User:Tav5057/Blogs
Contents
Blog 5: Media Timeline
I think the establishment of Thingiverse in November 2008 was a very important moment in 3D printing history. The site embodies the open source spirit of the 3D printing community. It was one of the things I saw early on that got me interested in this technology. I think it is a great tool to get newcomers interested as well. This is mainly due to the fact that it acts as a gallery of the things possible with 3D printers. It opens your mind to the possibilities, and gets you chomping at the bit to print something yourself. It is still very important to the progression of 3D printing today. As advancements in printing occur, users can see these triumphs in new “things” that are posted. For example, this (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:154188 shoe) tipped me off on the availability of elastic filament, which seems to be a very cool material.
I feel that the whole “3D printing food” movement is overhyped. If it got to the point where macromolecules could be printed I would be impressed. But as it stands, food printers appear to be no more than overly complex ingredient dispensers. For example, the (http://technabob.com/blog/2012/07/07/burritob0t-3d-burrito-printer/ BurritoB0t)(July 2012) has some syringes that might release some beans or corn. This is not all that impressive and I don’t think it is appropriate to call this 3D printing. There are many instances of this type of machine. I know fully-fledged food printers lurk in the future; however, the current “printers” don’t deserve the media attention they are getting.
Something that piqued my interest was the founding of (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-25266606 Authentise) in 2012. It is a streaming service that allows you to send a print to someone without them ever gaining access to the model. It is a smart service because it will address a need that arises when companies begin selling products distributed through 3D printing. I see some issues with this though. First, as was briefly mentioned in the video, the object could be 3D scanned after printing. The founder addressed this concern by saying that a watermark of sorts could be ingrained into the print. I’m not sure how that could actually be done in a way that would not be picked up by a 3D scanner. Secondly, I don’t understand how the commands could be sent to the printer without the possibility of them being intercepted. This is like streaming movies on the internet. Although I haven’t looked into it, I’m sure there are easily obtainable programs that will allow you to capture the streamed video. This will be a larger issue in 3D printing because the objects will be of much higher value than a movie or TV show.
Blog 4: OSE Classmate Responses
I really liked the point Kevin made about selfish individuals ruining the idea behind an open source project. Although I have limited knowledge on it, the 3D printing world seems to be the perfect example. It seemed too good to be true, with so many people working together and freely sharing new ideas. However, people are deciding to cash in on this generosity, and as a result, are damaging the community.
Yuchao made a good point about safety issues involved in this project. There are people engineering machines outside of their areas of expertise. Although I’m sure that calculations are made, the modeling that goes into the design is probably nowhere near the extent to which commercial manufacturers go. You might say, “Well what does it matter if it’s wrong. The machine will break and it can be improved.” However, a malfunction could take someone’s life when you are talking about heavy farm equipment. There would probably be some liability issues that arise in the future, whether they are reasonable or not.
Vinny was very open minded about the project and seems to have some genuine excitement about the idea. I liked how he said that Marcin was wrongfully chastised for being so punctual or strict. Although I am not as optimistic about the project, I agree with this point. If a project of this scale is to be successful, Marcin has to run a tight ship. Some people are volunteering their time, but this does not mean that it should be a vacation for them. They get involved with this project knowing the degree of work that will be involved.
Carson's involvement in Agricultural Engineering allowed him to make an educated observation on the project. He said that the tractor may function, but it is not necessarily a “good” tractor. I shared this view, however, Carson had the knowledge of agricultural equipment to back it up. He pointed out many other functions of the machine that may have not been addressed by Marcin’s design, some of which I could not begin to define. Things like drawbar pull and a PTO for implement attachment points.
Zac mentioned that distributing the “Civilization Startup kit” to nations with poor PC and internet infrastructure would be a challenge. This supports my opinion that this instruction manual would be less helpful to small villages in third world countries, and only beneficial to places that already have fully functioning civilizations. To obtain and execute the plans provided by OSE, full civilization must already be in place nearby.
Jarred made an interesting comparison between the OSE project and the “invisible hand” in economics. This metaphor describes the self-regulating nature of a marketplace, but can be extended to explain why most things turned out the way they did. The OSE project has many supporters. They promote the great ideas behind it, but what they lack is the skills to carry it forward. The inherent flaw can already be seen; good machines will be created by builders, not dreamers. The OSE project is primitive in comparison to the many skilled craftsmen that create the same sort of machines and post online. There isn’t anyone making 50 different machines like OSE is; however, maybe that is for a good reason.
Drew stated that fabrication processes for certain machines may be too involved for the average person. Although the instructions may be comprehensive, they require a level of skill that many do not possess. I consider myself to be mechanically inclined so this was not immediately apparent. Likewise, I had visions of skilled craftsmen that wanted to start up their own civilization and simply followed the manual. But, the reality is that this project is intended to guide anyone that has a need for machinery. I think there would be a large skill barrier that holds many back from getting involved.
Jessica stated that if everyone started building their own machines, it would be detrimental to the economy. This triggered some further thinking in my mind. The OSE project is kind of like reinventing the wheel. People would start building all these inferior machines and cause commercial manufacturers to close their doors. Then, the only way to obtain a piece of machinery would be to build your own or buy off someone else. Certain people would be really good at building and improving machines, and maybe they would sell some to other people with money. Then, they would grown until they become commercial manufacturers themselves. I think the idea of “corporate=bad” shouldn’t be so blindly supported by OSE enthusiasts.
Sam pointed out that the author of the New Yorker article may not be the most appropriate person to be critiquing the OSE project. I hadn’t thought of this but he may be on to something. Emily Eakin might not exactly be the kind of tinkerer that would want to build any kind of machinery. Therefore, she was more prone to focus on the superficial issues of Marcin’s initiative. The article could have done a better job talking about more technical matters; however, it was written to be interesting and I found it to be such.
Blog 3: Robohand
The design of the Robohand was a collaboration between Richard Van As and Ivan Owen. It began in May 2011 and is an ongoing project that is constantly being refined. Richard had previously worked as a woodworker in Johannesburg, South Africa. Ivan is a special effects artist based in Bellingham, Washington. They originally sent designs back and forth and had only briefly met in person during development. Today, the two have split up and Richard utilizes the help of new partners in refining the Robohand.
If I wanted to print the Robohand, I would visit Thingiverse.
A google search yields many results for 3D printed prosthetics. Many of the articles are about applications of the Robohand, while some others are about other prosthetic body parts. I think 3D printing is very well suited for this application because of the need for customization. Prosthetic body parts must be individualized via size, shape, appearance, and articulation; therefore, they cannot be mass manufactured. I have included links to some of the articles:
Man prints 3D hand for son using Owen's design
Printing prosthetics including the Robohand for war amputees in Sudan
Teen building a relatively inexpensive prosthetic arm
3D printing allows rapid prosthetic eye manufacturing
Duck gets 3D printed prosthetic leg
Blog 2: Open Source Ecology
The Open Source Ecology project is an interesting endeavor. I am always critical of these types of “save the world” projects. This is because I know how common it is for someone to solicit donations and support with false promises and some fancy talking.
Two personal thoughts: You could find out how to make these types of projects by doing some internet searching. Additionally, these designs would be superior as they have probably been tested and refined by multiple people. Obviously, the catch is that there would not exist a step-by-step guide and videos of construction. That is the nice thing about the OSE project and exactly why it stands out as something so innovative. The cynic in me still wants to believe that if I were building one of these machines, the best way to go about it would be to find great designs by someone on the internet, and slowly pick apart how they were constructed. I guess the intention of this project is not to provide instructions for the best machines that can possibly be made, but rather to provide complete instructions for pretty good machines.
I think it’s a step in the right direction, and it’s ultimately a good goal to have something like the OSE project around. However, I feel that a more realistic goal would be for a person to take on a machine where they can offer the utmost level of expertise. Having a small group of people force out numerous machines is not the way to yield the best results. Though, I suppose the only way to initiate a large scale OSE movement is to focus on quantity over quality, and gain widespread exposure in the short term. With time and further development, the machines can be refined or entirely redesigned by others.
My second thought is that the OSE project will not benefit as large of an audience as many people would like to believe. It seems that you would need access to fairly advanced materials (compared to say, raw lumber) and tools. Therefore, those that would benefit most from a “civilization start-up guide” would not have the resources necessary to carry out the process. I’m sure there are plenty of people that live in industrialized nations and could use cheap ways to build machinery, but portraying OSE as a sort of instruction manual for creating a civilized way of life is a bit misleading, in my opinion.
After looking at http://opensourceecology.dozuki.com/ , I don’t really understand where the fully detailed instructions are for any of these builds. Maybe I am just not finding them, or this website is still in development, but I cannot find much more than an infographic for each project. The money seems to be pouring in for Marcin via donations so he must be doing something right.
I am also a bit skeptical after seeing one of Marcin’s latest videos here. He describes the new business model – sorry, “enterprise” model – that they will be using this year. From my understanding, people will pay to help build the projects as a learning experience. To me, this seems as though the project is straying from its original goal and indeed becoming more of a business.
This article seems to support my views about OSE. It is a good idea but Marcin’s execution seems to be all smoke and mirrors.
The fact that there are many accounts of negative experiences on the farm is not reassuring. By their accounts, volunteers are worked long hours in miserable conditions. Past participants are eager to tell of the injustices served against them while at the farm. This can be found through some online searching. One example I found was an archived blog post that had since been deleted. Two workers on the farm were accused of tampering with the water supply to sabotage the operation. There were previous incidents that culminated to this event, but in the end, the two people were wrongly accused and forced out as a result. You can read about that here.
I was able to access the New Yorker article by retrieving a pdf from here. After reading “The Civilization Kit”, I am even more dismayed by the OSE project. Marcin’s response can be found here. Essentially, the New Yorker article gave a brief look into the goals of OSE, and then documented the turmoil of the workers that have volunteered or have been employed there. It gave off the idea that the project is not as grand as it sounds on paper. Marcin’s response was very predictable; he said that the writer of the article is not looking at the big picture. They smell sewage and a lack of clean water or food, but Marcin sees efficiency. He felt that the goal of OSE is the top priority and everything else comes second. I think this was predictable because I expected him to respond to these negative accusations by jumping back to all the wonderful ways he is going to save the world.
I think it would be a challenge to start up some sort of OSE student club. There would be a lot of legwork involved. The reason I say this is because I am involved with the EcoCAR team for my senior design project. The team is currently finishing up the conversion of a 2013 Chevy Malibu to a hybrid powertrain. The similarity I can see is the highly technical nature of the project. We have a dedicated garage and supply of tools, which makes it possible to carry out such a project. This is only available to us because of the work done by countless people over the many years the program has been around. There is a ton of logistics to be sorted in terms of safety and liability when working on a serious hands-on project, which an OSE club would probably lend itself to. I can’t think of any professors who would be specifically interested in this sort of club. However, I think that our EcoCAR advisor, Gary Neal, would be a good contact if a serious effort for an OSE club was made. He could probably provide valuable insight on the hurdles that would have to be overcome to establish something of this nature.
Blog 1: Thingiverse
- My account is not 4 days old so, as far as I know, I cannot directly upload pictures yet
A. Something amazing/beautiful
For some reason, I enjoy miniature cities and landscapes. That's why I found this piece to be so amazing. I think it would be cool to throw together a simple model of my house or neighborhood and print it at some point. (Link).
B. Something funny or strange
It's not so much this single object that I found funny/strange, but the collection of "beefy" objects on thingiverse. This must be some sort of cult following that I am not aware of. There are beefy sharks, beefy minions, and what appeared to be a beefy Kim Il Sung. This beefy turtle is a rather tame example. (Link).
C. Something useless
I found this spring object which appears to be quite useless. Although, if I had my own printer I would probably print it just to play with it. Therefore, maybe it isn't as useless as I thought. (Link).
D. Something useful
Upon seeing this object, I had many memories from the summer come to mind. I spent many hours researching and trying to construct my own steadicam. I had come up with so many designs that were small and simple, but couldn't easily be made by hand. I don't know how many times I wished I had a 3D printer. I think this is one of the moments where I decided I wanted to build my own some day. I chose this for my useful object because it is a prime example of an application where 3D printing can make a very difficult task much, much easier. (Link).
MaxGlide - Glidecam cheap and efficient!
E. Something which surprised you
This is the only time I have found myself looking at dresses. I swear. I thought it was surprising that someone would print something that covers nearly the whole body. I imagine it must need sufficient flexibility to not fracture during normal movement. Or maybe it's just for show. It actually looks a bit grotesque to be honest. I can respect the work that went into it though. (Link).
