What Is a MakerBot?
A MakerBot is a robot that makes things. Right now, MakerBot Industries is making desktop 3D printers that you can use to make anything. As it turns out, this can be pretty handy since most people need something pretty regularlya replacement something thats no longer made, something fun to play with, or something you could buy at the store but which youd rather make yourself.
A MakerBot Operator is at the cutting edge of personal fabrication technology. Having a MakerBot gives anyone a superpower to replicate anything in the world right in front of them.
Your MakerBot is a present-making machineyoull never have to worry about buying gifts for anyone again because with your MakerBot you can just make them. Its also a fixing machine, which comes in handy when something that youve bought gets broken. If the knob on your dishwasher, stove, or radio breaks, its not a big deal anymore, now its just another opportunity to show off your mastery of the MakerBot. Amaze your friends when you replicate a replacement in less time than it would take you to go buy it at the store! With a MakerBot, you can be a hero to your family by using your MakerBot to solve household challenges that range from building new coat hooks to making a bathtub stopper.
Like a kitten watching a goldfish bowl, youll stare for hours at your MakerBot as it obeys your every command and makes you objects of your dreams and the practical things you need. Bring it out into public and folks will gather round to stare at it hypnotically like a campfire.
Youll be able to replicate any of the thousands of objects on Thingiverse.com that have been created and shared by designers all over the world. Before long, you will even get the bug to design your own things and share them for others to use, too. Your brainchild may have children of its own - through the philosophy of sharing, open licenses, and derivative works. Someone might like your idea, think of an improvement and make it and take a picture to show you how your thing has a new life of its own!
How This Book Is Organized
This book is divided into the following chapters:
Explains how a MakerBot works, what kind of materials you can use with it, and what kind of things it can make.A tour of some of the many things you can download from Thingiverse and make on your MakerBot.If youre a kid, have a kid in your life, or just like to act like a kid once in a while, this chapter will show you how a MakerBot can create useful and enjoyable things for kids of all ages.This chapter helps you get your home and yourself ready for the arrival of your MakerBot.An overview of the Replicator 2, MakerBots state-of-the-art desktop printer.In this chapter, youll learn how to set things up and make your first thing.After youve made a test thing or two, its time to make some of the things you can get from Thingiverse. This chapter gives you ten things you can make to show off the capabilities of your MakerBot.You could probably print things from Thingiverse all day and never get bored. But the day will come when youll be inspired to design something of your own. This chapter covers some of the great design tools out theremany of them freeand shows you how to design things.Designing things can be a lot of fun, but how about scanning something from the real world? How about scanning it with an inexpensive cameraphone or Microsoft Kinect? This chapter shows you how.Throughout the book, youve seen things from Thingiverse. But after youve learned to scan and design things of your own, why not share them? Learn all about the Thingiverse community in this chapter.This appendix features some suggested resources to expand your mind and horizons.Nothing like a good glossary to keep all the terms straight!This appendix features OpenSCAD, a modeling program aimed at programmers.
Conventions Used in This Book
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
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Using Code Examples
This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You do not need to contact us for permission unless youre reproducing a significant portion of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from OReilly books does require permission. Answering a question by citing this book and quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount of example code from this book into your products documentation does require permission.
We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title, author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: Getting Started with MakerBot by Bre Pettis, Anna Kaziunas France, and Jay Shergill (OReilly). Copyright 2013, 978-1-4493-3865-7.
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MAKE unites, inspires, informs, and entertains a growing community of resourceful people who undertake amazing projects in their backyards, basements, and garages. MAKE celebrates your right to tweak, hack, and bend any technology to your will. The MAKE audience continues to be a growing culture and community that believes in bettering ourselves, our environment, our educational systemour entire world. This is much more than an audience, it's a worldwide movement that Make is leadingwe call it the Maker Movement.