RepRap

3 responses to “RepRap”

1. 

   The Rocketeer

   Aug 6, 2007 at 5:45 pm

   With enough polymer material, they’ll take over the world!!!

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2. 

   Todd Huffman

   Aug 6, 2007 at 6:12 pm

   Ah, but can it replicate the instruction set? That is a major hurdle for self-replicators, micro or macro. The common instruction set substrates are either too complicated to produce (i.e. conventional transistors) or not information dense (i.e. mechanically encoded information).

   Don’t get me wrong, I am duly impressed with this project. An open source, inexpensive rapid prototyper? It is high on my list of things to make! Perhaps the first person in my social group to make one can make one for me!?! (Please?)

   My mind will officially be blown when someone produces a Babbage-Difference-Engine style setup for the RepRap that builds copies of the both the replication machinery and the instruction set.

   What would blow my mind and bake my noodle is if there were some sort of mutation (varying gear ratios?) and feedback (deathmatch?) mechanisms that enabled true evolution. At $400 in materials (less if bought in bulk), it isn’t infeasible to have multiple generations, especially if the winners get to recycle the components of the losers!

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3. 

   PhOtOnQuAnTiQuE

   Aug 6, 2007 at 6:25 pm

   Very interesting technology. Now i wonder what would happen, if you fusion this RepRap with Strandbeest …

   Reply