RepRap - Open Source von Neumann Universal Constructor

"A universal constructor is a machine that can replicate itself and - in addition - make other industrial products. Such a machine would have a number of interesting characteristics, such as being subject to Darwinian evolution, increasing in number exponentially, and being extremely low-cost.


At an amazing blinkenlight night blinkennight at metalab I had the opportunity to capture RepRap - the Replicating Rapid-Prototyper - construct the letter R.
The RepRap project, which is represented by Vik Olliver wants to replace € 35.000 CNC-machines rapid prototypers / 3D-printers with DIY € 500 ones! All the plans and the software are open source.
Reprap used a plastic melting at 80° Celsius for the R, using metal or even chocolate to build objects are realistic options.

Fotos on Flickr.