I actually did that, more or less. Bought a Prussa, printed a Prussa, sold the original printed another one, sold it rinse, repeat Was good money for a couple years. Now that amazon has knockoffs for $75 the golden goose is pretty well cooked. I tweaked my Prussia clones to be quite a bit faster, but Bambu apparently has a much better R&D budget so I finally sprang for a Bambu P1S which is FAST fast and darn near bulletproof, even more reliable than my authentic Prusa was.
dude... this is brilliant! I am just a 3D printing enthusiast and not an engineer sadly, so I doubt I could provide anything useful, but you have a new subscriber and I'll be sure to share this with all my maker/hackerspace friends. hopefully in time, I can build one of these once the concept has matured more. Incredible work!
"The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here, in our present." Come with me if you want to print
This is so cool! The fact that it can upgrade to larger print volumes is insane. You could ship a tiny, lightweight "seed printer" through the mail and then bootstrap it to an entire makerspace. Combine it with a upcycled filament extruder and you could transform a pile of old soda bottles into a useful community resource.
@@Marcos-eg9lt And I imagine a genie that grants you infinite wishes to be even more useful. What the fuck are you on about? Do people even think before posting anymore?
Combine that with certain inventions like the tiny hand powered centrifuge for malaria testing, and a few other innovations and you could basically send a small box to a remote area, and within a few days start large scale testing for diseases/parasites, water testing, printing prosthetics… etc! It would make a huge difference by helping sick/injured people to be useful and productive again, it would add value to trash and plastics which would incentivize clean up and recycling and it would allow those small poor areas to become a bit more self sufficient and ready to receive aid! Often times the issue is that testing can cost more than a cure.. the logistics and potentially dedicating time and money without knowing how bad a situation is becomes the problem. If you can test an entire area for maybe 50 bucks and give confirmed numbers for malaria and parasites, you basically jump to the top of the list for aid, because it’s so much easier to order and procure a known quantity of drugs and know that they’re going to be used and not go to waste or get sold and lost.. Instead of spending thousands of dollars and needing several skilled technicians and doctors to examine and fit a few people with prosthetics, you can basically send one trained person with a single 3D scanner that costs a few hundred bucks, and a single 3D printer like this one and start getting prosthetics fitted to people in record time! Proper fitting ones that don’t cause more issues because of bad fit, like nerve damage, open sores that can get infected.. etc. There’s tons of videos on TH-cam of people making their own prosthetics and the process is super fast and easy, you don’t need a trained doctor or technician… any local could be trained to use a 3D scanner and printer over a weekend and use one of several free programs that generate prosthetics based on measurements! You don’t even need to know how to 3D model! This could genuinely change the world one day. I believe it because regular printers already have… this is just another big step in the right direction.
@@Marcos-eg9lt a 3d printer is a CNC machine (Computerized Numerical Control) the difference is just that a CNC Mill/Lathe subtract Material and 3d printer add Material same system different process 😂
I especially like the fact that the vertical axis of the parent printer becomes a horizontal axis of the child printer which even increases the build volume with each new printer! Awesome concept, to infinity and beyond!
You two should adopt this as a baby and combine your ultra light and strong grantry rails in your last video to further make this printer fully 3d printed. 😄
You still run into open-span material structural limits. The printer isn't infinitely rigid, so there is an upper bound on size before something breaks under its own weight. But this does drop the minimum required mass-volume needed to pack into an unmanned space craft in order to fabricate on-site. NASA's own estimates in 2004 estimated the seed robots would need to mass 500 kg and be 2x1x1.5 meters and that three (two assembled and one unassembled for making molds) would need to be sent. Mind, this also included all of the infrastructure to harvest, refine, and power everything. www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/880Chirikjian.pdf
Sounds like the same idea as the first open source 3d-printer. It couldn't "build itself," and it can't print metal parts. But if you buy a few parts, you can build one. Then use it to print most of the parts to build another. The idea was that one person could potentially create as many printers as they wanted, giving them to friends and family and eventually, everyone would have one. Think that was in the 80's.
Have you ever played astroneer before? cause that's pretty much how you progress, small printer make bigger printer. although you have to collect the resources for it.
the flaw in this 3d printer making 3d printers to print more is that error and inaccuracy will grow exponentially as well. with eat iteration the flaws from the prior generation will be embedded into the second. since the axis of relative position is rotated relative to the original you will essentially relocate the inaccuracy making it slightly higher than exponentially worse each time. the reason manufacturing today is defined around non-self replication products is yes a function of ease, but also the inspection and refinement required between the production and assembly that ensures equivalent or better accuracy in the next product. a good reference book is the "Precision machining" by Hoffman, or "foundations of mechanical accuracy" the shows exactly how you can and have to create self referential design into the accuracy of parts in order to ensure error from the prior iteration of manufacturing doesn't propagate. I like the idea of the universal self replicator 3D printer, but it's practicality is highly limited without corrective inspection process. you will likely never get a 3D printer that can print an equivalent or more accurate 3D printer within it's own build volume, that's just a fact of statistics and variability in accuracy, fundamental to material science and general dimension and tolerances.
This is amazing. I recently took on a project which I designed through a similar iterative process, and I appreciate that the majority of components in this printer are probably in at least their 5th or 10th iteration. The design and vision is amazing, and I will certainly print one to try! Amazing work!
Crazy-clever! >> To avoid wobble as it gets taller, print diagonal braces (or even a solid shell) rather than just legs. Definitely out of the box thinking! 👍😉
When the concept finally works, it wouldn't even be a problem if it was very slow (because printing a complete solid shell). Since it replicates exponential, the print speed would only matter in the beginning...
Printing sides may seem like a good idea, until you realize that it can't make a second print with sides in place. Because the Z-axis is inside the print volume, and the X and Y inherently cross the build area, any bracing between the Z pillars will cause the X and Y axis to crash when approaching Z-0.
@@Kineth1It can't make a *full-size* second print with solid sides, but it could still make repeated prints within a slightly smaller volume. It seems to me that it would make sense for the larger printers to make this trade-off - they can still continue to scale up their copies at a slightly reduced ratio.
just a thought: it reminds me of how a sky scraper can expand and grow in height. if you were to take the gears and have something like block tracks where it would be able to grow inside then you could print all direction and not just clone. an idea on how i would try is maybe if the metal rods were split in half and turned into worm gears you could build from middle outwards. Take 1 axis and lets say the x axis. you could have 2 gears on the printer to travel the 2 gears that are being printed. as its being printed the nozzle would stay close to the middle left and right when the axis is complete you would have the 2 printer gears go in reverse direction to create pressure on the rod eventually locking the 2 pieces together. that way the printer would then be able to travel the entire distance. the supports for longer distances would be harder to deal with however you might be able to print supports as you print the axis since the printer would be spinning it outwards as it extends the support.
Very interesting project! Your whole philosophy of design is ground breaking! I will attempt to make an infini-z like printer myself and see where to go from there... already have some ideas of improvement floating around in my head.
Freaking genius! I can see issues with rigidity of the mechanism but your approach clearly shows you have what it takes to solve problems that other people have not even seen yet.
@@TurboSunShine Why not just accept that it's a 3D printer and that it can't do everything, and instead of making it so complicated just use a very simple 3D printer that can print a more standard X Y and Z axis extensions that a human or a robot arm (that the 3D printer could print) put it in place. This makes it MUCH easier, and you can then focus on the hard parts, getting strength with a little metal as possible, getting metal printed (your electrolysis system, lost PLA casting, print a green part) and as these clever minutia of how to lift itself up and print it's own axis is fascinating but hardly critical. One other idea, with a good system to pinpoint the print head location (something exceedingly accurate, maybe camera based, or laser, IDK) then you can worry less about just some limit switches or how rigid an axis printed out plastic is as you only need to know when the print head is in the right place, consider how they 3D printed with drones, silly but you get the point, heck, you could 3D print from a vehicle that runs around below the print bed squirting plastic at the right spot, rails are only one way, and as a bonus if you have a great vision/scanning system you can not only know where the print head is but you can have a 3D printer that can scan and repair failed prints, repair incomplete prints, you could also have a subtractive tool (router bit) that can remove material.
That's really neat that you're releasing this to the public to basically get an internet wide collaborative effort on making this work! It'll be amazing in no time!
Having the ability to expand an axis without limit is a novel solution to some classic Reprap problems, I like your idea. The render of how you can arbitrarily change the scale of a child printer (on one axis at a time, at least) was really attention-getting. I was assuming advances would first come in improvements in the percentage of self-printed parts in assembled printers (eg. Snappy, etc.), but you seem to be trying to skip as close as possible to a single-piece (or 'print-in-place' as you put it) 'clanking replicator'. Ambitious! Here's to open-source design solving humanity's problems!
use a four-way piezo sensor installed in a pivotal axis, like a joystick. this can provide precision of end-stop positioning with pressure sensing too, helping the leveling. Try it. It costs a few pennies.
what you want is basically the thinkpad nubs, the hard part has basically no travel but can detect force being applied to it. the way the strain gauges are made (basically a resistor that will slightly increase in resistance as it gets stretched), you might be able to 3d print them with conductive filament.
i found this hilarious not in a bad way but more of a "damn it man, youre insane and a genius. i want to see the process and i hope you succeed." way but my brain couldnt handle the sheer scope of this project and was defaulted to laugh.
"I wish I could've done better at school to be able to help make this project better" is how I feel. Hahaha! Love the genius and insanity level of this project. Thanks Sunshine!
you still need to take the electronic parts and move them to the bigger and bigger printers. untill you have a football field sized printer so you can finally print the electronics for the second printer you printed. otherwise you are still going to have to buy printer motherboards. and control screens. and stepper motors. and heater cartriges. and you name it in parts. and untill 3d printers become advanced enoegh to print computer chips. we will NOT be able to self replicate a 3d printer by just printing a second one. and that not even factoring the material cost. because an extruded piece of aluminium used for the frame. is actually cheaper than a 3d printed frame of the same strenght. fillament isn't cheap you know. not to mention printing rails is fun as a concept. but even the tinyest error in one of them. will compound into a giant error after x amount of replications. so first we need to reach a level of incredible accuracy. and then a level of insane intricasy (being able to print smaller and smaller things) and then a level of versitilty so we can print any material. before we can even think about doing things like this. the video is a fun watch. but this project is a huge waste of time.
Well, you've definitely achieved the "make it entertaining" goal! Seriously, concise but understandable and engaging overviews of any subject are a complex act of creation in and of themselves, so I applaud your skill and success. The printer concept is fascinating. Obviously there's a few more issues to resolve - like how to you get the motors to Mars - but I love watching it. And the reversed screw thread for a lifter is one of those ideas that I'm looking at and going "I think I can use that." Building 3d printers isn't my jam so I'm not really in a position to help with the project itself - but I find your ideas fascinating, and I hope some recruiter sees this and goes "we need this guy!" Good luck!
Hahaha. Loved the Stefan cameo 🤣. This was the first video I've seen of yours, so that was a fun and welcome surprise. I binge-watch CNC Kitchen. Looks like I'm in good company. 🙂
I dont think you understand how cool this is! this is incredible for open source tech! if we could print circuits and wires, we could print entire server boards and computers! the future is incredible! I had an idea for a similar project, but my idea was to use a fleet of micro 3d printed 3d printing drones loaded up in a backpack with a tarp. I thought it would take YEARS to develop. Yours is far more simple! Congrats, man!
I was initially skeptical about the z-axis - I immediately thought about those getting pushed inward and breaking. Your work on the helical profile, however, makes a lot of sense. I'm subscribed now - I really want to see where this goes. 😊
this is exactly what we all needed, this brilliance is beyond what anyone could have comprehended, the fact it can crate a replica of itself (in theory as planned) is amazing and it can even increase build volume however, the one issue I see with making bigger and bigger printers is the fact the the build volume only increase in one axis so in theory the printer can print infinity on the z which allows "infinite" x axis but the y axis stays the same, i cant wait to see how this expands more
WOW! How did you make this so entertaining and informative! You CLEARLY put A TON of time into the project, but also the video (writing, editing, etc.)!!!! I'm really looking forward to more videos about this infinite 3D printer!!
This guy's a genius, super creative ideas and problem solving! I would love to try to help and make part of this project! I believe this might actually succeed and be everything it was meant to be.
Great idea guys, simple and logical way to overcome the drop of the print head. I would enjoy making one of these in my spare time and trying to see what it is capable of. Good luck on your endeavor guys!
oh boy, I'm building my own printers since the release of the first Rostock, but man, this concept is awesome AF and very creative tackling some engineering problems. awesome work. This project alongside the fast-printing improvements of "MirageC" and the upside-down-concept of "K R A L Y N 3D" are the most awesome and creative FDM-Improvements I've seen in about a decade. Keep up the great work.
Kralyn has consistently billed the Position as a printer that's portable and nothing else, but from the first moment I saw it I've always thought it was cool that it's a printer _that you can put away_ for the 99% of the time, when you're not using it. I mean taking up space is what's keeping the average person away from having a 3D printer. Like how everyone has a drill they barely use, and no-one has a drill _press._ Portability of a 3D printer of all things really is a niche requirement.
Just stumbled upon your channel and watched this and your 3d printing metal video. This is really incredible stuff you’re working on. I’ve had a 3d printer for a little bit over a year and use it now and again as time permits. You rock, keep up the good work!!
You're documenting this with the rest of the Reprap community, right? Because they've had the exact same quest as you from before 3D printers were called that (and basically provoked consumer 3D printing to become a thing with their open-source designs). They could be helpful, and will also be REALLY interested in expanding on these ideas. I'm actually kind of shocked you didn't mention them, honestly.
I had an idea like this years ago but I thought it would be impossible because you can’t print metal reliably. I hope I’m completely wrong because I absolutely love this.
The word "revolutionary" is overused these days, but I think it really applies here. I literally feel like I'm witnessing acomplete turning point in the way our species does the very task of building things
This is far from a new idea. The concept of self-replicating machines has been around for nearly a century. 3D printing definitely is an obvious leap towards realizing it, but all the core problem remains the same: precision. 3D printers almost universally get their precision, and thus ability to print reliably and to spec, from metal parts. Printers that use 3D printed parts, like Prusa printers, only print structural pieces, not functional ones. Without things like precision machined linear bearings, the printer won't be able to print anything of use and the fact of the matter is that printers aren't capable of printing to the same precision they are manufactured with. It's inherent to the material used to print. Plastic deforms where metal doesn't. Metal-infused filaments are still majority plastic, there's no getting around it. And all of that ignores that a truly autonomous system would need a method of raw material extraction and processing. And then you start to run into possible doomsday scenarios like Horizon Zero Dawn. It's an interesting concept to explore for sure, but to say at this stage that this will "revolutionize manufacturing" is nothing more than hyperbole.
So beyond the initial goal of self replication, I can see this having an interesting implication in printing large multi-color models, where the printed legs could double as purge towers.
Another thing to add, if a DIY kinematic probe doesn't work for you, you could maybe consider somehow implementing a fiducial camera, Stephen Hawes has some great content about this from his pick and place machine 👌🏻
Interesting idea however what is your plan to tackle the fact that the z axis will get increasingly unstable as it gets taller, and the fact that you’d need a pretty robust material changing system that was also itself entirely printable in order to realize the full scale of the project? I feel like this is better left to just a cool self printing printer vs some miracle machine that can produce motors supposedly.
I wonder how you would print the heat-sensitive components (like the hotend and the build-plate). They need to be made of a material that will not return to a fluid state when reheated.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 🖨️ 3D Printer's Capabilities 01:03 🌐 Decentralized Mass Production 02:09 🔄 Infinite Build Volume Design 03:39 🧩 Parts Printability and Reproduction 05:08 🔩 Z-Axis Legs Improvement 06:36 🛠️ Challenges in Printing 09:01 ☕ Collaboration and Future Plans Made with HARPA AI
It feels like it's difficult to overstate the significance of this. If you can actually make a low cost 3D-printer that can replicate, even though it's all plastic, if just a small fraction of the concepts you prototype and can get to work can be transferred to a version that builds in more solid materials, this paves the way for... Well, just what you talked about in the intro, but I mean - for real! That's insane! Thinking of "We are legion (We are Bob)" by Dennis E. Taylor here🤩
I'm an electronic engineering student And from what i learned about transistors It's very hard or almost impossible to make stable transistor if it isn't environment controlled as building smaller and purer transistor can be increasingly be affected by the environment like temperature, pressure, living organisms, humidity and other non-transistor material. Also at some processes it requires high temperatures but maybe you can do it by making a flash heater using capacitors But if you can make infinitely wide 3d printer and you can supply high voltage then maybe you can 3d print bigger transistor so it won't be much affected by the environment As i see you haven't mentioned the energy problem Which either you print solar cell that requires silicons or a magnet that requires another magnet to change its magnetic direction. In summary i feel like it's a long journey that can take years of research 😅
Yes, yes, we know how it is...weekend job, iterations, 200-300% increase in time. Hiwey, each setback is an opportunity to learn and grow. Excellent ideas on self manufacturing. Love the process and your storytelling.
One improvement I saw onto screw. You have bolt and nut. With longer bolt your roteable nut will not fit tightly to the bolt. So you need oposite force, some ball bearings with spring maybe. Have a nice day.
TH-cam is a pain with its recommendations I'm scrolling and it won't stop suggesting me 15 second clips of shows or memes or whatever and once in a hundred it actually shows me something good like this
Awesome to see some channel that is putting his efforts to make it better and better, and not some random shits that they are trying to push in one day. Thanks for the video! And best luck on the project! And sorry, cannot help on that.
gosh I love the idea, its something I would really love to help with but I lack the space in my room for any kind of big prints, tho I'll look closely, it will maybe teach me a lot of things, like for the screw thing, its mindblowing and something I'll keep in mind if I find a simillar issue myself
Its a dream I think we've all had at some stage I don't know how 3D printing stepper motors and hotends on a 3D printed machine is going to work but good luck and Godspeed my friend
This is a beautiful concept! There are a couple of ideas I've had for about five or so years regarding 3d printers that can replicate and self assemble. Your Mars base may need to have the materials necessary to build some kind of forge on site, either operating through induction or some other means. It would also need to produce at least one worker drone, to source and gather materials. You could experiment with different sized drones for different purposes, but the basic premise is to continue production. You could set one of these systems up in a city to recycle waste plastics and metals into filament through the forge, expand the size of the swarm, and build up the system for its voyage to Mars. These printers will need printer food, and unless you're going to give them legs and a mouth, they need some drone swarms!
Im no engineer nor am i a skilled enough to really add anything of value... but im going to learn just to help, simply because this is a project with theoretical infinite expandability. You quite literally have an answer to the house crisis internationally in the works here.
I really like this, I was just thinking about a 3D printer that can increase it's build volume, the idea was that it could print extension tracks. But this is far beyond that.
Ok, I think the answer initially is to just use a little human labor and don't be quite so exacting about how it lifts itself up. Just make a 3D printer than can build a track and make sure that the track can plug into the existing X, Y and Z tracks to increase the build volumes which a human, or a very basic robot could manipulate into the right position to allow further extension of the build volume. Agreed that metal can be done, and I like your ideas there but printing green parts, or lost PLA casting are also options. I know you like the idea of it being just a printer that sets down anywhere and somehow makes everything but realistically we will always need more than just a 3D printer, and yes a 3D printer might be able to build some of those things but if a 3D printer can build some of what is needed then the printer doesn't need to do it all directly itself and plastic Filament is less abundant on Mars than you might think. Let's just make a 3D printer that can extend it's build volume and be reproduced with minimal expense first.
I think adding an arm to the print head will allow you to both test distances on the fly, and connect things. The print head is a sturdy point that you can reach from above to the printed area, and park back above when not in use. A tool caddy for things like a probe, knife etc gives options like on a CNC mill. You could even have a camera on it to do 3 d scans as you go to continually calibrate your position as you rise up.
bit late to this party but uh, there is a way to fit the big box into the small box. Disassemble the big box into smaller parts. Though in this analogy that would lead to needing assembly so while it's possible to fit the big box in the small box, maybe not a great way to go about it... unless you have the printer rotating and controlling already printed parts to print more parts onto it after production. 🤷♂
as the printer raise i think it could use some x bracing between towers on at least 3 sides. this allows the printed part an exit, but tiess the towers so there will be less error due to elasticity. you could also use the cross pieces as fixed points to recalculate position as you lift.
bro took “Buy 3d printer, 3d print 3d printer, return 3d printer” too seriously
I laughed way too hard at this
Wow lol
**buys K1 Max**
**3D prints a K1 Max**
**Returns the K1 Max**
I actually did that, more or less.
Bought a Prussa, printed a Prussa, sold the original
printed another one, sold it
rinse, repeat
Was good money for a couple years. Now that amazon has knockoffs for $75 the golden goose is pretty well cooked.
I tweaked my Prussia clones to be quite a bit faster, but Bambu apparently has a much better R&D budget so I finally sprang for a Bambu P1S which is FAST fast and darn near bulletproof, even more reliable than my authentic Prusa was.
dude... this is brilliant! I am just a 3D printing enthusiast and not an engineer sadly, so I doubt I could provide anything useful, but you have a new subscriber and I'll be sure to share this with all my maker/hackerspace friends. hopefully in time, I can build one of these once the concept has matured more. Incredible work!
Anyone can be valuable so don’t be hard on yourself
One day, when there's an uprising of the 3d-printers, we know who's to blame 😂
"The machines rose from the ashes of the nuclear fire. Their war to exterminate mankind had raged for decades, but the final battle would not be fought in the future. It would be fought here, in our present."
Come with me if you want to print
Well, the printer in the video is already rising up
The automated players i proclaim
The only way that humans could ever beat them is if we somehow figure out a way to replicate ourselves... how will we ever do that?!
@@cursed_cats5710 good one
This is so cool! The fact that it can upgrade to larger print volumes is insane. You could ship a tiny, lightweight "seed printer" through the mail and then bootstrap it to an entire makerspace. Combine it with a upcycled filament extruder and you could transform a pile of old soda bottles into a useful community resource.
throw in a solar energy system and it may be able to be used to help developing countries.
I would imagen cnc machines being more useful
@@Marcos-eg9lt And I imagine a genie that grants you infinite wishes to be even more useful. What the fuck are you on about? Do people even think before posting anymore?
Combine that with certain inventions like the tiny hand powered centrifuge for malaria testing, and a few other innovations and you could basically send a small box to a remote area, and within a few days start large scale testing for diseases/parasites, water testing, printing prosthetics… etc!
It would make a huge difference by helping sick/injured people to be useful and productive again, it would add value to trash and plastics which would incentivize clean up and recycling and it would allow those small poor areas to become a bit more self sufficient and ready to receive aid!
Often times the issue is that testing can cost more than a cure.. the logistics and potentially dedicating time and money without knowing how bad a situation is becomes the problem. If you can test an entire area for maybe 50 bucks and give confirmed numbers for malaria and parasites, you basically jump to the top of the list for aid, because it’s so much easier to order and procure a known quantity of drugs and know that they’re going to be used and not go to waste or get sold and lost..
Instead of spending thousands of dollars and needing several skilled technicians and doctors to examine and fit a few people with prosthetics, you can basically send one trained person with a single 3D scanner that costs a few hundred bucks, and a single 3D printer like this one and start getting prosthetics fitted to people in record time! Proper fitting ones that don’t cause more issues because of bad fit, like nerve damage, open sores that can get infected.. etc.
There’s tons of videos on TH-cam of people making their own prosthetics and the process is super fast and easy, you don’t need a trained doctor or technician… any local could be trained to use a 3D scanner and printer over a weekend and use one of several free programs that generate prosthetics based on measurements! You don’t even need to know how to 3D model!
This could genuinely change the world one day. I believe it because regular printers already have… this is just another big step in the right direction.
@@Marcos-eg9lt a 3d printer is a CNC machine (Computerized Numerical Control) the difference is just that a CNC Mill/Lathe subtract Material and 3d printer add Material same system different process 😂
I especially like the fact that the vertical axis of the parent printer becomes a horizontal axis of the child printer which even increases the build volume with each new printer! Awesome concept, to infinity and beyond!
You two should adopt this as a baby and combine your ultra light and strong grantry rails in your last video to further make this printer fully 3d printed. 😄
This is genius and I love it. I hope I can contribute at some point!
Infinite support material
You still run into open-span material structural limits. The printer isn't infinitely rigid, so there is an upper bound on size before something breaks under its own weight.
But this does drop the minimum required mass-volume needed to pack into an unmanned space craft in order to fabricate on-site. NASA's own estimates in 2004 estimated the seed robots would need to mass 500 kg and be 2x1x1.5 meters and that three (two assembled and one unassembled for making molds) would need to be sent.
Mind, this also included all of the infrastructure to harvest, refine, and power everything.
www.niac.usra.edu/files/studies/final_report/880Chirikjian.pdf
Caught you here, JON!
Sounds like the same idea as the first open source 3d-printer. It couldn't "build itself," and it can't print metal parts. But if you buy a few parts, you can build one. Then use it to print most of the parts to build another. The idea was that one person could potentially create as many printers as they wanted, giving them to friends and family and eventually, everyone would have one. Think that was in the 80's.
I remember this being part of the original idea behind a 3d printer. A machine that could reproduce itself as an analogy for life.
Wasn’t that the entire idea behind the rep rap project, this guy is just taking it a lot further....
@Volt64bolt yeah Prusa and the University of Bath did have the headstart tho
@@thenewsonatrain wdym, they started ages ago if thats what your talking about. Doesn’t make this guys project any less impressive now does it.
@@thenewsonatrainAndrian bowyer .... father of reprap project.
This project, well it has some advancement. but, as the collection of oo
Have you ever played astroneer before? cause that's pretty much how you progress, small printer make bigger printer. although you have to collect the resources for it.
the flaw in this 3d printer making 3d printers to print more is that error and inaccuracy will grow exponentially as well. with eat iteration the flaws from the prior generation will be embedded into the second. since the axis of relative position is rotated relative to the original you will essentially relocate the inaccuracy making it slightly higher than exponentially worse each time. the reason manufacturing today is defined around non-self replication products is yes a function of ease, but also the inspection and refinement required between the production and assembly that ensures equivalent or better accuracy in the next product.
a good reference book is the "Precision machining" by Hoffman, or "foundations of mechanical accuracy" the shows exactly how you can and have to create self referential design into the accuracy of parts in order to ensure error from the prior iteration of manufacturing doesn't propagate.
I like the idea of the universal self replicator 3D printer, but it's practicality is highly limited without corrective inspection process. you will likely never get a 3D printer that can print an equivalent or more accurate 3D printer within it's own build volume, that's just a fact of statistics and variability in accuracy, fundamental to material science and general dimension and tolerances.
Brings new meaning to "support material." 🤔
This is amazing. I recently took on a project which I designed through a similar iterative process, and I appreciate that the majority of components in this printer are probably in at least their 5th or 10th iteration. The design and vision is amazing, and I will certainly print one to try!
Amazing work!
Crazy-clever!
>> To avoid wobble as it gets taller, print diagonal braces (or even a solid shell) rather than just legs.
Definitely out of the box thinking! 👍😉
When the concept finally works, it wouldn't even be a problem if it was very slow (because printing a complete solid shell). Since it replicates exponential, the print speed would only matter in the beginning...
Whats if you make a Big plate on the ground and make the z axis on it
French cleat with angled steps, comes to mind
Printing sides may seem like a good idea, until you realize that it can't make a second print with sides in place. Because the Z-axis is inside the print volume, and the X and Y inherently cross the build area, any bracing between the Z pillars will cause the X and Y axis to crash when approaching Z-0.
@@Kineth1It can't make a *full-size* second print with solid sides, but it could still make repeated prints within a slightly smaller volume. It seems to me that it would make sense for the larger printers to make this trade-off - they can still continue to scale up their copies at a slightly reduced ratio.
just a thought: it reminds me of how a sky scraper can expand and grow in height. if you were to take the gears and have something like block tracks where it would be able to grow inside then you could print all direction and not just clone. an idea on how i would try is maybe if the metal rods were split in half and turned into worm gears you could build from middle outwards. Take 1 axis and lets say the x axis. you could have 2 gears on the printer to travel the 2 gears that are being printed. as its being printed the nozzle would stay close to the middle left and right when the axis is complete you would have the 2 printer gears go in reverse direction to create pressure on the rod eventually locking the 2 pieces together. that way the printer would then be able to travel the entire distance. the supports for longer distances would be harder to deal with however you might be able to print supports as you print the axis since the printer would be spinning it outwards as it extends the support.
This is an interesting idea.
Watch the movie Tomorrowland there's a scene that they do this in
The Summoning Salt music, the Line Rider throwback, the insanely innovative 3D printer concept - this is TH-cam gold!
4:40 when the 3kliksphilip music plays in
(Especially when he went into a journey of becominf crate unboxing millionaire)
Absolutely crazy idea with a even crazier solution. I love it. Great work.
Very interesting project! Your whole philosophy of design is ground breaking! I will attempt to make an infini-z like printer myself and see where to go from there... already have some ideas of improvement floating around in my head.
Freaking genius! I can see issues with rigidity of the mechanism but your approach clearly shows you have what it takes to solve problems that other people have not even seen yet.
That's why we can bridge between the legs ;)
@@TurboSunShine you should make it create a vertical lattice of about 15% to 35% infill between each leg (test around with infill and patterns)
@@TurboSunShine Why not just accept that it's a 3D printer and that it can't do everything, and instead of making it so complicated just use a very simple 3D printer that can print a more standard X Y and Z axis extensions that a human or a robot arm (that the 3D printer could print) put it in place. This makes it MUCH easier, and you can then focus on the hard parts, getting strength with a little metal as possible, getting metal printed (your electrolysis system, lost PLA casting, print a green part) and as these clever minutia of how to lift itself up and print it's own axis is fascinating but hardly critical. One other idea, with a good system to pinpoint the print head location (something exceedingly accurate, maybe camera based, or laser, IDK) then you can worry less about just some limit switches or how rigid an axis printed out plastic is as you only need to know when the print head is in the right place, consider how they 3D printed with drones, silly but you get the point, heck, you could 3D print from a vehicle that runs around below the print bed squirting plastic at the right spot, rails are only one way, and as a bonus if you have a great vision/scanning system you can not only know where the print head is but you can have a 3D printer that can scan and repair failed prints, repair incomplete prints, you could also have a subtractive tool (router bit) that can remove material.
the idea that ontop of having the idea and trying things, u are actually doing it is something I find insane and I love and will always support
That's really neat that you're releasing this to the public to basically get an internet wide collaborative effort on making this work! It'll be amazing in no time!
Having the ability to expand an axis without limit is a novel solution to some classic Reprap problems, I like your idea. The render of how you can arbitrarily change the scale of a child printer (on one axis at a time, at least) was really attention-getting. I was assuming advances would first come in improvements in the percentage of self-printed parts in assembled printers (eg. Snappy, etc.), but you seem to be trying to skip as close as possible to a single-piece (or 'print-in-place' as you put it) 'clanking replicator'. Ambitious! Here's to open-source design solving humanity's problems!
use a four-way piezo sensor installed in a pivotal axis, like a joystick. this can provide precision of end-stop positioning with pressure sensing too, helping the leveling. Try it. It costs a few pennies.
what you want is basically the thinkpad nubs, the hard part has basically no travel but can detect force being applied to it.
the way the strain gauges are made (basically a resistor that will slightly increase in resistance as it gets stretched), you might be able to 3d print them with conductive filament.
@@satibel exactly
youre printing of boards and circuits and motors is such a noble goal, thank you so much man.
i found this hilarious
not in a bad way but more of a "damn it man, youre insane and a genius. i want to see the process and i hope you succeed." way
but my brain couldnt handle the sheer scope of this project and was defaulted to laugh.
Haha, happy to hear!
"I wish I could've done better at school to be able to help make this project better" is how I feel. Hahaha! Love the genius and insanity level of this project. Thanks Sunshine!
@@josephgaston5866 You'd be hard pressed to learn this in school. Yes, even engineering school.
you still need to take the electronic parts and move them to the bigger and bigger printers. untill you have a football field sized printer so you can finally print the electronics for the second printer you printed.
otherwise you are still going to have to buy printer motherboards. and control screens. and stepper motors. and heater cartriges. and you name it in parts.
and untill 3d printers become advanced enoegh to print computer chips. we will NOT be able to self replicate a 3d printer by just printing a second one.
and that not even factoring the material cost.
because an extruded piece of aluminium used for the frame. is actually cheaper than a 3d printed frame of the same strenght.
fillament isn't cheap you know.
not to mention printing rails is fun as a concept.
but even the tinyest error in one of them. will compound into a giant error after x amount of replications.
so first we need to reach a level of incredible accuracy.
and then a level of insane intricasy (being able to print smaller and smaller things)
and then a level of versitilty so we can print any material.
before we can even think about doing things like this.
the video is a fun watch. but this project is a huge waste of time.
@@ryanellis4383
3d printing is something that is litterally taught in school these days.
it's not 1990 anymore.
Well, you've definitely achieved the "make it entertaining" goal! Seriously, concise but understandable and engaging overviews of any subject are a complex act of creation in and of themselves, so I applaud your skill and success.
The printer concept is fascinating. Obviously there's a few more issues to resolve - like how to you get the motors to Mars - but I love watching it. And the reversed screw thread for a lifter is one of those ideas that I'm looking at and going "I think I can use that." Building 3d printers isn't my jam so I'm not really in a position to help with the project itself - but I find your ideas fascinating, and I hope some recruiter sees this and goes "we need this guy!" Good luck!
This is one of the most incredible builds I've ever seen, can't wait to see what happens next!
Dude, there is so much value here! This is a phenomenal platform. I'm super excited to see how this develops, great work!!
Hahaha. Loved the Stefan cameo 🤣. This was the first video I've seen of yours, so that was a fun and welcome surprise. I binge-watch CNC Kitchen. Looks like I'm in good company. 🙂
0:55 that song, from Summoning Salt's videos
I dont think you understand how cool this is! this is incredible for open source tech! if we could print circuits and wires, we could print entire server boards and computers! the future is incredible!
I had an idea for a similar project, but my idea was to use a fleet of micro 3d printed 3d printing drones loaded up in a backpack with a tarp. I thought it would take YEARS to develop. Yours is far more simple! Congrats, man!
I was initially skeptical about the z-axis - I immediately thought about those getting pushed inward and breaking. Your work on the helical profile, however, makes a lot of sense.
I'm subscribed now - I really want to see where this goes. 😊
me to, subscribed now, hope it does not go off topiic, and turn into never ending of short video clips
Super interesting project dude :) Don't give up, you guys are doing good. Its that famous learning curve! :D Thanks for sharing.
CNC kitchen cameo was really unexpected, I loved it 😂
this is exactly what we all needed, this brilliance is beyond what anyone could have comprehended, the fact it can crate a replica of itself (in theory as planned) is amazing and it can even increase build volume however, the one issue I see with making bigger and bigger printers is the fact the the build volume only increase in one axis so in theory the printer can print infinity on the z which allows "infinite" x axis but the y axis stays the same, i cant wait to see how this expands more
WOW! How did you make this so entertaining and informative! You CLEARLY put A TON of time into the project, but also the video (writing, editing, etc.)!!!! I'm really looking forward to more videos about this infinite 3D printer!!
thank you for having the music in the description, i’ve been trying to find we’re finally landing for weeks
This guy's a genius, super creative ideas and problem solving! I would love to try to help and make part of this project! I believe this might actually succeed and be everything it was meant to be.
would not says its genius, its a cleaver way to fix an irrelevant problem
@@Cj19944 maybe we need a *cleaver* way to fix your grammar
I 2nd dat😂
Great idea guys, simple and logical way to overcome the drop of the print head. I would enjoy making one of these in my spare time and trying to see what it is capable of. Good luck on your endeavor guys!
oh boy, I'm building my own printers since the release of the first Rostock, but man, this concept is awesome AF and very creative tackling some engineering problems. awesome work. This project alongside the fast-printing improvements of "MirageC" and the upside-down-concept of "K R A L Y N 3D" are the most awesome and creative FDM-Improvements I've seen in about a decade. Keep up the great work.
the kralyn isi wicked; hope this guy can pull off a similar build!
Kralyn has consistently billed the Position as a printer that's portable and nothing else, but from the first moment I saw it I've always thought it was cool that it's a printer _that you can put away_ for the 99% of the time, when you're not using it. I mean taking up space is what's keeping the average person away from having a 3D printer. Like how everyone has a drill they barely use, and no-one has a drill _press._
Portability of a 3D printer of all things really is a niche requirement.
Just stumbled upon your channel and watched this and your 3d printing metal video. This is really incredible stuff you’re working on. I’ve had a 3d printer for a little bit over a year and use it now and again as time permits. You rock, keep up the good work!!
What an awesome project! Purely inspirational thinking here, love it.
You're documenting this with the rest of the Reprap community, right? Because they've had the exact same quest as you from before 3D printers were called that (and basically provoked consumer 3D printing to become a thing with their open-source designs). They could be helpful, and will also be REALLY interested in expanding on these ideas. I'm actually kind of shocked you didn't mention them, honestly.
He did kinda, that one printer is definitely logged on the RepRap site.
I had an idea like this years ago but I thought it would be impossible because you can’t print metal reliably. I hope I’m completely wrong because I absolutely love this.
The word "revolutionary" is overused these days, but I think it really applies here. I literally feel like I'm witnessing acomplete turning point in the way our species does the very task of building things
This is far from a new idea. The concept of self-replicating machines has been around for nearly a century. 3D printing definitely is an obvious leap towards realizing it, but all the core problem remains the same: precision. 3D printers almost universally get their precision, and thus ability to print reliably and to spec, from metal parts. Printers that use 3D printed parts, like Prusa printers, only print structural pieces, not functional ones. Without things like precision machined linear bearings, the printer won't be able to print anything of use and the fact of the matter is that printers aren't capable of printing to the same precision they are manufactured with. It's inherent to the material used to print. Plastic deforms where metal doesn't. Metal-infused filaments are still majority plastic, there's no getting around it.
And all of that ignores that a truly autonomous system would need a method of raw material extraction and processing. And then you start to run into possible doomsday scenarios like Horizon Zero Dawn.
It's an interesting concept to explore for sure, but to say at this stage that this will "revolutionize manufacturing" is nothing more than hyperbole.
@@needamuffin Ah, that's an enlightening perspective. Perhaps I was a little caught up in the wonderful presentation in the video
Concept may have been around but this is a say "proof of concept" we've never seen the likes, of in my opinion. @@needamuffin
do gotta say this kind of attitude is what is needed to change the world
This is like that episode of Futurama where Bender makes two 60% scale Benders until they take over the world at a molecular scale.
At that point they were so small tgey could change the structure of water into alcohol, so the entire world's oceans became beer lmao
Props for using 3kliks Music, love it!
So beyond the initial goal of self replication, I can see this having an interesting implication in printing large multi-color models, where the printed legs could double as purge towers.
Very cool. Thanks for working on this, can't wait to see where it goes!
It's been a year my dudes, how's the progress?
Genius. I would have never thought about this before. This video made my day. You have earned me as your loyal subscriber.
Another thing to add, if a DIY kinematic probe doesn't work for you, you could maybe consider somehow implementing a fiducial camera, Stephen Hawes has some great content about this from his pick and place machine 👌🏻
You could maybe find a way to 3D print fiducial markers into your parts, idk
But then you need to add the camera too.
This is a great example of an elegant solution being so simple.
Interesting idea however what is your plan to tackle the fact that the z axis will get increasingly unstable as it gets taller, and the fact that you’d need a pretty robust material changing system that was also itself entirely printable in order to realize the full scale of the project? I feel like this is better left to just a cool self printing printer vs some miracle machine that can produce motors supposedly.
this is absolutely fascinating. can't wait to see more of this
we need more people like you in this world, keep working hard to improve manufacturing processes, it will pay off one day.
Love the 3kliksphillip music! Keep up the good work
loving the @3kliksphilip soundtrack!
I wonder how you would print the heat-sensitive components (like the hotend and the build-plate). They need to be made of a material that will not return to a fluid state when reheated.
🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:
00:00 🖨️ 3D Printer's Capabilities
01:03 🌐 Decentralized Mass Production
02:09 🔄 Infinite Build Volume Design
03:39 🧩 Parts Printability and Reproduction
05:08 🔩 Z-Axis Legs Improvement
06:36 🛠️ Challenges in Printing
09:01 ☕ Collaboration and Future Plans
Made with HARPA AI
It feels like it's difficult to overstate the significance of this. If you can actually make a low cost 3D-printer that can replicate, even though it's all plastic, if just a small fraction of the concepts you prototype and can get to work can be transferred to a version that builds in more solid materials, this paves the way for... Well, just what you talked about in the intro, but I mean - for real! That's insane! Thinking of "We are legion (We are Bob)" by Dennis E. Taylor here🤩
Sounds like a reprap to me 😀
I'm an electronic engineering student
And from what i learned about transistors
It's very hard or almost impossible to make stable transistor if it isn't environment controlled as building smaller and purer transistor can be increasingly be affected by the environment like temperature, pressure, living organisms, humidity and other non-transistor material.
Also at some processes it requires high temperatures but maybe you can do it by making a flash heater using capacitors
But if you can make infinitely wide 3d printer and you can supply high voltage then maybe you can 3d print bigger transistor so it won't be much affected by the environment
As i see you haven't mentioned the energy problem
Which either you print solar cell that requires silicons or a magnet that requires another magnet to change its magnetic direction.
In summary i feel like it's a long journey that can take years of research 😅
nice way of solving the “volume problem”! very curious where you will take this. Love the energy and quirkyness 😂
FINALLY a 3d printer that prints a 3d printer that prints... (infinite loop) a RLLY creative idea hope you get enough support!
This video was beautifully edited and produced while still being funny and informative. F*cking amazing dude!
Ahhhhh this is so elegant, I have been dreaming of a similar system for years. You're brilliant. History will literally be written about you.
Yes, yes, we know how it is...weekend job, iterations, 200-300% increase in time. Hiwey, each setback is an opportunity to learn and grow. Excellent ideas on self manufacturing. Love the process and your storytelling.
I love the out of the box thinking !! You do things that people tend to say smmm that’s impossible 🔥👌 you making history
One improvement I saw onto screw. You have bolt and nut. With longer bolt your roteable nut will not fit tightly to the bolt. So you need oposite force, some ball bearings with spring maybe. Have a nice day.
TH-cam is a pain with its recommendations
I'm scrolling and it won't stop suggesting me 15 second clips of shows or memes or whatever
and once in a hundred it actually shows me something good like this
Great Idea. I'm wishing you success in this endeavor.
Thanks mate! Not just fascinating idea, but so inspiring and motivating too 👍
I am absolutely blown away by this incredibly awesome concept. wow
Awesome to see some channel that is putting his efforts to make it better and better, and not some random shits that they are trying to push in one day.
Thanks for the video! And best luck on the project! And sorry, cannot help on that.
You might actually be a genius my man. Wow this is really amazing I'd love to print one myself
gosh I love the idea, its something I would really love to help with but I lack the space in my room for any kind of big prints, tho I'll look closely, it will maybe teach me a lot of things, like for the screw thing, its mindblowing and something I'll keep in mind if I find a simillar issue myself
I was not expecting 3kliksphillip music, great choice
neither was I, i came to the comments in an instant ahahah
Its a dream I think we've all had at some stage
I don't know how 3D printing stepper motors and hotends on a 3D printed machine is going to work
but good luck and Godspeed my friend
"Infinite build volume" sounds fun untill you remember about compound errors... or after you discover their effects when it's too late.
You deserved yourself a new sub.
Hope to see how this project goes on 👌👌
Very cool concept! Keep up the great work
This is a beautiful concept! There are a couple of ideas I've had for about five or so years regarding 3d printers that can replicate and self assemble.
Your Mars base may need to have the materials necessary to build some kind of forge on site, either operating through induction or some other means. It would also need to produce at least one worker drone, to source and gather materials.
You could experiment with different sized drones for different purposes, but the basic premise is to continue production.
You could set one of these systems up in a city to recycle waste plastics and metals into filament through the forge, expand the size of the swarm, and build up the system for its voyage to Mars.
These printers will need printer food, and unless you're going to give them legs and a mouth, they need some drone swarms!
Im no engineer nor am i a skilled enough to really add anything of value... but im going to learn just to help, simply because this is a project with theoretical infinite expandability. You quite literally have an answer to the house crisis internationally in the works here.
I can see this technique will be used to print skyscrapers one day :D
That's super sick! Amazing idea, I'm kind of surprised you don't have funding already
It needs to print itself built! :D
I really like this, I was just thinking about a 3D printer that can increase it's build volume, the idea was that it could print extension tracks. But this is far beyond that.
Ok, I think the answer initially is to just use a little human labor and don't be quite so exacting about how it lifts itself up. Just make a 3D printer than can build a track and make sure that the track can plug into the existing X, Y and Z tracks to increase the build volumes which a human, or a very basic robot could manipulate into the right position to allow further extension of the build volume. Agreed that metal can be done, and I like your ideas there but printing green parts, or lost PLA casting are also options. I know you like the idea of it being just a printer that sets down anywhere and somehow makes everything but realistically we will always need more than just a 3D printer, and yes a 3D printer might be able to build some of those things but if a 3D printer can build some of what is needed then the printer doesn't need to do it all directly itself and plastic Filament is less abundant on Mars than you might think. Let's just make a 3D printer that can extend it's build volume and be reproduced with minimal expense first.
You sir are going to seriously impact the world for the better, like I can really see the genius
Well, for me, with multiple hobbies. This is just another cool rabbit hole. Love the idea, man!
Absolutely incredible work! 😮 I've subscribed and look forward to the updates
Around 8:50, the music is btw Handel - Sarabande. Edit: piano, music, classical. Just in case anyone is searching for it haha
THANK YOU! I keep coming across it but could never figure out the name.
wow one of the best vids i have watched in a while well done
Hey this is hella inspiring man. Never stop.
The thread design is so far my favorite part. Not the thread itself but the way you thought around the problem
You, my friend, are a gentelman and a scholar. Admirable effort
I think adding an arm to the print head will allow you to both test distances on the fly, and connect things. The print head is a sturdy point that you can reach from above to the printed area, and park back above when not in use. A tool caddy for things like a probe, knife etc gives options like on a CNC mill. You could even have a camera on it to do 3 d scans as you go to continually calibrate your position as you rise up.
bit late to this party but uh, there is a way to fit the big box into the small box. Disassemble the big box into smaller parts. Though in this analogy that would lead to needing assembly so while it's possible to fit the big box in the small box, maybe not a great way to go about it... unless you have the printer rotating and controlling already printed parts to print more parts onto it after production. 🤷♂
1:50 this is the vibes I love. Encouraging the world to build itself up.
Dude that's a really awesome idea. I'm excited to see it come to fruition
that line rider just made me remember all of my memories from music class in kindergarten to now 6:17
as the printer raise i think it could use some x bracing between towers on at least 3 sides. this allows the printed part an exit, but tiess the towers so there will be less error due to elasticity. you could also use the cross pieces as fixed points to recalculate position as you lift.