OPEN SOURCE BLOGROLL

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The open source ‘make anything’ machine
November 27, 2006

I spotted an interesting story in the Guardian newspaper over the weekend about RepRap, the “self-replicating rapid prototyper” project at Bath University. According to the story, RepRap is “a machine that literally prints 3D objects from a digital design. Its creators hope that in the future it will be a must-have mod con for every home. Instead of queuing for this year's equivalent of Buzz Lightyear, Robosapiens or TMX Elmo, parents will simply download the sought-after design off the internet and print it out.”

Interesting stuff, although clearly the project is a while away from completion. When you combine its potential with the fact that it is an open source project, and it’s benefits will be available for everyone, it gets even more fascinating.

"I did not want an individual, company or country to make money from this," Rep Rap founder, Dr Adrian Bowyer, told The Guardian. The results of the RepRap project are available under the GNU General Public License and are available at SourceForge.

Another point of interest, given the current climate in the open source market, is that it is already being predicted that RepRap will fall foul of IP lawyers. "Somewhere along this line the intellectual property people are going to come in and say 'No we don't want you all printing out Ferraris and we don't want you printing out pizzas'," Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, told The Guardian.

But all it perhaps not lost – it depends on whether IP holders see RepRap as a piracy tool, or a new distribution system. As Professor David Wimpenny of De Montfort University, Leicester, told The Guardian, the machine could also have distinct benefits for manufacturers, however. "At this time of year, toy companies lose thousands by not being able to get toys to the market or having toys they can't sell... This way the product would always be available,” he said.

Will IP holders take a positive view of this new distributions mechanism? It remains to be seen, but current initiatives suggest not.

For more on the RepRap project, see the FAQ, the homepage, and the original press release.

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