DIY hardware accelerators go global

Low-cost prototyping equipment, such as 3D printers (MakerBot, RepRap) and Atmel-powered Arduino boards, have made it easier for engineers and Makers around the world to design and test their creations. As Tim Bradshaw of the Financial Times notes, the global DIY Maker Movement has been likened by many to the Homebrew Computer Club back in the 1970s, with hardware accelerators going global.

Indeed, HAXLR8R describes itself as a “new kind” of accelerator program for people who hack hardware and make things. The program runs for 111 days in Shenzhen, China and San Francisco. According to Bradshaw,  recent HAXLR8R demos were remarkably polished, especially since many of the projects showcased at various events barely existed just three months before.

“Several will ultimately fail, several will succeed, some will change the face of humanity,” Sean O’Sullivan, managing director of SOSventures and co-founder of Haxlr8r told the Financial Times. “[And this] is despite their tiny budgets, small salaries and fighting against all odds.”

Meanwhile Sarah Rotman Epps, emerging-technology analyst at Forrester Research, told Bradshaw there is a real need for the current crop of hardware accelerators.

“Even five years ago you couldn’t accomplish what you can today with the cloud and mobile infrastructure that’s in place,” she explained. “Their skillset is really in software or user experience. [However], hardware has become so commodified that anyone can do it. There are known solutions to common problems that accelerators can share with startups.”

The full text of “Help for the Makers to make it” can be read here.

3D printers are ready for prime time

The rapidly growing DIY Maker Movement has used Atmel-powered 3D printers such as MakerBot and RepRap for quite some time now, but it is clear that 3D printing has entered an important new stage in recent months.

Although it may take some time for 3D printers to find a home in every residence, one Michigan Technological University researcher believes that personal manufacturing, much like personal computing before it, is about to enter the mainstream in a big way.

“For the average American consumer, 3D printing is ready for showtime,” explained Associate Professor Joshua Pearce. “3D printers [may] have been the purview of a relative few aficionados, but that is changing fast. The reason is financial: the typical family can already save a great deal of money by making things with a 3D printer instead of buying them off the shelf.”

As Pearce notes, open-source 3D printers for home use typically have price tags ranging from about $350 to $2,000.

“[Plus], you don’t need to be an engineer or a professional technician to set up a 3D printer,” said Pearce. “Some can be set up in under half an hour, and even the RepRap can be built in a weekend by a reasonably handy do-it-yourselfer.”

Pearce also emphasized that 3D printing likely heralds a new world in which consumers have many more choices – where nearly everything can be customized.

“With the exponential growth of free designs and expansion of 3D printing, we are creating enormous potential wealth for everyone,” Pearce added. “It would be a different kind of capitalism, where you don’t need a lot of money to create wealth for yourself or even start a business.”

Interested in learning more about 3D printers from an academic perspective? Be sure to check out “Life-Cycle Economic Analysis of Distributed Manufacturing with Open-Source 3-D Printers,” by Joshua Pearce here.

Printing a 3D Tardis-Transformer

Earlier this month, we gave props to a remarkably realistic DIY PIP-Boy (Personal Information Processor-Boy) made with a 3D printer. Today we’re taking a closer look at a Tardis Transformer which was designed using an open source RepRap 3D printer.

“I originally only had Soundwave in mind when I was designing this. So all the small details are based around his robot design. But I was catching heck for making the Tardis into a Decepticon so I repainted him and added a second head option to make him Vector Prime,” a Maker by the name of “Nonnef” explained in an Instructables post.

“I still think Soundwave would make an awesome Tardis, but anyone making this has their option of which to build. The print is still rough and needs cleaned up, but I keep changing the design faster than I keep up with actually printing him out. Going to keep it at a weekly print of what I currently have changed.”

As Hack A Day’s Brian Benchoff notes, be prepared for a very long print if you plan on having a go at the Tardis Transfomer, as the latest iteration of the model took approximately 30 hours with a .35 mm nozzle.

Nevertheless, the level of detail is impressive, as is the fact that 99% of the Tardis Transformer originated from a 3D printer – with only a pen spring and small screw scrounged elsewhere.

Additional information about the Tardis Transformer can be found here on Instructables, while details about Atmel-powered  RepRap 3D printers can be found here.

A DIY Pip-Boy made with a 3D printer

The PIP-Boy (Personal Information Processor-Boy) is a sophisticated wrist-computer worn by players in the dystopian worlds of Fallout, Fallout 2, Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. The device serves various roles for inventory and battle management, as well as offering up vital statistics.

Unsurprisingly, a number of Pip-Boy replicas have been designed by Makers and modders over the years, although the 3000 model pictured above can be made with a 3D printer like the Atmel-powered MakerBot 2.

All the pieces for the Pip-Boy are available over on Thingiverse, including a dozen plastic parts. Although a static image of a Pip-Boy screen could be easily printed out, Maker Dragonator has factored in space for a smartphone.

“This is far from the first wearable Pip-Boy we’ve seen, but it is the first that’s able to be fabricated on a 3D printer, and comes with the nice bonus of being the best phone case ever,” writes Hack A Day’s Brian Benchoff. “It’s still a lot of work to put this together, but we’re going to say the results are fantastic.”

Additional information about the 3D printable Pip-Boy can be found here on Thingverse.