In the movie Terminator there was a scene in which Arnold repairs his hand before getting back to more ass kicking, well fiction is now about to get real. The University of Bath, has come up with a machine that can will take that decision on its own. The next generation of the 'bot' will make its own nervous system and brain too. The next generation of the 'bot' will make its own nervous system and brain too. RepRap is short for replicating rapid-prototyper and employs a technique called 'additive fabrication'. The machine works like a printer, but rather than squirting ink onto paper, it puts down thin layers of molten biodegradable plastic which solidify. These layers are built up to make three-dimensional objects. RepRap has, so far, been capable of making everyday plastic goods such as door handles, sandals and coat hooks. Now, the machine has also succeeded in copying all its own 3D-printed parts. These parts have been printed and assembled by RepRap team member Vik Olliver in Auckland, New Zealand, into a new RepRap machine that can replicate the same set of parts for yet another RepRap machine and so on.

A machine that can make a nervous system and brain is the next step. RepRap does for manufactured goods what the mp3 format did for music. When anyone can make anything, including the machine that does the making, and swap the designs over the net, an awful lot of middle men aren't a lot of use any more. I cant wait till the day I can torrent out my favorite graphics card cad drawings to print my own graphics card.

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