Tech & Biz

New Robot Printer Can Replicate Itself

by Rob Walker | June 23, 2008 at 11:55 am

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British researchers have invented something out of Star Trek: a printer that can print out plastic pieces of itself, that can be assembled into a complete unit...that can then print out pieces of itself.

It's a fabricator that prints plastic like an inkjet printer, forming the pieces which can then be attached together. The scientists are hoping to eventually be able to make complex machinery and circuits so they can make more complicated machines...that can then make themselves.

English researchers have developed a robot that can not only create 3-D replicas of objects like shoes and door handles - it also can replicate itself.
Scientists from the University of Bath in England unveiled an open-source machine that acts like a three-dimensional printer. Instead of printing out documents or pictures on paper, this printer uses blueprints to produce 3-D plastic objects.

The machine has been dubbed RepRap, which is short for replicating rapid-prototyper.

The goal is to eventually build a robot that can produce individual processors and circuit boards so people can build their own computers, according to Zack Smith, director of the RepRap Research Foundation.