I see that the Christian Science Monitor has an article on fab labs this morning:
SHOSHANGUVE, SOUTH AFRICA – Six months ago, when he first walked into this small building tucked off a dirt road in one of Pretoria’s impoverished townships, Kenneth Chauke had never used a computer. He didn’t know how to maneuver a mouse, or how to type his name.
But now, the 17-year-old has all the trappings of a techie. He peers at a flat screen monitor, sitting a few feet away from a laser cutter, bins of circuitry equipment by his elbow. He has built his own robot – a cardboard construction that looks part truck, part animal – and is trying to figure out how to develop sensors, gears, and lights.
Soon, Kenneth says, he will go on to new inventions. Maybe a spaceship. Maybe a device that will stop car crashes before they happen. “I want to create new circuit boards, to do things that aren’t being done,” he says.
What’s a fab lab?
The labs are part of what the Center for Bits and Atoms believes is a trend toward widespread personal fabrication. This is the idea that, not long from now, individuals will be able to manufacture goods at home in the same way they now use personal computing – they will be able to “print” a bicycle, for instance, or open a computer file that contains a piece of machinery.
The Fab Labs are a step in this direction, Ms. Lassiter says. They are filled with modern manufacturing equipment – laser cutters that can make two- and three-dimensional structures; copper cutters that make circuit boards and antennas; plasma cutters to model steel and aluminum. They have open-source computer codes for new inventors to design their projects; and various print and online manuals for newcomers to teach themselves how to create.
Basically, a “fab lab†is a gadget that allows you to put raw materials i.e. plastic, metal, etc. in one end, tell it how to make what you want, and the finished object comes out the other end. A sort of primitive Star Trek replicator.
Add to that a library of of things that people have already designed and you begin to see the potential. Teach people how to create the designs and the library begins to grow.
Right now the folks behind the fab labs see them largely as educational tools. I wonder if they realize how subversive these gizmos really are.
The Wikipedia article has a short description and a decent collection of links.
Some of us understand quite well as you’ll be able to build weapons more lethal than the local police are likely going to be comfortable with but at the same time be creating economy improving devices at such a rate that any country banning the things will fall behind quickly in the international standings.
Not quite the sort of subversion I was thinkg of, TM Lutas, but important to consider as well.
Another interesting approach is exemplified by this company, which lets you design the part on your computer and then price it and get it made at their facility.