[hackerspaces] Lasersaur on kickstarter.com wants $10k to develop an open source laser cutter

[john arclight]

This sound interesting. Most importantly, I think we need a good,
sturdy 3-axis gantry that can be used to move around a router, Dremel
tool, LASER head, stencil cutting knife, etc.

All of the systems I have seen so far (Reprap, Makerbot, etc)  are too
light to move something like a LASER system or a high-speed router for
cutting out circuit boards/etc.

And all of the heavy-duty movements I've seen have involved one-off
salvaged components, like steppers+ball screws from a wrecked CNC
machine tool or a large industrial line printer.

So I would encourage the team to think about not making the platform
100% specific to LASER cutting, but an open design that could have
multiple components bolted on.

A repeatable design for a nice, rigid 3-axis movement would be an
excellent "Stage 1" design goal, even if the LASER portion proves to
be harder to master.

Arclight
http://shop.23b.org

On Mon, May 31, 2010 at 7:49 AM, Bryan Bishop <kanzure at gmail.com> wrote:
> Lasersaur
> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/405545346/lasersaur-open-source-laser-cutter-0
>
> """
> The idea is simple: Design a laser cutter and make the building
> process repeatable for others.
>
> Here's the thing. Laser cutters are traditionally expensive ($30,000
> to as much as you can spend) and there are a lot of artist, hackers,
> architects, designers, DIYers who could do great things with them- if
> they could afford one, or even get regular access to one. Pretty much
> anybody who is a maker could benefit from a laser cutter.
> Unfortunately, turnkey systems are expensive, and there isn't really a
> clear and simple way to build one. We can change this: with roughly
> six month of R&D time we can develop a laser cutter which anyone can
> build, use, and maintain. Most importantly this system will be open
> source which means anyone can improve and modify the design.
>
> Everyone should be able to have a laser cutter! Our goal is to design
> a 100W machine which is capable of cutting 1/2" (12.5mm) acrylic,
> wood, multiple layers of fabric or thin sheet metal.
>
> Why
> Laser cutters are a key technology for making things.
>
> Remember when people couldn't make their own videos, CDs or print out
> photos? Me neither (at least we try to forget). In many areas of
> media, the last century was quite the read-only culture where a few
> gatekeepers would sit on the means to produce everything. Not the best
> situation for creativity or for people with lots of cool ideas but no
> cash.
>
> When you look at robotics and fabrication this is still the case. In
> 2010, a reasonable laser cutter is still well over 30k and therefore
> outside the budget of most of us. However, we are at a point where
> this can change. We believe we are able to design a laser cutter that
> can be built for under 5k (a 100W version) and a budget version (25W)
> for under 3k. It would be completely open source and repeatable.
>
> How this will go down
> First of all, we need your support! Your pledge is what makes this
> project possible. Once our funding goal is reached, the first
> prototype will be formulated. With material testing and debugging
> underway we can make a solid alpha system in about 6 months. At this
> point, start checking your snail mail box for the alpha kit (see
> pledges on how to get one).
>
> Once our alpha testers have had a chance to geek out for a few months,
> we will launch into beta with the beta testers. Then collaborators.
> Our goal is to launch publicly within a few months thereafter,
> releasing the project, documentation and schematics to the greater
> good.
>
> We will offer the Lasersaur open source system as kits available to
> the public as well as offer documentation online for anyone wishing to
> build their system from scratch.
>
> Who we are
> We (addie and stefan) are alumi from NYU's ITP and more recently
> fellows at Eyebeam in New York City. Both are institutions dedicated
> to open source culture and experimentation with cutting edge
> technology.
>
> As individuals, and as collaborators, we have been designing open
> source software since 2002, hardware since 2006, and like sharing our
> ideas with the bigger community. Our first open source hardware system
> was launched in 2007 (CUBIT: the multitouch system, as well as the
> later Touchkit, 2008). These systems were covered internationally and
> nationally by media such as MIT Technology Review, The Economist, Der
> Standard and even CNN. Over the last half a decade, our open source
> hardware has been built and used by hundreds of people, labs and
> research universities or institutions. We believe that people should
> think globally and act locally and the open source movement has been
> instrumental for this.
> """
>
> I was kicking around the same idea with a fellow in Austin, TX a while
> back but we had a sub-$1000 price target. I wonder if these eyebeam
> fellows will be wise enough to use EMC2? I hope so.
>
> - Bryan
> http://heybryan.org/
> 1 512 203 0507
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