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I view this as closer to conceptual performance art than a practical solution to an engineering problem. TFA article talks about how the robot “feels” and the

I view this as closer to conceptual performance art than a practical solution to an engineering problem. TFA article talks about how the robot “feels” and the “relationship” between the printer and the environment. That’s perfectly valid but it is artist’s statement stuff. What I didn’t see is any discussion about taking the fixed coordinate system defined by a printer’s volume and translating that into the larger space, which would presumably need to be mapped to 0.1 mm precision. Or at least any previously printed objects would need to act as registration points at that level of precision.

deskr 2y ago
I'm definitely giving this one a chance. It's version 1. I'm convinced that many good things will evolve from this.
- 2muchcoffeeman 2y ago
  I can already print human scale objects domestically on a belt printer. But only on a single axis. Something like this would have the advantage of being able to print at human scale on all axes. But you’d need a human sized printer on at least one axis. At which point, you have to question what you’re doing.
  - Teever 2y ago
    It would be a fun project to figure out how to optimize the support material necessary for this printer to raise itself up and move itself around a print that is far larger than itself. Sort of like scaffolding for commercial construction.
    - shermantanktop 2y ago
      you mean for the printer to print its own scaffolding? Any scenario where the printer itself moves but continues to print an in-progress object requires the equivalent of auto-bed-leveling. But rather than checking the location of a fixed bed with known parameters, it would probably be checking the unfinished face of the printed object. Sounds challenging...
      - Teever 2y ago
        Yes, exactly, print it's own scaffolding. Sounds very challenging. Imagine this robot printing a human sized David statue and the necessary scaffolding to raise itself to every position necessary to do so. The next level would be to design the scaffolding in such a way that it's easy for the robot to disassemble and either directly reprocess into filament or to store for later reprocessing. The next level would be coordinating a swarm of these robots.
dingnuts 2y ago
> What I didn’t see is any discussion about taking the fixed coordinate system defined by a printer’s volume and translating that into the larger space, That's because the creator didn't make it do that. I was looking for this as well but a careful reading shows that the print volume is the same as a normal Prusa Mini. It's a Prusa Mini on a Roomba, that's it. It can drive to a spot and then print there normally, nothing else. What you are describing would be a far more interesting project, in my opinion.
65 2y ago
The engineering problem is 3D printer build volume limits.

deskr 2y ago

I'm definitely giving this one a chance. It's version 1. I'm convinced that many good things will evolve from this.

2muchcoffeeman 2y ago
I can already print human scale objects domestically on a belt printer. But only on a single axis. Something like this would have the advantage of being able to print at human scale on all axes. But you’d need a human sized printer on at least one axis. At which point, you have to question what you’re doing.
- Teever 2y ago
  It would be a fun project to figure out how to optimize the support material necessary for this printer to raise itself up and move itself around a print that is far larger than itself. Sort of like scaffolding for commercial construction.
  - shermantanktop 2y ago
    you mean for the printer to print its own scaffolding? Any scenario where the printer itself moves but continues to print an in-progress object requires the equivalent of auto-bed-leveling. But rather than checking the location of a fixed bed with known parameters, it would probably be checking the unfinished face of the printed object. Sounds challenging...
    - Teever 2y ago
      Yes, exactly, print it's own scaffolding. Sounds very challenging. Imagine this robot printing a human sized David statue and the necessary scaffolding to raise itself to every position necessary to do so. The next level would be to design the scaffolding in such a way that it's easy for the robot to disassemble and either directly reprocess into filament or to store for later reprocessing. The next level would be coordinating a swarm of these robots.

dingnuts 2y ago

> What I didn’t see is any discussion about taking the fixed coordinate system defined by a printer’s volume and translating that into the larger space, That's because the creator didn't make it do that. I was looking for this as well but a careful reading shows that the print volume is the same as a normal Prusa Mini. It's a Prusa Mini on a Roomba, that's it. It can drive to a spot and then print there normally, nothing else. What you are describing would be a far more interesting project, in my opinion.

65 2y ago

The engineering problem is 3D printer build volume limits.