Digifab:

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Digifab:
On safari in the digital
fabrication ecosystem

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Digifab is a big deal.

functional -- make real stuff

precise -- make good stuff
affordable -- actually make stuff

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Digifab is a big deal.

functional -- make real stuff

precise -- make good stuff
affordable -- actually make stuff
shareable -- we can make our stuff
Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010
Digifab is huge

not one single technology, but a massive,

interconnected collection of technologies,
with new ones being developed all the time.

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Digifab is opening

the inherent shareabilty of digital files makes open

platforms for making those files very appealing.

I’ll call these out specifically with the logo

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010
Phylogeny:

Like any ecosystem,

there are groups of related techs in digifab

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Phylogeny:
creation
translation
fabrication
proliferation
like any ecosystem,
there are groups of related techs in digifab.
we will explore 4 such families

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Creation:

before they can be made physically,

objects must be described virtually.
the type of object dictates the type of file.

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Creation: 2d

: inkscape, qcad

illustrator, autocad, eaglecad

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Creation: 3d: Mesh

: blender, wings3d, art of illusion, meshmixer, others

sketchup

rhino3d, 3ds max, maya, others

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010
Creation: 3d: Solid

: BRL CAD, heeksCAD

solidworks, proengineer, solidedge, others

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Creation: 3d: Math

: openSCAD, topmod, sage

mathematica, others

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Translation:

some of the machines used for fabrication

can only digest certain types of files.
translators change one filetype into another.

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Translation: Cleanup

: meshlab, blender

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Translation: Unfolding

sketchup unfolder script

lamina design, rhino3d

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Translation: Toolpaths

: skeinforge, pleasant 3d

sketchup slicemodeler

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fabrication:

these processes turn bits into bytes.

different processes yield different materials or objects.

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Patterning

ink: laser printer, inkjet printer

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Patterning

ink: laser printer, inkjet printer

other: CNC embroidery, hektor (paintbot)

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Integrating

compu-knitter, others

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Cutting

knife based: vinyl cutter, craftrobo

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Cutting

knife: vinyl cutter, craftrobo

router: pcb cutter, shopbot, many others

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Cutting

knife: vinyl cutter, craftrobo

router: pcb cutter, shopbot, many others
laser: marker, cutter, metalcutter

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 2d: Cutting

knife: vinyl cutter, craftrobo

router: pcb cutter, shopbot, many others
laser: marker, cutter, metalcutter
other: waterjet, wire edm, plasma cutter
Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010
Fab: 3d: Carving

blade: cnc router, cnc mill

hot wire: cnc foam cutter

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Layer Addition

sheet: stacked 2d cut, sliceform

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Layer Addition

sheet: stacked 2d cut

extrusion: reprap, makerbot, Stratisys, Objet

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Powder Prints

ink binder: z corp, others

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Powder Prints

ink binder: z corp, others

sintered binder: ceramic, glass, metal “prints”

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Powder Prints

ink binder: z corp, others

sintered binder: ceramic, glass, metal “prints”
heat beam: selective laser sintering, candyfab

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Light Cure

stereolithography (SLA), objet printer

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Fab: 3d: Self Assembly

pipette robot, DNA origami

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Proliferation:

somebody making one thing is the past.

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Proliferation:

somebody making one thing is the past.

somebody making many things is the present

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Proliferation:

somebody making one thing is the past.

somebody making many things is the present
anybody making everything is the future

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Proliferation: Swapmeets

thingiverse.com, 3dcontentcentral.com

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Proliferation: Fabbers

ponoko.com
100k garages
shapeways.com, i.materialize.com

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

Proliferation: Hacktories

metrix createspace, jigsaw rennaisanse

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

What is
the Future of
Digifab?

wider availability... but hopefully not one in every house

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

What is
the Future of
Digifab?

wider availability... but hopefully not one in every house

better materials - stronger, more reusable, more local

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

What is
the Future of
Digifab?

wider availability... but hopefully not one in every house

better materials: stronger, more reusable, more local
bridge the nano-scale divide

Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010

What is
the Future of
Digifab?

wider availability... but hopefully not one in every house

better materials: stronger, more reusable, more local
bridge the nano-scale divide
new models of ownership
Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010
What is
the Future of
Digifab?

More Participation
join in at:
www.humblefacture.com
www.thingiverse.com/dmuren
twitter: @dmuren
Dominic Muren | Dorkbot SEA | February 2010