Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
He explained, “The idea that because you give the intellectual property away
you can't run a company that makes a proit is demonstrably nonsense. All
you have to do is to add value.” Adrian's perspective on intellectual property
is straightforward: If intellectual property laws aren't beneitting people, then
the laws need to be changed.
RepRap and Fab@Home users are free to patent machine enhancements
they invent, for example, a special print head that's dishwasher safe. Adrian
pointed out that suing one's customers is a crude and ineffective method of
protecting one's business model. “Any development or improvement of RepRap
design, software, or electronics arises out of its users' own initiatives. There
is no central institution giving directions: users themselves invest time and
thought in the evolutionary process of RepRap design. If they inspire other
users they can all team up and combine their efforts.”
The RepRap printer is the embodiment of user-controlled design and pro-
duction in all senses of the words
.
Like the Fab@Home 3D printer, RepRap's
design blueprints are open-sourced. Like open-sourced software code, instruc-
tions for building a RepRap or Fab@Home are freely available online; users
don't pay fees or licensing royalties.
Elements from both RepRap and Fab@Home's designs have found their
way into commercial models. A notable descendent is MakerBot's Replicator
I, one of the most commercially popular consumer-level 3D printers on the
market. Today RepRap and Fab@Home printers are found all over the world,
some built on the original blueprints and others based on modiied designs.
The Fab@Home open-source 3D printer project (2006)
