

3D Printing and Self Replicating Machines In Your Living Room - Seriously - kkleiner
http://singularityhub.com/2009/04/09/3d-printing-and-self-replicating-machines-in-your-living-room-seriously/

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tjic
Groan.

It's the RepRap.

AGAIN.

Google's got 93 hits on RepRap being mentioned here at news.yc.

As I've said before ( <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=295880> )

I am dramatically underwhelmed.

The construction is shoddy, the technique (basically hot-glue extrusion of
thermoplastics) is hackish and has poor tolerances, the concept of "self
replication" is grossly dumbed down (a very very large number of parts are not
constructed, even from high quality inputs, but just store bought), etc., etc.

In short, I was fairly embarrassed for the RepRap folks.

Their toy is somewhat cool (although nowhere near as cool as, say, the Gingery
lathe that is cast from aluminum melted in a cast iron cookpot, and machines
itself as construction progresses), but to claim that it represents any
important step forward in self replication ...

