User:Xiaomo Zhang
Contents
Blogs
Blog #1
Part A: Also part of your first blog assignment: Go to www.thingiverse.com and find 5 things which have *.stl files associated with them for printing (some things are not 3D printable, but just shared designs). You should find five designs which you consider to be particularly: 1. useful 2. Artistic/beautiful 3. Pointless/useless 4. Funny/weird 5. Scary/strange. Comment on why you have chosen these things.
Part B: Read this article: http://www.salon.com/2012/12/30/the_tinkerers_how_corporations_kill_creativity/ Watch this video: Charlie Rose interviews a successful Designer http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50138327n
Questions:
Do you feel that you are a tinkerer? Do you know anyone else who is? What do you think about the argument regarding the influence of corporate culture on tinkering? At the end of the article is the line, "...preserving the habitat of the tinkerer is one of the few time-proven ways we as a nation can get back on track." What do you think about this idea? What are the primary design principles you took away from the interview? What did you think when you saw his final project with his daughter? Can you think of how some of his principles might apply to our work?
1.Useful
3D glasses clip http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:39117
3D movies are becoming more and more popular now in theaters. The avatar is one my favorite movies. In addition, 3D technology is flowing into TV market. The most advanced smart TVs are able to support 3D technology, which mean people could enjoy 3D channels for movies, live sports, and news. So I think that printing a 3D glasses clip by 3D printer creates much convenience for people’s daily life.
2.artistic and beautiful
Eiffel Tower http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:22051
The Eiffel Tower design is very artistic and beautiful. It will be a great collection for people who are interested in architectures. The good point is that you could give the tower the color whatever you want: blue, yellow, red. And it could also be a good toy for children.
3.pointless and useless
Math cookie cutter set http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:33096
I doubt that is it healthy to cook cookie with plastic in ovens. If it is sure that the materials that used to make the cutters do not contain any poisonous components, then it will be safe to work.
4.funny and weird
MEG-i-PHONE http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6957
This is a megaphone model designed particular for iPhones products. The designer also posts a video to show that how big the voice difference is. http://www.flickr.com/photos/zgbot/5516445973/ which is awesome.
5.scary and strange
Wolverine Claws in plastic http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:28270
Is it a toy for kids or adults? I think it is so dangerous to play with it for either kids or adults. If necessary, I prefer to use hard papers to make the claws, otherwise you had better put on safety glasses to you safe. Then what is the point of designing this?
Thoughts:
I believe that becoming a tinkerer is definitely one the lofty dreams that every engineer has. For me, I am not a tinkerer. But I always wished to make myself a remarkable tinkerer. Since I was young, I had had great passion on any engineering related topics. Reading magazines and disassembling my "Transformers" usually took me a whole day and I never felt bored about them. However, as growing up from elementary school to college I had less time on my real interest gradually. At most of the time I had to figure out the solutions to the homework from math and physics classes. After came to Penn State, I tried my best to take myself back to what favorites me. I spent hours in laboratory to practice hands-on experience. And I believe it is definitely one of the smartest decisions I made in college life. I do have some friends who had experience of tinkering. But they never went deeper at the topic than what they learned from YouTube video. So I don't think I know anyone who is a so-called tinkerer. For the argument, first of all, I can tell the author had never been a boss of any corporation since he didn't look at the argument from the perspective of a corporation own. So these arguments about regarding the influence of corporate culture on tinkering is not fair the great corporations that the author mentions in the article. Secondly, I don't agree with what the author writes "where do we draw the line between tinkerers and hackers". It has no meaning to argue the “line”. I think he is exaggerating the potential damage from the group of tinkerers. He is put way too much responsibility on tinkerers on threatens to some great corporations. I partially agree with this point. Either giving compliment or belittling tinkerers is a wise mean to help the nation to move on. I suggest that leave the relationship between corporations and tinkerers alone. Trying to balance the relationship is only making it worse and worse. And getting the nation back to the track is critical. However, many other approaches are more practical than the one he mentions. I feel so true when he says “all you have to do is sit there and watch people using it. So try to understand people through observing them” and when he says “people are able to fix things”. These are so valuable lessons for my career. When I saw the final project from his daughter, I felt I made a very right decision when I registered this 3D printing class. I take ESDGN297 for interest instead of graduate requirement. I believe I could learn as much advance technology as possible from this class.
Blog #2
The “Mother of all Demos” is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIgzSoTMOs First, watch that first section of the mother of all demos (above), which includes the first computer mouse and cursor ever seen in public. Do you recognize the rough features we use on every computer today in its earliest form? Are you impressed by what he’s demonstrating? Do you think that you would have recognized the importance of this work if you were in the audience at the time?
Then watch this (turn up your sound): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wbl7JEJNTJM In it, Professor Richard Doyle discusses disruptive technological change, open source, knowledge sharing, and ‘creative culture’ among other things. The first 22 minutes is his talk, while the rest consists of questions and chat. What does he say regarding the initial perception of the mother of all demos? Doyle makes a number of arguments regarding the importance of our open source efforts in comparison to models requiring intellectual property. Why do we and why should we share the information we generate? (Or shouldn’t we? Are we missing out by not trying to patent our efforts?) How might we better share our knowledge?
Thoughts:
I just watched the first section video three times. I could barely clearly hear what he is saying in the video. But I think I understand most of the demo from what he is trying to show. And some problems which I think most people will have come in my mind as I was watching it. First. Where is the noise coming from? I assume it is from the central processor of the computer. In early days, computers are extremely large even though the capability of them is not too outstanding. There were heat dissipation and noise problems when running a computer. In addition, the noise is likely from the printer of this computer. From this video, I couldn't tell where the text is shown. I don't know if he is using a screen or a projector with printer. It does make sense that he is using a printer since the noise goes with the appearance of the text. Second. What causes the tail following the movement of the mouse? I think the answer for this problem might be the early kinescope. The speed of the movement of mouse is faster than processing speed of computer’s kinescope. That causes the delay on screen. Third. What is the thing on the left of the keyboard? When the camera turned to the keyboard I could see three main parts from the computer’s control board: a keyboard, a mouse and another board which looks like a touch pad. However I don’t think it is possible to have touchable pad at that time. So I have a big question mark on this part. In summary, I would be so shocked if I were one of the audiences at the conference. I am so impressed by the copy and paste command from the demonstration. It could save a large amount of time when doing typewriting at that time. In the other hand, I doubt about the convenience of this “advanced technology”. From the video, I could see the size of the keyboard is much larger than modern ones. I assume that is caused the size of the central processor inside itself. So I think the cost of this early computer is way beyond the average living standard.
From the video “mother of all demo”, Professor Doyle related the creativity of mouse to a true story of his one friend. The story is about how people get together in a contest to generate creativity. He says “one thing that is able to replicate the prototype and it’s another thing that has a culture to actually make it run”. I like the word “culture” he used in his talk. I am in favor of that open source is good not only for business but also for society. Take operating system as an example, more people who can see and test a set of code, the more likely any flaws will be caught and fixed quickly. That is a good point for the security of operating system such as Linux and Mac iOS. In addition, open source software gets closest to what users want because those users can have a hand in making it so. So it is better to create software by hundreds of developers.
Blog #3
Part A) Watch this: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDxOjai-Behrokh-Khoshnevis-Con
Part B) Check out this: http://www.cnbc.com/id/49348354 and this: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-researchers-improve-living-tissues-3d-printed-vascular-networks-made-sugar
Part C) Read: http://www.digitaltrends.com/lifestyle/300k-3d-printed-burger/ and http://techland.time.com/2012/04/09/the-delicious-future-3d-chocolate-printer-finally-available-for-purchase/
Part D) Check these: http://www.popsci.com/technology/gallery/2013-01/iris-van-herpens-3-d-printed-fashion-line?image=0 http://www.dazeddigital.com/fashion/article/15493/1/qa-iris-van-herpen
Part E) These are all examples where 3D printing is encroaching onto other areas of human endeavour which you may not have considered previously. (Civil Engineering, Biotech, Food Science, Fashion) Discuss each in turn. (separate your responses somehow, please!)
How many other examples can you find? (either relevant to one of the categories above or some other field which was not covered)
Thoughts:
Civil Construction:
Automated construction: In the end of this TED talk, Professor Khoshnevis said "In the beginning of the previous century around 1920, 62.9 percent of Americans were farmers. Today less than one and half percent of them are involved. The world didn't come to its end as a result of the utilization of agriculture technologies. And the same will be true in case of construction. There will always be better economies resulted from advancement and utilization of technology that just make sense" I am totally in favor of this point and I think this is the belief that supports him to work on this project. This talk reminds me of a movie named "WALL.E". In that movie, it describes that human-being is living in an enormous space station with all kinds of most advanced technologies to support their lives. People don't walk in a result of subway-like vehicles. People don't work since robots could be labors in all fields of daily life. That will be the end of the world for this society. For his research project, I have two questions: first, how accurate the 3D printing machine used in his research is. Safety and comfortableness are the priority of building houses. I don't think time is a big deal in construction. So the accuracy and stability are becoming important for his project. Second, how is he so sure that the cost of this method will be lower than old ways? 3D printing technology is still new to the society. It is just used in high-tech area such as Aerospace engineering when printing large pieces. When apply this technology into other areas, cost is another important concern for companies.
Bio Technology:
While we are still perhaps decades away from fully functioning bioengineered human organs, these latest innovations in solving the human organs problems of these tissues marks a significant milestone in the human society. Manufacturing human organs is the first application I heard about 3D printing technology. "bio-ink" which is made of living cells is a great idea of healing wounds and solving medical problems. In addition, I think it is a smart way to make a 3D skin printer that deposits cells directly on a wound. The quicker the wound is healed, the less pain the patient will feel. Applying 3D printing technology to medical field is the quickest way to benefit human society with most advanced technology, and most directly.
Food Science:
Compared to 3D printed meat or hamburgers, I prefer traditional food made of natural food materials. Even though 3D printing technology is new, remarkable and also so impressive, I don't think it is a good idea to spread this technology out to every field of this society. For most people, the reason of going to restaurants is to have traditional delicious hand-made dishes. There is no point of replacing traditional food with this new technology. I don't see a future for this kind of innovation. However "printing food" is a good idea for military application. Transportation is usually one of the most concerned aspects for a country in a war. A large portion of staff transported is food for soldiers. Especially it is very dangerous to provide food supply to military in some situations. I think 3D printing technology is a possible solution to this problem. Instead of carrying a burden of food, soldiers only need to take a machine which can provide food whenever they need to eat. It is safer, more durable, and more stable.
Fashion:
It is a genius combination of fashion and 3D printing technology. I like the understanding of 3D printing from designer Iris van Herpes, that, "3D printing is an entirely different language." For fashion designer, working with these techniques or gives them a lot of possibilities but also a lot of restrictions. The principle of 3D printing is to manufacture a three dimensional object from a digital model in any design software. So for designers, it is much flexible to think about their ideas in a three dimensional way in their mind. It’s a really big step forward. It changed the way designers work.
Other Examples:
Another example I find which is about 3D printing technology is: preservation of cultural heritage. http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.133335943363989.16338.105336109497306&type=3 And http://www.academia.edu/1823581/Combining_3D_technologies_in_the_field_of_cultural_heritage_three_case_studies
Blog #4
Read This (I suggest you also watch the videos): http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/02/robohand-how-cheap-3d-printers-built-a-replacement-hand-for-a-five-year-old-boy/
A) What are your thoughts after seeing the videos and reading the article?
B) Compare and contrast this technology to that of a closed-source apparatus. What are the benefits and weaknesses of each? How does the cost compare?
C) Find the open source project they refer to starting in the article. How might we participate?
Thoughts:
The article is not simply telling a story about some most advanced technology. It is telling the readers what is the true spirit of engineering and design. "Not only did we find a design partner, but we're kindred spirits in that we're both frustrated by the fact that there are some things that just shouldn't be commercialized - they're needs instead of wants - that are." I am interested in engineering is the reason that I wish to make a difference for the world by my own contribution. The purpose of designing robot hands is healing the pain of disables person. However, in modern society, people take use of these smart engineering ideas and make money from them. Also, patent rights keep these revolutionary inventions away from most people, including the ones who might be extremely eager to be benefit from the inventions. But it usually costs way too much for costumers. As we discussed in blog#2, in some aspects, tinkerers are making a difference to move the world forward to a better place. I think Ivan Owen and Richard Van As are the typical "garage tinkerer". Their thoughts, ability and insistence change a boy's life completely. They are real engineers. Their names will be memorized by all people who use the 3D printed rob hands.
Comparison and contrast of open source and closed source: for closed source technology, the end result is that a user is not actually purchasing the software or machine, but purchasing the right to use them. So it usually doesn't cost as much as open source technology to start using it. Because open source is free, it provides consumer the capability to train, improve, and support. So the short term cost of using open source will be higher due to the start investment. However, in long term cost analysis, open source technology has lower cost than closed source ones. Take Liam for example, he needs to buy a makerbot 3D printer when preparing making his robohands. Also basic materials are required for printing. And it is not guaranteed that the parts he printed will fit perfectly as a whole by the first time. But once he successfully has a functioning robohands. No more major cost is needed in the future.
Service of open source software or machine is about using online community. Sometimes it cannot guarantee high quality service and is time consuming issue. For robohands, I think users have to go to Google makerbots forum community to solve their problems if they want to troubleshoot their Replicators. But service is not a big concern for closed source technology software. People often get satisfied response from firm service center.
Another comparison between these two is the influence of innovation. Open source enables hundreds of thousands of consumers to perfect and debug the software. If people is willing share their contribution to the community, it will benefit everyone else among the same community. In spite of this advantage, it may also hurt the community by its flexibility. It is easier to cause security and reliability issues in open source compared to closed source.
To be part of the Robohand group, financing donation is one way. As Rich and Ivan say in their blog, they just started at the beginning of this long journey. They hope to get financing support from people who also has enthusiastic about this project. Contact information is posted in their main blog: http://comingupshorthanded.com/
Blog #5
Read http://www.publicknowledge.org/Copyright-3DPrinting This may take some time to read, as it’s rather long. It’s not simple material, but do your best, and we will discuss it in class next week. I’ve given an extra day for this, but I suggest you start reading now.
A) Re-examine the objects you found on thingiverse in your first blog. Assess each one for copyrightable or patentable elements.
B) Look over the things which your fellow students found. If you’re not on the list, please add yourself, and submit it for XP. (see here: http://reprap.org/wiki/Scrugmembers). Are any of them particularly obvious cases of copyrighted or patented material which have been found by your classmates?
C) Discuss both reasons why you might be interested in the “licensing of non-copyrightable files”.
Thoughts:
3D glasses clip http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:39117 is definitely not copyrightable, but might be patentable.
Eiffel Tower http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:22051 is artistic work. so it is copyrightalbe and might be infringing
Math cookie cutter set http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:33096 is patentable and might be infringing
MEG-i-PHONE http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6957 is patentable and might be infringing
Wolverine Claws in plastic http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:28270 is not infringing
In peers' blogs, I do find some example related to copyright and patent issues. For copyright, world famous landmarks are one aspect of copyright. In my blog, I have 3D printing Eiffel Tower as an example. Also another example is that Carina put replica of Notre-Dame Church of Pairs (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:35798) in her blog. Well-known architectures are artistic works. For patent, cjm525 (??What is his name??) found this beautiful 3D printed Ford Engine block (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:40257). Piston engine design is not a highly advanced research area for developed countries. These countries have moved on to study aero engines which have much higher efficiency than piston engines. But auto engine design has a long history which contains lots of patents protected technologies studied by these auto manufacturers. It could be a potential threat for these great companies such as Ford, Toyota, and so on.
For the legal purpose, as it says in the article, that granting a license today means that the usage conditions of the object are clear no matter how copyright law evolves in the future. So it is a good way to project the works from creators. For the cultural purpose, licensing non-copyrightable parts of an object encourages people to work on more creative things without the concern of copyright issues.
