{"id":4251,"date":"2016-05-13T13:52:27","date_gmt":"2016-05-13T17:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/?p=4251"},"modified":"2021-03-08T04:50:13","modified_gmt":"2021-03-08T09:50:13","slug":"babys-first-3d-printer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2016\/05\/babys-first-3d-printer\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby&#8217;s First 3D Printer"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After years of thinking\u00a0about it I finally\u00a0got a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lulzbot.com\/store\/printers\/lulzbot-mini\">3D printer<\/a>. Several models currently on the market at last\u00a0hit the combo of price, print quality, and ease of use for which\u00a0I&#8217;d been waiting. I haven&#8217;t done much with it yet, but so far it&#8217;s really exciting. Getting it set up and making my first print was wondrously\u00a0easy, even in the somewhat obscure <a href=\"https:\/\/www.archlinux.org\/\">variant of Linux<\/a> I use. Similarly, I was able to whip together\u00a0a quick test part in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tinkercad.com\/\">simple\u00a03D modeler<\/a> that was\u00a0vastly quicker and more intuitive for that small\u00a0job than the engineering CAD tools with which I&#8217;m familiar, and browser based to boot.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Lulzbot Mini Test Run\" width=\"530\" height=\"298\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LCvstHaBfc4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4253\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_142042.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4253\" class=\"wp-image-4253 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_142042-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"Some test parts. What's up, Rocktopus?\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_142042-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_142042-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_142042-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_142042-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4253\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some test parts. What&#8217;s up, Rocktopus?<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I have just three\u00a0thoughts to share while I listen to the servos on another print.<\/p>\n<h2>Magic<\/h2>\n<p>One is just\u00a0a reflection on the shocking banality of magic. This is a magical device. And yet it sits on my desk, at home. The whole process is magic:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>I order a\u00a0very complex assemblage\u00a0of electronics;<\/li>\n<li>Not 24 hours later it&#8217;s delivered to my door, at no shipping\u00a0cost;<\/li>\n<li>I go back online and find\u00a0some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thingiverse.com\/thing:247346\">crazy mini-sculpture<\/a> on a lark;<\/li>\n<li>A simple tool lets me examine the model and send it to the device;<\/li>\n<li>Minutes later I have a\u00a0good quality\u00a03D replica on my desk.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Nearly\u00a0everything about that sequence is almost so easy to overlook today. Having an uncommon, advanced electrical appliance\u00a0delivered almost immediately is a concept that would have been all but unfathomable to regular consumers\u00a0even ten\u00a0years ago, and very expensive five years ago. The whole Internet component of that process is itself such deep magic taken so trivially for granted these days. But producing a complex physical\u00a0artifact is still\u00a0this moment\u00a0just rare enough that it highlights the\u00a0heights of sorcery which we have brought into our everyday lives.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4262\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4262\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4262\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04-1024x585.png\" alt=\"Just, you know, surfin' around, lookin' for some demon knight sculptures to turn into physical artifacts. Typical Thursday.\" width=\"530\" height=\"303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04-1024x585.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04-60x34.png 60w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/Screenshot_2016-05-12_22-49-04.png 1345w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4262\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Just, you know, surfin&#8217; around, lookin&#8217; for some demon knight sculptures to turn into physical artifacts. Typical Thursday.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I saw my first 3D printer some seventeen\u00a0years ago.\u00a0As a college freshman, already working in two research labs, I tagged along\u00a0on a trip to a conference on solid modeling. One of the corporate vendors in the exhibit hall was demoing a 3D printer for rapid prototyping in mechanical\u00a0design.\u00a0Some of the features are still not that common: It had two extruder heads, so they had a great demo wherein they printed an enclosed\u00a0gearbox as one solid piece using two materials, dunked the piece\u00a0in solvent to dissolve one of them, and produced\u00a0a functional, intricate mechanical drivetrain that would be near impossible to build out of separate components.<\/p>\n<p>At the time that demo\u00a0was amazing, science fiction.\u00a0But today, you can readily\u00a0buy that kind of dual-head capability for home use. My printer does not\u00a0have two heads, but I could buy\u00a0or make an upgrade to do so. And it&#8217;s likely that\u00a0the resolution on mine\u00a0is as good or better as on that extremely expensive machine I saw then.<\/p>\n<p>Sometimes it&#8217;s surprisingly difficult\u00a0to see technological progress, either because it&#8217;s invisible or actually hasn&#8217;t happened. Just to pick two examples: It&#8217;s difficult for most people to really\u00a0appreciate the\u00a0improvements in automotive technology that actually have been made, as the real developments are\u00a0all literally under the hood and body and mostly show up <em>in absentia,<\/em>\u00a0via\u00a0dramatic reductions in fatalities and pollution. Meanwhile, a true lack of progress, much\u00a0of America still has barely better Internet access than it had when I was growing up on dial-up.<\/p>\n<p>But this device is concrete and tangible progress you can put on your desk. Over just the course of my adult life so far, less than two\u00a0decades, 3D printing has advanced from a technology just starting to\u00a0transition\u00a0beyond a research concept, to one rapidly becoming a household commodity appliance.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4294\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_154819-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4294\" class=\"wp-image-4294 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_154819-1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"An exemplar of one of the world's most advanced technologies! ... being used here to print a literal tower of skulls for next month's boardgaming ...\" width=\"530\" height=\"398\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_154819-1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_154819-1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_154819-1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_154819-1-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4294\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An exemplar of one of the world&#8217;s most advanced technologies! &#8230; being used here to print a literal tower of skulls for next month&#8217;s boardgaming &#8230;<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Science<\/h2>\n<p>My\u00a0second thought is that, of course, this has happened before. One of my very earliest memories is the soft blue console\u00a0glow from the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Commodore_64\">Commodore 64<\/a>\u00a0that my dad put in my bedroom as a very young kid.\u00a0There has effectively never not been a computer in my life, and the profound impact that early, constant exposure and intimate familiarity has had on my career, friendships, and life is incalculable.<\/p>\n<p>Demographically though I am certainly on the leading edge of the populace for which that could\u00a0have been the case. Even up through\u00a0to high school it was just starting, even\u00a0in middle class\u00a0circles among the more education-committed households, to be reasonable to assume\u00a0that\u00a0people had\u00a0a computer at home. And yet, the middle class and up cohort born then will essentially\u00a0all never have known a life without computers. Over that fifteen years or so PCs had advanced from new, somewhat\u00a0obscure technology, to a near ubiquitous\u00a0household item.<\/p>\n<p>As a new father then, it behooves me to think&#8212;and worry&#8212;about what is next. My wife was teasing me earlier than our daughter is going to grow up\u00a0thinking that everyone has a 3D printer. But that&#8217;s exactly right, everyone will. Not next year, not the year after, but absolutely\u00a0by the time our baby is\u00a0in high school and quite\u00a0likely while she&#8217;s still in elementary school, these are going to be everywhere. Right now you can walk into several\u00a0big box chain stores and pick up a 3D printer for a few hundred dollars or less. Granted, those models\u00a0might not be that capable or that robust. But that&#8217;s only a question of time.\u00a0This isn&#8217;t a technology that&#8217;s coming, it&#8217;s already\u00a0here, already massively changing engineering and design, and poised to change business and everyday life.\u00a0Being\u00a0immersively fluent in 3D modeling and rapid bespoke manufacturing\u00a0is going to have the same magnitude of bearing on being a scientist, engineer, or any number of other careers that computers had for my cohort. So, yes, our daughter\u00a0will always have one of these around.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4303\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_103528.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4303\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4303\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_103528-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"This interface just exudes science! ... as I print my demon knight.\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_103528-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_103528-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_103528-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_103528-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4303\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This interface just exudes science! &#8230; as I print my demon knight.<\/p><\/div>\n<h2>Change<\/h2>\n<p>The follow-up question is then: What else? 3D printing, drones and autonomous vehicles, massively capable AI, ubiquitous\u00a0gene hacking, these are all coming, probably in that order. &#8220;When?&#8221; is inarguably a matter of huge uncertainly, but almost certainly well within the timeframe in which I need to worry about putting\u00a0my baby ahead of those waves\u00a0reshaping\u00a0the world.<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately I am professionally and personally disposed to be fluent and comfortable with\u00a0most of those. But gene hacking? I only know the most rudimentary, textbook aspects. More troublingly,\u00a0what else am I missing, what imminent paradigm change\u00a0is not on my\u00a0radar? Once upon a time and still ongoing, computers changed everything. An awful lot of people didn&#8217;t see that\u00a0coming. But now\u00a0there are upheavals\u00a0looming\u00a0not just in practical\u00a0work\u00a0and daily\u00a0living, but basic\u00a0conceptions\u00a0of production,\u00a0privacy, creativity, science, and even personhood. How to prepare a little person\u00a0for an onslaught of change that will be\u00a0deeper and faster than anything to come before, and will likely only get deeper and faster?<\/p>\n<p>That prospect should be scary.\u00a0In many regards\u00a0it is terribly\u00a0so. Humanity\u00a0as a gestalt\u00a0is tragically unprepared to harness and manage these disruptions.<\/p>\n<p>On\u00a0an individual level though, the true fundamentals will remain so\u00a0even as the world qualitatively changes.\u00a0Direct familiarity with the tools will always matter, and it&#8217;s grossly\u00a0unfortunate that inequality in access seems poised to only grow\u00a0with time. But\u00a0humanity&#8217;s ultimate\u00a0toolset will\u00a0always be the same: Critical thinking, curiosity, empathy, our intelligence and values.\u00a0Just as determinative as my newfangled home computer to my comparative success navigating the information age were\u00a0much more time-honored\u00a0assets:\u00a0The shelf of encyclopedias and dictionaries we had within kid-reach, and the weekly trips with mom\u00a0to the library, hauling home stacks of <em>Encyclopedia Brown<\/em>, <em>Star Trek<\/em>, and Shakespeare.<\/p>\n<p>So, this afternoon, baby and I\u00a0will probably\u00a0play with the 3D printer just a little bit. It is, after all, a pretty cool robot. But then, just like most days, we&#8217;ll read our increasingly tattered copy of <em>Where&#8217;s Hedgehog?,<\/em>\u00a0crawl around exploring under the tables, and\u00a0give big hugs to Zebra-Giraffe and all our animal buddies. Because, just as they have always been, these are the root skills, traits,\u00a0and values I can give her\u00a0that are going to help\u00a0her through even the changes to come that I cannot\u00a0possibly foresee. Thinking, curiosity, empathy. In the end that&#8217;s all there is under everything, no matter what\u00a0new and magical forms the world takes.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4292\" style=\"width: 540px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_205557.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4292\" class=\"size-large wp-image-4292\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_205557-1024x766.jpg\" alt=\"Baby's first 3D printer.\" width=\"530\" height=\"396\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_205557-1024x766.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_205557-300x224.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_205557-768x574.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160512_205557-60x45.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 530px) 100vw, 530px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-4292\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Baby&#8217;s first 3D printer.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After years of thinking\u00a0about it I finally\u00a0got a 3D printer. Several models currently on the market at last\u00a0hit the combo of price, print quality, and ease of use for which\u00a0I&#8217;d been waiting. I haven&#8217;t done much with it yet, but so far it&#8217;s really exciting. Getting it set up and making my first print was &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/2016\/05\/babys-first-3d-printer\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[378],"tags":[261],"class_list":["post-4251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-misc","tag-3d-printing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4251"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4360,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4251\/revisions\/4360"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rocketshipgames.com\/blogs\/tjkopena\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}