We have seen plenty of creative ways to get more out of a 3D printer. Shohei Katakura, Yuto Kuroki, and Keita Watanabe have explored the idea of using a 3D printer head as a 3-axis robotic manipulator for advanced fabrication.
A FDM 3D printer was modified to handle end-effectors to change the function of the head. This approach enables the machine to fabricate and assemble complete kinetic objects such as automatons without manual processing.
[HT]