A French artist is trying to bring everyone a humanoid robot via 3D printers.
Gael Langvin has been quietly uploading 3D printer files onto Thingiverse, where he'll release more parts in coming months (see the full log here). TechCrunch reports it's all open source and totally free—all you need is "some ABS plastic, a few Arduino boards and some motors."
This might not sound revolutionary at first, but considering how accessible 3D printers have become in recent years, Langvin's idea could really take off. Printers like the Makibox, built by American expat Jon Buford, only cost $200, which is fairly well-priced. Of course, not everyone gets how they work—remember those clunky PCs in the 80s?—so we're a few years from seeing one in every home office, unless manufacturers can make them more dummy-proof.
"We are at that stage where 3D printers can be used by people with some aptitude, but for the not-very-technically-savvy, it will take a little bit more—it's not just a plug-and-play app right now," Buford told CNET. "We need to polish the software and hardware over another generation so it can plug-in and work."
Perhaps Langvin's robots can help.
[via TechCrunch]
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