Cardboard Machine Kit: Modules for the Rapid Prototyping of Rapid Prototyping Machines
Name
p3657-peek.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
14.81 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
22c803641f7793273515d3624353a07a
Author(s)
Peek, Nadya
Coleman, James
Moyer, Ilan
Gershenfeld, Neil
Date Issued
May 2017
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
Citation
Peek, Nadya, Coleman, James, Moyer, Ilan and Gershenfeld, Neil. 2017. "Cardboard Machine Kit: Modules for the Rapid Prototyping of Rapid Prototyping Machines."
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2017 ACM. Digital fabrication machines (such as laser cutters or 3D printers) can be instructed to produce any part geometry within their application space. However, machines' application spaces are not easily modified or extended. How can we enable the production of application-specific computer-controlled machines by machine building novices? How can we facilitate rapid prototyping of rapid prototyping tools? We propose a novel set of modules, the Cardboard Machine Kit, for the construction of digital fabrication machines. These open-source modules are implemented using cardboard frames, stepper motors, and networked electronics controlled through a Python library. We evaluated the kit both through machine building workshops and by studying the usage of the kit in the wild. In the wild we observed more than 500 novice machine builders who built 125 different machines for 15 different application types. We argue that this breadth demonstrates the efficacy of this modular approach. Finally we discuss the limitations of the Cardboard Machine Kit and discuss how it could inform future machine building infrastructure.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Center for Bits and Atoms
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1145/3025453.3025491
