The Dream Factory
For those inventors looking to develop a prototype, the eMachineShop may be one way to produce it. A recent article at Wired.com, The Dream Factory, describes how it's done. Read on.
"Boot up your computer and design whatever object you can imagine, press a button to send the CAD file to Lewis' headquarters in New Jersey, and two or three weeks later he'll FedEx you the physical object. Lewis launched eMachineShop a year and a half ago, and customers are using his service to create engine-block parts for hot rods, gears for home-brew robots, telescope mounts - even special soles for tap dance shoes. 'Designing stuff used to be just for experts,' Lewis says. 'We're bringing it to the masses.'
The eMachineShop software, he explains, includes artificial intelligence that operates like a 'virtual machinist.' In the background - invisible to the user - it runs a precise emulation of the real-world machines that fabricate parts, to determine whether the job is possible and how much it'll cost."
For more information, visit http://www.emachineshop.com/.
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