An insightful and informative short article and video from “Wired Magazine” showcases the fascinating ways in which open domain, custom-fabricated, DIY product design is changing the way that we think about manufacturing design and innovation. As the video details, the ability to draw up a schematic of a design board on one’s PC, go online and send the specs to a manufacturing firm, and then receive the boards in the mail within a few days represents a process that would’ve been unthinkable only a few years ago.
Given the increasing ubiquity of robotics technologies around the world, heralded by the promises and prospects of the recent global technology boom in robotics and new automation-based industries, one can’t help but wonder what impact DIY and open domain resources will have on the advancement and development of innovative new robotic designs. Once the bastion of heavily funded research institutes, robotics is fast on the way to becoming an enterprise that is accessible and available to anyone. This democratization of knowledge, in turn, is bound to have a wide-ranging impact on the global robotics building culture — creating a mutually beneficial relationship between robot and builder/designer alike. For an example of a great site that provides a wide assortment of robotic building tutorials, tools, and videos, see the Society of Robots. And also see the array of information provided in the previous blog on Hobby Robotics.
What prospect does 2010 hold for you and robotics? Are you ready to embark on a new odyssey of learning and discovery, as you explore the “personal industrial revolution” in robotics technologies? If you’re fascinated by the promises of robotics, human-robot interaction, or anything to do with artificial intelligence, then stay tuned. In forthcoming blogs we’ll be discussing these and other subjects in hopes of encouraging further explorations into the universe of DIY and open domain robotics building applications.
Tags: DIY, future of robotics, human robot interaction, manufacturing, open domain, Society of Robots
