Despite all the attention we pay to 3D printing, we still resort to making things the old-fashioned way—cutting parts out of wood and metal. ShopBot continues to have success delivering machines that remove material rather than add it, as 3D printers are wont to do. However, ShopBot has thoroughly modernized cutting parts with what may be the cutest little NC machine ever—one that you can operate from your iPhone or Android phone.
You can practically walk up to the Handibot with your smartphone and start cutting parts.
The 45 lb (20 kg) Handibot can be picked up by its built-in handles and plugged in on your workshop table or job site. You needn’t connect to your computer, though. It connects wirelessly. The Handibot is a Wi-Fi hot spot. Find it on your iPhone settings. You don’t even have to load an app. You just punch in an IP address and you have instant access to several applets that will let you start using the machine immediately. The machine is instantly responsive to XY movement from slider controls on your smartphone.
FabMo, an open source machining platform, shown here on a PC but usable on a mobile device, was developed by a team from ShopBot.(image from Handibot site)
The Handibot uses the open source FabMo platform, which was developed by a team led by Ryan Sturmer, who showed me the Handibot at Autodesk’s Forge DevCon held recently in San Francisco and funded by ShopBot. At this early stage, the platform contains a few simple apps, such as drilling holes, manually moving the cutter and so on, but we expect more are on the way.
ShopBot has developed a FabMo platform to run the Handibot, with the goal of freeing machining from any wired connection and a computer. Given that smartphones are practically an extension of the hands of the young, it is well positioned to become the most convenient machining tool for the new generation of makers, those often found in high school STEM programs, makerspaces and so on.
How Much Is It?
If you are an inventor or a hobbyist (at its heart, it’s a DEWALT router body), the Handibot may be your most expensive shop tool at $2,895, but for a small shop considering a computer numerical controlled (CNC) machine for small parts, it could be bargain.
Handibot can make parts as large as 6 in × 8 in × 3 in (152 mm × 203 mm × 76 mm) and, as with most ShopBot machines, operates in 2½ D—meaning it will cut and drill, as opposed to a multi-axis cutting machine that can cut almost any shape.
ShopBot, possibly as a result of low cost and simplicity, will no doubt find its way into makerspaces and STEM-related curricula—at least with those who are savvy enough to realize that not everything can and should be made on a 3D printer.