MIT-Led team aims to make `Printable Robots` widely available
Baku, April 7 (AZERTAC). How cool would it be to assemble your own R2D2 using just a desktop PC and a 3D printer? Okay, that`s probably not going to happen soon, but in the meantime, would you settle for an origami bug robot that can inch its way across a tabletop, like the one in the Wired video below?
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and other institutions are embarking on a project to fast-track the production of robots by means of current 3D printing technology, announcing this week a $10 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund the development of new technology that would "make it possible for the average person to design, customize and print a specialized robot in a matter of hours," according to MIT News.
The five-year project is called "An Expedition in Computing for Compiling Printable Programmable Machines." The team of researchers from MIT, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard plan to build upon current 3D printing tech, which enables the milling of 3D plastic models from a digital file. The technology, sometimes called additive manufacturing, utilizes computer aided design (CAD) programming and increasingly affordable 3D printers to produce models out of plastic and other materials—like an insect-like robot (below) that the team designed and printed to showcase their new process.
"Our goal is to develop technology that enables anyone to manufacture their own customized robot. This is truly a game-changer," said Vijay Kumar, a professor leading the U Penn research team, according to MIT News. "It could allow for the rapid design and manufacture of customized goods, and change the way we teach science and technology in high schools."
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