The mobile fab lab is a computer-controlled design and machining fab lab housed in a trailer. The first was built in August 2007 by the Center for Bits and Atoms at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. [1] The mobile lab includes the same computer-controlled fabrication machines found in fab labs worldwide.
The fab lab trailer is a 2007 Pace American Shadow GT Daytona dual axle (model SCX8528TA3). It is 32 feet (9.8 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) wide, and 7 feet (2.1 m) high. The tailgate opens to add a 6 feet (1.8 m) deck at the back of the trailer. The main entrance is a door on the passenger side towards the front. A 6.5 feet (2.0 m) tall custom steel box covers most of the tongue. The lab requires a space approximately 60 feet (18 m) long by 16 feet (4.9 m) wide for operation as a lab. The power requirements are 240 V single phase with minimum 40 A service. To run all the equipment in the lab at once (including AC and overhead lights) is about 20 kW; to run only the 120 V equipment is about 8 kW.
Two graffiti artists from the South Bronx were invited to design and paint the sides and top of the trailer in two weekends.
This lab contains custom cabinetry which is an example of a lab producing a part of another lab. The cabinetry was CAD-designed and fabricated on a CNC wood router similar to the wood router in the trailer. The router in the trailer is capable of making another set of cabinets.
The lab debuted in August 2007 in Chicago, Illinois during The Fourth International Fab Lab Forum and Symposium on Digital Fabrication. Its maiden road trip from Chicago to Nevada to Boston included short visits to Black Rock City, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the Nebraska State Fair, Gadgetoff at the Liberty Science Center. It is now loaned to organizations for months or longer, typically to help create a permanent lab in that location. These have included Sustainable South Bronx; Lorain, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Washington, D.C.
The equipment included in mobile fab labs is typically a subset of the complete list of equipment for a regular fab lab, [2] with the most common omissions being multiplications of general purpose items such as computer workstations. The original equipment list for the MIT CBA Mobile Fab Lab:
The router is a power tool with a flat base and a rotating blade extending past the base. The spindle may be driven by an electric motor or by a pneumatic motor. It routs an area in hard material, such as wood or plastic. Routers are used most often in woodworking, especially cabinetry. They may be handheld or affixed to router tables. Some woodworkers consider the router one of the most versatile power tools.
A machinist is a tradesperson or trained professional who not only operates machine tools, but also has the knowledge of tooling and materials required to create set ups on machine tools such as milling machines, grinders, lathes, and drilling machines.
Numerical control is the automated control of machining tools by means of a computer. A CNC machine processes a piece of material to meet specifications by following coded programmed instructions and without a manual operator directly controlling the machining operation.
A CNC wood router is a CNC router tool that creates objects from wood. CNC stands for computer numerical control. The CNC works on the Cartesian coordinate system for 3D motion control. Parts of a project can be designed in the computer with a CAD/CAM program, and then cut automatically using a router or other cutters to produce a finished part. The CNC router is ideal for hobbies, engineering prototyping, product development, art, and production work.
Plasma cutting is a process that cuts through electrically conductive materials by means of an accelerated jet of hot plasma. Typical materials cut with a plasma torch include steel, stainless steel, aluminum, brass and copper, although other conductive metals may be cut as well. Plasma cutting is often used in fabrication shops, automotive repair and restoration, industrial construction, and salvage and scrapping operations. Due to the high speed and precision cuts combined with low cost, plasma cutting sees widespread use from large-scale industrial CNC applications down to small hobbyist shops.
A fab lab is a small-scale workshop offering (personal) digital fabrication.
FANUC is a Japanese group of companies that provide automation products and services such as robotics and computer numerical control wireless systems. These companies are principally FANUC Corporation of Japan, Fanuc America Corporation of Rochester Hills, Michigan, USA, and FANUC Europe Corporation S.A. of Luxembourg.
A countertop, also counter top, counter, benchtop, worktop or kitchen bench, bunker is a raised, firm, flat, and horizontal surface. They are built for work in kitchens or other food preparation areas, bathrooms or lavatories, and workrooms in general. The surface is frequently installed upon and supported by cabinets, positioned at an ergonomic height for the user and the particular task for which it is designed. A countertop may be constructed of various materials with different attributes of functionality, durability and aesthetics, and may have built-in appliances, or accessory items relative to the intended application.
The A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, also known as Taubman College, is one of the nine professional schools at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Many different electrical connectors have been used to connect microphones to audio equipment—including PA systems, radios, tape recorders, and numerous other devices.
Digital modeling and fabrication is a design and production process that combines 3D modeling or computing-aided design (CAD) with additive and subtractive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing is also known as 3D printing, while subtractive manufacturing may also be referred to as machining, and many other technologies can be exploited to physically produce the designed objects.
A hackerspace is a community-operated, often "not for profit", workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, science, digital art, or electronic art, can meet, socialize, and collaborate. Hackerspaces are comparable to other community-operated spaces with similar aims and mechanisms such as Fab Lab, men's sheds, and commercial "for-profit" companies.
TechShop was a chain of membership-based, open-access, do-it-yourself (DIY) workshops and fabrication studios. As of 2017 they had ten locations in the United States: three in California, one in Arizona, one in Arlington, Virginia, one in Michigan, one in Texas, one in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one in St. Louis, Missouri, and one in Brooklyn, New York, as well as four international locations.
Fab Lab MSI is a small scale workshop that uses various machines to create both prototypes for individuals and small projects for museum members and visitors. The idea behind the Fab Lab is to be able to learn how to use various machines to build "almost anything".
A computer numerical control (CNC) router is a computer-controlled cutting machine which typically mounts a hand-held router as a spindle which is used for cutting various materials, such as wood, composites, metals, plastics, glass, and foams. CNC routers can perform the tasks of many carpentry shop machines such as the panel saw, the spindle moulder, and the boring machine. They can also cut joinery such as mortises and tenons.
Pumping Station: One is a non-profit hackerspace/makerspace in Chicago, Illinois. The facilities consist of approximately 11,000 square feet (1,000 m2) of shop, workspace, and lounge areas.
The maker culture is a contemporary subculture representing a technology-based extension of DIY culture that intersects with hardware-oriented parts of hacker culture and revels in the creation of new devices as well as tinkering with existing ones. The maker culture in general supports open-source hardware. Typical interests enjoyed by the maker culture include engineering-oriented pursuits such as electronics, robotics, 3-D printing, and the use of computer numeric control tools, as well as more traditional activities such as metalworking, woodworking, and, mainly, its predecessor, traditional arts and crafts.
Milling is the process of machining using rotary cutters to remove material by advancing a cutter into a workpiece. This may be done by varying direction on one or several axes, cutter head speed, and pressure. Milling covers a wide variety of different operations and machines, on scales from small individual parts to large, heavy-duty gang milling operations. It is one of the most commonly used processes for machining custom parts to precise tolerances.
Three Lakes Junior/Senior High School, is a public junior and senior high school for grades 7–12. The school also contains an elementary school for K–6. There are approximately 250–280 students in the student body. The principal is Gene Welheofer and the district administrator is Teri Maney. The mission statement of the school is "Teaching students to be productive citizens".