Milling machines are nothing new - objects have been cut out by such machines since the early nineteenth century. Also giving such a machine the ability to also create more of itself is another thing entirely - and that's exactly what one senior student at a US college did when he made a 'self-replicating' milling machine.
The problem with most replicating machines - such as the RepRap - is that they're fairly limited in terms of what kinds of materials they can actually cut through. If you want to fabricate made out of anything particular dense or tough, you usually need a full scale production apparatus.
Julian Leland's machine, on the other hand, is specially designed to be used by people with only a mediocre understanding of building stuff, and who can only get their hands on a hammer and maybe a power drill. The machine cuts out all the bits you can't just grab cheap off a shelf at the Big Green Shed, and then you smash 'em all together. Leland settled on this particular shape for the machine because it allowed a strong frame without requiring very complicated parts.
Thankfully, it doesn't come with any artificial intelligence - we're not sure the world is ready for people-sized machines that can replicate on a whim. Sci fi TV has made at least that much clear.
A prototype has been built, but still suffers from 'chatter' or the vibrating of the material during machining, particularly on materials like aluminium which needs to be ironed out for the machine to be truly useful. The prototype also suffers from the cost of the currently used materials, and the fact that - well - the key self-replicability aspect doesn't actually work all that well at the moment.
But Leland thinks the next iteration of the machine will iron out both of these problems, and has thrown all of his design documentation up under a Creative Commons license here. Check it out if you're interested.
[via Make]
