Comments on Humblefacture: Dorkbot Talk: The Digifab Ecosystem

I think Alibre Design deserves a mention in the "3...

2010-04-06T13:10:12.622-07:00

I think Alibre Design deserves a mention in the "3D Solid: Proprietary" category. They have a free version, Alibre Design Xpress, and the next level up (Alibre Design Standard) is only $197. And unlike some other free or student editions, it can be used commercially. It's also thousands of dollars cheaper than the ones you have already listed but still very capable. Additionally, they have donated some licenses to at least one open source project I know of: The Open Prosthetics Project (www.openprosthetics.org). I think their company philosophy is in line with your work - their goal is to provide "full parametric CAD technology to anyone that needs it, versus only to those in the relatively unique financial position to afford traditional CAD systems."

Just wanted to thank you for your part of the fab ...

2010-02-18T00:27:09.636-08:00

Just wanted to thank you for your part of the fab talks. I'm so geeked about all of this stuff. I'm currently working on 3d models for a car mount for my 1956 Chevy Bel Air, as well as an iPhone case that will snap onto the mount and then be rotatable. Once I get a working version in plastic, my intended goal is to be able to get some of these milled out of aluminum to sell.

My 3d program of choice has been Form•Z, which works very well for architecture, as it allows text entry and it allows easily changing the snaps so that I can do 1' accuracy when in a wide view, and then switch down to 1/16" in a zoomed view. Makes it so that I can very quickly model the massing for an object or building facade as well as the more detailed parts of the model.

I don't have the new version yet, but they've added the ability to export files directly for 3d printing. Another cool feature that it's had for a long time is the ability to print out foldable objects, including tabs for the purposes of gluing! Here's an example of the foldable output you can get, although this was modified a bit to make it work a bit better: http://www.flickr.com/photos/v8media/2433412160/

Here's a link to the video from the dorkbot meeting. You are videos 2 & 3. http://vimeo.com/channels/dorkbotsea

Hi Dominic, I like you slides. They cover a lot o...

2010-02-15T13:07:19.163-08:00

Hi Dominic,

I like you slides. They cover a lot of ground and there are many good examples. I think RepTab (Open Source plasma-torch developed at Factor @ Farm) could still be added.

I haven't heard your talk but it would be very interesting to discuss what the effects are of users developing solutions for themselves and sharing the development workload (in communities) allowing more elaborate and complex challenges to be solved by heterogeneous groups of people with the correct understanding of the problem domain and use context.

Contrast this with a traditional model of product development for a market, where common denominator choices are made to suit the scaling charateristics of mass production, moreover the choices are made based on imperfect and limited information. This is a threshold that is often too high for the more radical innovations.

Increasingly, with and emerging open commons and improving means of communications, it becomes cheaper and can be more efficient for people to develop their own solutions or do this in communities. This mode of production becomes viable for more and more products and is becoming more significant over time. The way our products look like can change over time. And of course hybrid modes (which can be especially successful) will emerge.

I hope this was remotely comprehensible?! ;)