Replicator Video: Makerbot Edition

What is Makerbot – Short Story

A brief interview conducted by Rocketboom that gives the basic rundown on what a MakerBot is. Even shorter answer: Open source 3D printer based on the RepRap model.

What is Makerbot – Long Story

One of the founders of MakerBot, Adam Mayer, presents the MakerBot at Google and really delves into the nuts and bolts of developing hardware and a new class of consumer devices. If you are interested in hardware hacking this is a very instructive video.

Here are a few interesting take aways:

Inverts the 3D printing paradigm – Most 3D printers have a build platform that moves in the Z dimension an a print head that moves in X/Y. Since the print head is delicate, the MakerBot team flipped the design moving the head up and down and the build table X/Y making it sturdier and more reliable.

Open Platform – The vision is to use the MakerBot as a platform that could accept different kinds of “print heads” so people could make more kinds of things. Two experiments have been conducted0. A milling head has been developed, but has limited utility due to the forces that mills exert. A frosting extruder however works perfectly so cupcakes can now be decorated with extreme precision.

Healthy Modesty – The MakerBot team seems to know it is moving into uncharted territory. Adam has a great line about trying to explain 4Chan to Steve Wozniak circa 1976. His point was people are going to figure out uses for the MakerBot that the creators didn’t envision.

Experimenting – Etched acrylic works better than plastic coated foam core as a build platform. This real time experimentation is exciting to see and will hopefully lead to the occasional breakthrough.

Use of wood – I had wondered why the Makerbot was clad in wood, given that it might warp as wood does with humidity. However, while acrylic is prettier it is also prone to “binary failure”. If you tighten a screw into acrylic with too much force it will crack and become useless, but wood is forgiving. A key attribute in a product designed for hobbyists.

Hotplate > Soldering Iron – Real hacking is in evidence with the MakerBot. Instead of using a soldering iron to afix parts to the PCB, the MakerBot crew puts solder paste and components onto the board and lets it simmer on a hotplate. A creative time saver that I’m guessing the folks at Stratasys wouldn’t try.

Gcode – Adam delves into the interconnecting pieces of software that are required to pull off a 3D printing project from design software to “GCode” the machine language that drives the physical components. Hackers interested in hardware definitely have an interesting set of software challenges to contend with.

Red, Purple, and Green Plastics – Are the next complements to the existing white and black offerings. I’d probably go with blue or yellow before purple, but maybe there are a lot of home brew Barney fans out there.

Time Lapse Printing

This video is a sped up demo showing exactly how the MakerBot produces a part.

Makerbot plays the Imperial March

The Makerbot prints out a bust of Darth Vader and when complete plays the “Imperial March” using the mechanics of the machine itself. This is something the major 3D printer companies would never do. I think personality is going to be instrumental for customization companies to move to the mainstream and MakerBot certainly has one.