3Distributed Information

An #EdTech 3D-printing start-up delivering epic wins to novice engineers at home, in schools, colleges and Fab-Labs in Great Britain and beyond. The RepRap Intro is our first product. It is an early-stage, educational, assembly project to produce a desktop 3D printer. Product development was focused on a simple, enjoyable, kin-aesthetic assembly experience, as well as reliable operation and high quality printed output. The kit is fully re-buildable, with robust, over-sized components and rugged electronics. It serves as vehicle for the delivery of a long tail of educational expansion packs that teach 3D CAD, maths, mechanics, electronics, robotics and computer engineering. The 3D printer kit is composed of a step-by-step sequence of sub-assemblies. Each one addresses a different element of the machine (Electronics, Motors, Transmission etc.). The sequence is arranged intelligently, to help build up a conceptual (and practical) understanding of 'the physical computer'. Each step in the assembly manual for this project is presented directly on a printer frame panel itself. The result is an intuitive, hands-on, learn-by-doing experience. The project will connect students with the relevance and appeal of a study in engineering in a way more abstract approaches do not. The open-source RepRap Project (the original desktop 3D printer) has enjoyed an organic growth around the world. Successive waves of user adoption, enriched the 3D printing community and hastened the gradual erosion of technical barriers to entry. We have tried to distill these processes and extrapolate them. The RepRap Intro brings the 3D printing experience to a novice maker audience.