A new machine has arrived to Fab Lab Barcelona. The distinguished and prestigious brand ShopBot, responsible of the project 'YourHouse: Digitally Fabricated Housing for New Orleans' for the victims of the Katrina hurricane, has given one of its best tools to Barcelona (and soon to Addis in Ethiopia, and Lima in Peru): the CNC milling machine. Now, its assembling is still in process thanks to the great help from Sallye Coyle but then, it will be one of the tools for the Solar House fabrication.

Actually, ShopBot has many products, from small to big CNC milling machines, some of them affordable for individuals and small shops, but all of them with a perfect development. It is important to know that the applications are numerous: cabinet making, furniture/wood working, sign making, boat building, instrument making, and more. Its techniques of working such as cutting, carving, drilling, and machining in different kinds of materials, can be learned by everyone and there's no reason to feel intimidated because of them.

Digital fabrication is now a fact, and it's not exclusive of private enterprises anymore; nowadays, everyone can have access to it. Moreover, students had the chance to be part of the assembling in order to know the entire CNC procedure for the upcoming FabLabs, recognizing its parts, where and how they are assembled, how the machine is programmed, and how it has to be used. In order to see some funny images of this new adventure, click here.

Vicente Guallart, principal of Iaac, where FabLabBCN is located, visited Lima, Peru on Monday the 7th (April) to give a lecture about what FabLabLima will be. Some interesting facts are that this new FabLab will be the first one in South America, and it will also have as partner a prestigious university in Lima, UNI (Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria) where most of the engineers, scientists, and architects have studied.

During the visit, Vicente Guallart had the opportunity to talk with different media about the goal of FabLab and the advantages it will bring. For example, instead of buying something that has already been made, why couldn't we have our own factory at home with 'do-it-yourself' machines? Another example is related to the mixture between technology and the ancient culture of artisans from Peru and other countries. Is there a chance to join both methods of working? How?

These questions and more will be answered by the peruvian people, other communities around the world, and FabLabLima (which will be one of the new members of the Fab Academy network) in 2010.

Fab Lab Barcelona and Iaac became, from March the 19th to 22nd, the new center where engineers, designers, and more people from different fields gathered for the SmartGeometry 2010 Workshop: Working Prototypes. It was formed in 2001 by people looking for practice, research and academia. Their goal is to promote the emerge of a new generation of digital designers and craftsmen combining digital and physical areas. They organize annual workshops and international conferences.

This year, it has been divided by 10 clusters, related to technology and digital fabrication. To mention some of them, we had 'Curved folding', 'Rapid R&D to rapid assembly', 'Inflatable fabric envelopes', 'Parametrics and physical interactions', and more. Participants were quite excited about all this information offered by the cluster teachers, and everyone worked together to accomplish different assignments given to each participant.

Something really amazing was the fact of using new materials, and techniques. From small prototypes to objects in 1:1 size, all of them were the center of attention. Moreover, it is planned to have an exhibition in May 2010 in the Design Museum Barcelona (DHUB).

You can enjoy these brand new developed ideas, and the fabrication process clicking here .

Makezine, the famous blog/magazine/forum/community about technology, and our friend Shawn Wallace inform to the world, again, what can be made inside Fab Labs. This time the subjects were different: molding and casting, and 3D scanning and printing. For both cases, you will be able to see/read/learn/understand not only the steps followed for each assignment, but also the machines used for working, the 'milk scanner' where you use an opaque liquid and take pictures each milimeter it rises, and some projects that are still in process like the portable and quite attractive 3D scanner from Providence.

Therefore, providing this kind of information through Makezine, we try to help people know more about this kind of technologies and the possible ways to use them in a way according to the context where each one lives.Thanks to Internet, now it is possible to share it. To have a more detailed look of each theme, click for part 3 and part 4.

Electronics world has become more accessible to everyone. North, South, East, West, the entire world, all communities are getting more capable to acquire tools to make whatever they need, and technology is offering each day new opportunities and techniques that are not only cheaper than they used to be, but also more understandable by kids and adults. For example, who would have imagined that nowadays we can make and program circuit boards instead of buying them in a store?

Our good friend Shawn Wallace has published great posts informing everybody about what we are able to create in Fab Labs, about press-fit works and softwares used, about people from everywhere designing, machining, soldering and programming circuit boards, about components we use, and much more. This interesting information can be read in Makezine, a famous blog/magazine/forum/community about technology in our time. Let's have a nice reading: Part1 and Part2.

With the improvement of technology, people have been able to change their lifestyles. Many years ago, construction tools and ways to generate energy were limited, whereas in the present, we have solar panels, softwares, and laser cutters to create almost whatever we want. Organic and futuristic shapes are not so far away.We have already begun the future societies. FabLabBCN proved that it is possible to develop anything we think and dream of.

Last Thrusday 21st, Neil Gershenfeld (Director of the Center for Bits and Atoms), Javier Nieto (Iaac President), Vicente Guallart (Iaac Director), and Jorge Gonzalez (Project Director of Schneider Electric) attended to the 'Launching Fabrication' Ceremony that took place in the Institute for advanced architecture of Catalonia (Iaac). After building the prototype, the Solar House parts will be taken to Madrid, Spain in June for the Solar Decathlon where colleges and university teams design, build, and make work energy-efficient solar powered houses.

Who knows? Maybe someday everybody will be able to build their own houses, shelters, or tents where solar energy is a crutial source for living.

FAB ACADEMY PICTURES HERE

From January 5th until 11th, students from FabLabBCN and people from other countries such as Peru and Colombia were part of a new workshop. How can we take advantage of all the energy we produce in a playground? This involves many things: mechanisms, electronics, design, and kids culture. For example, while playing with the famous 'merry-go-round', why couldn't we turn the rotation movement into energy through dynamos or piezo systems? Maybe the kid's father could charge his movile or laptop while the kid is playing! Cool, isn't it?

The final result was interesting since the research was about looking for all possible movements, different kinds of games, how to storage the energy and a LOT more. To find out all the information from the workshop related to the future of playgrounds click here.

Which could be the result when mixing soda, fruits, fabric, leaves, paper, MDF, acrylic, a laser cutter, people from different countries and careers that don't know each other, and creativity? The result is a nice FabLab open house session! On Thursday 10th, FabLabBCN was the place where people had the chance to create things and learn about digital fabrication...all free. The requisites? Bring materials and have fun.

At the end, everybody got to know each other and helped to turn ideas and imagination into something touchable. Examples? Paper cut with a fruit shape, some butterfly wings, musical instruments related to love, and more...

Last Saturday, kids between 9 and 16 years old owned FabLabBCN and, together with their parents, had a great experience fabricating a simple and funny lightened-eyes gremlin. With an easy assembling system made of felt and foam, and electronic components such as LEDs, 3-volt batteries, connectors, and some cables, everyone had the chance to learn about the use of the laser engraver, electronics and soldering.

Ok, the truth is that they also ran all over the institute screaming, having cookies and chips, laughing, making fun of each other...Well, they are kids. It's their right to behave like that. But, which was the best part of this 4-hour workshop? Everybody, kids, parents, known or unknown had fun, and helped each other to finish the gremlin. Isn't it a nice end/goal for every project?

Students present press-fit construction kits

Last Wednesday, students from FabLabs showed very interesting works. The best part of it is that everybody had different interpretations of the assignment by using many types of materials (plywood, cardboard, acrylic), shapes (furniture, architectural structures, toys, scaled stuff), and opting to make their kits fixed, foldable, or movable...by the way, one almost flew!

Some people were lucky enough to have their proposals cut in the 'first chance'. Others had to try many times, learning softwares, how to use the laser cutter, changing speeds, power, etc. For both cases, students also had to document their learning process (failures, what they wanted to do, how they did it, what they learned, everything) in order to let next generation of students learn from them. So, what a better way to learn than making what you want?