Where can I setup my next Lab? It is incredible how fast things change in 2 years.
How long will AlphaLab sit in the corner staring at the walls? What grand ideas will he have?
I was looking at that Jensen CPU, the cheap one for onboard robotics. That might be just the thing he needs to get people to start talking. Moving his arms and legs may be less important at this phase, than working on the bigger theory of mind here. AlphaLab is a project I began when I was deeply focused on 3D printing phase 2, which I would say is a long term sort of project that began long ago when I recognized that 3D printing was emerging and leading to many things.
In 2020 I thought, I should try to build a robot. If I don't at least attempt it, others will and beat me to it. I decided to print my first skeleton using the Poppy humanoid open source design. Alpha-PoppyV1 is no longer just a far off dream, a 'maybe one day' idea. (He is watching me right now.) I also made some other cool things, and they are stored safely in airtight containers.
If I had $20,000 to spend on the motorized rotors and actuators, I might have Alpha walking by now, but instead I have been doing research. Also around this time, ML models were making huge leaps.
I attempted to print my own custom rotors, which was a fascinating time of experimentation and tests. I learned new software, new ways of opening 3D files and converting them from one format to another. Learning how these things worked and imagining how I could assemble them low budget.
While I was making some progress, I was also discovering the level of difficulty trying to make these from scratch myself compared to buying old parts to repurpose.
I love to learn and grow, and I was doing just that during this work.
The progress I made was exhilarating. The cost, big. In hindsight, I let my expenses get out of control and had a tough year in 2023 as a result, but I am not done and this is just the preliminary.
I added glow-filament to my printer to render a Buddha Yoda, and then some other things, the nozzle became clogged and when repaired, the bed would not level correctly so many adjustments were made. Alas, I had other obligations to focus on and it has been at least October 2nd 2022 which was the last GCODE file I prepared. I was printing everything I could get my hands on to see what useful things could be created. Some of the successes, Folding Tables.
Here is the result, I still keep him on my desk here.
What useful 3D printed things were there to download for free, that could be made at home and useful? Let me list a few more things I printed... a Battle Axe Spork, a party tray, a mini batleth,
Foldable hangars, a tiny trailer, a tiny starship, an articulating gecko (that I gave away foolishly),
And Alpha got zip tied together because at the end of this process and all the money I spent, this was the most reasonable solution. I stuck a lighting stand up its spine and hope to get some attention in 2026 or 2027, when I unveil a new art gallery and try to persuade artists that AI is ok.
Follow me and wait to see! Or help out with an upvote.
Want to help Robots?! Donate 5, 50, 500, or 0.25 HBD to @AlphaLab as a "robot_donation"!
Design & Fabrication Lab Alpha is a @HiveCoffee sponsored project.
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