March 21, 2005
KEVIN HURLEY
THE SCOTSMAN
THE coming of a robot age, with mechanical helpers at our beck and call, moved a step closer yesterday with news of a revolutionary British invention that could soon change our lives.
Science fiction writers from HG Wells onwards have long brought us visions of machines that respond to our every whim. Many of their imaginings have been given life on cinema screens in films such as The Terminator and I, Robot, portraying machines both as friends and enemies.
Now engineers are working on a device capable of churning out a host of household items and gadgets, including kitchenware, cameras and even small musical instruments.
The invention, named the "self-replicating rapid prototyper" or "RepRap", will one day even reproduce itself by fabricating its own component parts.
Scientists behind the invention believe this capability will mean the machine will cost a few hundred pounds or less within years.
Dr Adrian Bowyer, who is leading the project at the University of Bath’s Centre for Biomimetrics, hopes initially to use the computer controlled machines, which mass-produce components for industry, such as vehicle parts, to make parts for the RepRap.
Once assembled, however, his invention can then be programmed to make further copies of itself, increasing its numbers dramatically and slashing its costs.
Mr Bowyer revealed the RepRap machine could become a reality within four years and his aim is to make it a universal feature of the home.
He said his invention - about the size of a refrigerator, could render many forms of traditional manufacturing obsolete.
"Four hundred years ago almost every human being was employed in agriculture, and now it’s only a couple of per cent," he said. "I suspect the same thing is going to happen to manufacturing." Rapid prototype machines work by fusing together layers of plastic according to a blueprint fed into the computer.
Mr Bowyer’s machine would also be able to incorporate simple metal components and circuits out of an alloy that melts at low temperatures.
The machines could, for instance, make complete sets of coloured and decorated plastic plates, dishes and bowls.
The objects they produce would measure no more than 12 inches in length, width and height. Larger items could be made by clipping together smaller manufactured parts.
Glass items, complex parts such as microchips, and anything exposed to intense heat - such as a toaster - could not be directly assembled.
Components the machine is unable to make could easily be added. A basic digital camera could be made with the lens and computer chip bought separately and slotted in later. Mr Bowyer plans to make the 3D designs and computer code needed for an existing machine to make one of his devices freely available on the internet.
"The most interesting part of this is that we’re going to give it away," he said. "At the moment an industrial company consists of hundreds of people building and making things.
"If these machines take off, it will give individual people the chance to do this for themselves. The effect this has on industry and society could be dramatic."
The RepRap invention will effectively be a form of Universal Constructor - the theoretical self-replicating machine first proposed by mathematician John von Neumann in the 1950s. Bath University engineers have already built a simple demonstration robot.
They are now looking for funding for the next stages of development.
HACKING GROWS
COMPUTER hackers have stepped up their efforts to target unsuspecting online bank customers, according to a report published today.
The internet security firm Symantec noticed a huge jump in attempted "phishing" attacks in the second half of last year. The company filters millions of e-mails a day on behalf of companies around the world.
In July last year the firm’s anti-virus software was preventing about nine million e-mails containing a phishing attack from getting through to intended victims per week. Within six months the number of phishing attacks blocked had soared to an average of 33 million a week, according to the report.
A typical phishing attack starts with a spoof e-mail directing users to a fake website for their bank. Fraudsters try to trick customers into giving away their log-in details or other personal information.
One in every 250 e-mail messages filtered between July and December last year contained a phishing attack.
The firm also reported a continuing problem with junk e-mails - otherwise known as "spam". More than 60 per cent of e-mails filtered during the six months were classified as spam.
Symantec also highlighted the growing threat from software which infects computers to relay information on what tasks the user performs back to hackers.
So-called "spyware" has been used to obtain password information based on the order in which users press keys. Richard Archdeacon, director of technical services at Symantec, said: "New forms of attack that use underhand and subtle methods are becoming increasingly prevalent. We predicted that these methods would become more popular with attackers and this has proved to be the case, with spam and phishing e-mails becoming a way of life for every computer user today."
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