I get the impression that the 3D printing and robotics aspect is tertiary to machine vision, which seems to be what they're actually researching. The video is kind of confusing that way. Cool as it all is, nothing they actually showed or discussed seemed technologically impressive (in a relative sense).

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Surrender your knowledge and control over food production, in your own backyard. 3D print your garden. This could easily be a parody, and they should really change the music.

A micro-machine is the solution to macro-machines. I see it breaking down daily.

3D Printing for the Masses :-)

The last bit of faith I had in the ways of old is now gone. All that steel hammering and for what? Stamp out a sword from cold steel.

That's my cyberpunk samurai. A disillusioned samurai in a not too distant future 3D prints a sword out of plastic and kills robots made out of martian alloy.

His faith is restored when he realizes it is not the sword that makes the samurai, but the way of Bushido which allows man to overcome the tyranny of martian robots. That and a moderate amount of armor blessed by the spirits of earth and infused with the wielder's chi, such that to break earth's samurai defender's armor would be to shatter his very soul. Split a bullet with a glance.

I always had wondered why humanity developed CNC machines and 3D printing. Now I know.

Wholly on the technical side...

3D printed face parts, maybe?

The join lines kinda distract for me in the closeups, but it's something I wouldn't see after 5 minutes or so.

No it's not. He makes the demo one like that but the finished one that looks like it's going to fit together too tight is not glued.

As for it being useful if 3D printed I really don't think it's got any value as a joint in that sense. If you want to make something quick and easy to put together and strong there are plenty of ways of doing so with the joints we already have which would be better than this joint.

This joint is an interesting exercise in geometry and an interesting challenge to make, but it's actually not a very good joint. It's overly complicated without adding strength and just pulls apart.

It's a clever little exercise but not actually useful in the real world.

From what i understood, he wasn't complaining that the finished joint could be separated and reorientated - that's the whole point of the joint. The problem is that the joint is made by chopping bits off and gluing them back on, so the joint is only as strong as the dab of glue you used to put it back together.

Payback's got a great point though, with a 3D printer it might be possible to put it to good use. I say 3D print these type of joints as sockets into which you stick some wood or metal. A bit like old fashioned tents or gazebos that have plastic sockets to connect the poles. Could be a good way of building large amounts of shelters very quickly, maybe for things like the huge refugee camps we've got going right now due to western imperialism in the middle east.

I wonder if it would be good for a 3D printed material, plastic or steel. Where grain doesn't really factor in.

Always fun to watch a fledgling technology expand. Polymer, glass, wood, even realistic imitation ivory imbibed with GPS trackers. Other researchers are trying to 3d-print aluminum.

*quality *engineering to make this work. I'm guessing this is 3d printed.
*promote

On a less positive note, it's going to be a problem when my amphibious brethren aren't there to eat the bugs and provide a few links in the food chain. I hope they get a grasp on Chytrid soon, we have enough problems with habitat depletion as it is. I'm often surprised the mass extinction of an entire CLASS of life doesn't get more attention. It's a pretty big deal (but I am biased).

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I've never even heard of laser/metallic 3D printing. Pretty cool. *promote

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