In response to Jason Dickman's (Hasbro Toys), George Sachs, Rick Lott:
The "new" toy described doesn't seem new to me. I would have a very
hard time believing that the R&D group at Hasbro hasn't seen Schroff
Development's JP System 5 - low cost desktop concept modeler! (if
you're not familiar with JP System 5 - check out www.JPSYSTEM5.com), or
the research efforts of Dr. Charles Thomas, University of Utah
(www.tenga.com).
JP System 5 has been on the market for approx. 2 years and it is
marketed as an educational tool for introducing people to the concepts
of Rapid Prototyping.
Parts are created on JP System 5 from layers cut on a sign-making
plotter equipped with a knife blade. The layers are manually stacked on
a registration board to create the part.
JP System 5 evolved from Shapemaker I - a low cost educational tool for
RP developed by Dr. Charles Thomas and his students at the University of
Utah.
The 3D puzzle comes with pre-cut layers that need to be sorted and
stacked on a registration board to generate a sculpture of a famous
person. Again a very familiar theme to those who read any papers
published by the RP research groups at the U of Utah or CAM/LEM - Case
Western - groups that have made extensive use of human head models as
examples for their Layered Manufacturing research.
As I had used JP System 5 and its predecessor - Shapemaker I, I felt
compelled to make these clarifications for those who may not be aware of
this background information.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are strictly personal and
don't reflect those of my employer.
-- Andrei S. Novac Implementation Engineer Parametric Technology Corporation 11000 SW Stratus, Suite 360 Beaverton, OR 97008 tel: (503)646-1632 fax: (503)626-5122 email: anovac@ptc.com
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