Rep Rap Project - Construction

Construction

Other 3D printer designs (such as the commercial Makerbot) and parts constructed by other means (such as Meccano) may be used to bootstrap the RepRap process by building RepRap parts. Many such machines are based around RepRap designs and use RepRap electronics. These are generally known by the name "RepStrap" (for "bootstrap RepRap") by the RepRap community. A RepStrap is any open-hardware rapid prototyping machine that makes RepRap parts and is itself made by fabrication processes which aren't under the RepRap umbrella yet. Some RepStrap designs are similar to Darwin or Mendel, but have been modified to be made from laser cut sheets or milled parts. Others, such as the Makerbot, share some design elements with the RepRap (especially electronics) but with a completely reconfigured mechanical structure.

Although the aim of the project is for RepRap to be able to autonomously construct much of its mechanical components in the near future using fairly low-level resources, several components such as sensors, stepper motors or microcontrollers are currently non-replicable using the RepRap's 3D printing technology and therefore have to be produced independently of the RepRap self-replicating process. The goal is to asymptotically approach a 100% replication over a series of evolutionary generations. As one example, from the onset of the project the RepRap team has explored a variety of approaches to integrating electrically conductive media into the product. Success on this initiative should open the door to the inclusion of connective wiring, printed circuit boards and possibly even motors in RepRapped products. Variations in the nature of the extruded, electrically conductive media could produce electrical components with different functions from pure conductive traces, not unlike what was done in John Sargrove's sprayed-circuit process of the 1940s (also known as Electronic Circuit Making Equipment or ECME). Printed electronics is a related approach. Another non-replicable component is the threaded rods for the linear motions. A current research area is in using replicated Sarrus linkages to replace them.