Frequently Asked Questions

What is a 3D printer?

3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the deposition of successive layers of material to build up a 3D object. A common variant melts and extrudes an ABS plastic filament to fabricate sturdy plastic parts.

What does 'bespoke' mean?

'Bespoke' traditionally refers to menswear that is custom tailored for a particular person rather than fabricated in a variety of standard sizes and sold "off the rack". In the context of open source hardware it refers to a customized variation of a standard open source design, or combination of features from several open designs.

What is the RepRap?

RepRap is an open source hardware and software project that aims to produce self-replicating manufacturing machines in order to make custom fabrication widely available.

The project has produced a variety of hardware and software, including one of our favorite robots, the RepRap Kossel.

What is a Bottery?

A collection of robots that replace the function of buildings, allowing people to live outside in parks. Described in Archigram's LAWUN project.