it compared to the penny). No matter how cool a super tiny Nintendo looks I can't think of it could be used for. I also find it interesting that it is made out of 8 different parts. Again I'm impressed by the complexity of things that seem useless to me. Source

An item that is useful

Here is an earbud case designed for easy storage of earbuds. This is one of many items that I wanted to print immediately after I saw it. This earbud case makes me excited about additive manufacturing because it gives people the opportunity to create products to meet their needs. Source

An item that surprised me

I never would have thought about making a gum machine out of printed parts. This is something that gets me thinking about how many industries 3D printing will impact in the future. It also makes me want some bubble gum. Source

Blog 2: Open Source Blueprints for Civilation

TED Talk Open Source Ecology Wiki

A) What is your general impressions of the OSE project?

The Open Source Ecology Open Source Ecology project was creating to design and build the machines necessary to start a civilization by sharing and building off of each others ideas. I like the idea of the OSE project because of the need for it. During his TED talk, Marcin talks about the financial difficulties he experienced as a small scale farmer. I live on a small farm in Lancaster PA that my grandfather and now my uncle Farm. I have seen the financial struggles firsthand. The newest and greatest equipment is too expensive for these small farmers to afford, so they need to buy used equipment. My uncle uses two tractors that were made in the mid 1950's and they constantly need repaired.

The start-up costs alone were enough to discourage me from wanting to farm at a young age. But the OSE project gives me hope that small farms will once again become profitable. I love that you can build the tools that you need and make changes to them when necessary. In This Video Marcin talks about building tools that can replicate themselves (He even gives a shout-out to REP RAP).

I am excited to see where this project goes in the next few years. I hope that more and more people contribute to the project to keep making the design of the machines better and better. Hopefully someday soon it won't be uncommon to see someone plowing a field with a tractor they built.

B) The New Yorker magazine recently wrote an article about the OSE project called THE CIVILIZATION KIT. They talked a lot about Marcin's philosophy about OSE and the living conditions at his farm. He is very set on the idea of creating a civilization that is self sufficient. I think this article is a little tough on Marcin. He is trying to build machines using as many simple processes as he can while living the early stages of a created civilization. I'm not sure that he necessarily needs to though. I believe that the OSE project would be more efficient if they used modern techniques to make the initial machines. As long as the drawings are made, OSE has accomplished their goal.

The New Yorker article also points out the poor living conditions mentioned by some of the volunteers at the ODE farm. I can't imagine why not having running water or electricity would further OSE's mission of creating open source machines that are needed to create a civilization, but I respect that Marcin is using the money donated to the OSE project to build machines and further OSE's mission. I also do not find it surprising that ODE has some critical flaws. They are a non profit organization that is trying to build everything itself. So I would expect their facilities to be very outdated and the working conditions to be atrocious. It also makes sense that many of their volunteers were unqualified and left after a short time because of the living conditions. I think that Marcin has some good ideas that will benefit society, but I think his approach is flawed.

Marcin wrote a short response to the New Yorker (found here). He clarifies OSE's goals to be solving pressing world issues, where the New Yorker article claimed that it was to start self-sufficient communities. He also claims that they are "not letting idealism prevent us from achieving out goals." I call BS on that one. If you do not have electricity in your facilities because you want to make it yourself then I would say that you are letting idealism prevent you from achieving your goals. The rest of the response Marcin discusses how it is hard to run a nonprofit organization and why there are always going to be trade offs between comfort and progress. I agree with most of his response because I would not want to be in his shoes and I do not think I would know a way to make OSE more efficient (other than more modern facilities that is). Overall I think Marcin will struggle for the duration of the project to find qualified people who are as dedicated to the project as he is. If he can do that I'm interested to see how it works out. But there is no way you will ever see me working for him (not that he would even want my help).

C) One professor I think would be interested in a PSU OSE club would be Leland Engel. When I took his class ME 340 class he was very focused on creativity and a design process that was very iterative. He is also an advisor for the FSAE car and a few other similar projects at Penn State. I am not sure what his opinion is on open source technology, but I think the engineering that would go on would entice him enough to hear us out.