3DPrinting
3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.
The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io
There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml
Rules
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No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
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Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
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No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
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No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
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Do not create links to reddit
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If you see an issue please flag it
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No guns
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No injury gore posts
If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is 
Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible
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But why?
It's a step in a new direction, a proof of concept. Maybe in the future something similar could be useful for road work or on mars or idk. No innovation & development without experimenting. You have to start somewhere and with stuff that is available.
And even if nothing comes of it, I bet it was a fun project to work on.
It could lead to a room size print bed, as in i wonder what the largest object it can currently make is.
Would also be neat if it could scan objects in the room as well, a lot more print in place capabilities with an idea like that.
Seems novel, but I agree with you, seems like it could lead to further neat innovation. Though it is pretty wild they chose a vacuum bot lol.
In engineering school we created a robot that does specific tasks for a contest. It was a lot of work, but that was the main goal. Using an existing device that already has a LIDAR (and probably SLAM) sounds like a very smart move to me, for a project where you want to focus on other problems that have no existing solution yet.
Honestly, If it is ever made to work. A mobile/robotic 3d printer would be a huge step forward. Solving the issue of levelling on more random surfaces, IE all existing surfaces. Plus the Issue of moving heat stability with different plastics. It all sounds doable in an open design way. But hugely complex and in need of this type of nutcase to start it off.
But the advantages it would give to home-maker like design would be freaking huge once things become well understood. Adding already developing multi mateial heads etc.
As I have said elsewhere. Never underestimate the value of someone insane enough to try and make dumb shit work. Almost everything we depend on started from someone thinking the most insane idea would be fun to try.