Editing Fab lab

{{Short description|Small-scale workshop for digital fabrication}}
{{For|the British children's television series|Fab Lab}}

[[File:Amsterdam Fab Lab at The Waag Society.JPG|thumb|right|Amsterdam Fab Lab at [[Waag, Amsterdam|The Waag Society]], 2009.]]

A '''fab lab''' ('''''fabrication laboratory''''') is a small-scale [[workshop]] offering (personal) [[digital fabrication]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.openp2pdesign.org/projects/past-projects/report-business-models-for-open-hardware-fab-labs-diy-craft/business-models-for-fab-labs/ |website=openp2pdesign.org |title=Business Models for Fab Labs |first=Massimo |last=Menichinelli |date=23 March 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Troxler |first=Peter |chapter=Libraries of the Peer Production Era |editor1-last=van Abel |editor1-first=Bas |editor2-last=Evers |editor2-first=Lucas |editor3-last=Klaassen |editor3-first=Roel |editor4-last=Troxler |editor-first4=Peter |title=Open Design Now. Why Design Cannot Remain Exclusive |publisher=[[Bis Publishers]] |year=2011 |isbn=978-90-6369-259-9 |chapter-url=http://opendesignnow.org/index.php/article/libraries-of-the-peer-production-era-peter-troxler/}}</ref>

A fab lab is typically equipped with an array of flexible computer-controlled tools that cover several different length scales and various materials, with the aim to make "almost anything".<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gershenfeld |first=Neil A. |author-link=Neil Gershenfeld |title=Fab: the coming revolution on your desktop—from personal computers to personal fabrication |year=2005 |publisher=Basic Books |location=New York |isbn=0-465-02745-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/fabcomingrevolut00gers}}</ref> This includes [[Prototype|prototyping]] and [[technology]]-enabled products generally perceived as limited to [[mass production]].

While fab labs have yet to compete with mass production and its associated [[economies of scale]] in fabricating widely distributed products, they have already shown the potential to empower individuals to create smart devices for themselves. These devices can be tailored to local or personal needs in ways that are not practical or economical using mass production.

The fab lab movement is closely aligned with the [[Do it yourself|DIY]] movement, [[open-source hardware]], [[maker culture]], and the [[free and open-source]] movement, and shares philosophy as well as technology with them.

== History ==
The fab lab program was initiated to broadly explore how the content of [[information]] relates to its physical representation and how an under-served community can be powered by technology at the grassroots level.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Mikhak|first1=Bakhtiar|title=Fab Lab: an alternate model of ICT for development|url=http://cba.mit.edu/events/03.05.fablab/fablab-dyd02.pdf|publisher=Bangalore ThinkCycle|access-date=6 July 2013|author2="development by design" (dyd02)|date=2002}}</ref> The program began as a collaboration between the Grassroots Invention Group and the [[Center for Bits and Atoms]]  at the [[MIT Media Lab]] in the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]] with a grant from the [[National Science Foundation]] (NSF, [[Washington, D.C.]]) in 2001.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iaac.net/fab-lab/fab-central |title=Fab Central - Fab Lab - IaaC |publisher=Institute for advanced architecture of Catalonia (IaaC) |website=iaac.net |location=[[Barcelona]] |url-status=dead |access-date=21 October 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140210113809/http://www.iaac.net/fab-lab/fab-central |archive-date=10 February 2014 }}</ref>

[[Vigyan Ashram]] in [[India]] was the first fab lab to be set up outside MIT. It is established in 2002 and received capital equipment by NSF-USA and [[IIT Kanpur]].

While the Grassroots Invention Group is no longer in the MIT Media Lab, The Center for Bits and Atoms consortium is still actively involved in continuing research in areas related to description and fabrication but does not operate or maintain any of the labs worldwide (with the excmobile fab lab).
The fab lab concept also grew out of a popular class at MIT (MAS.863) named "How To Make (Almost) Anything". The class is still offered in the fall semesters.<ref name="HTMAA">{{Cite web |url=https://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/MAS.863/ |access-date=21 October 2024 |website=fab.cba.mit.edu |title=MAS.863/4.140/6.9020 How To Make (almost) Anything (HTMAA) Wednesdays 1:00-4:00 E14-633 2024 |publisher=FabCentral, Center for Bits and Atoms, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA}}</ref>

== Popular equipment and projects ==
Flexible manufacturing equipment within a fab lab can include:
* Mainly, a [[Rapid prototyping|rapid prototyper]]: typically a [[3D printer]] of plastic or plaster parts
* [[CNC|3-axis CNC machines]]: 3 or more axes, [[Milling (machining)|computer-controlled subtractive milling]]  or turning machines
* [[Printed circuit board milling|Printed circuit board milling or etching]]: two-dimensional, high precision milling to create circuit traces in pre-clad copper boards{{citation needed|date=April 2021}}
* [[Microprocessor]] and [[digital electronics]] design, assembly, and test stations
* Cutters, for sheet material: [[laser cutter]], [[plasma cutter]], [[water jet cutter]], [[vinyl cutter|knife cutter]].
[[File:Ciudadanos en FabLAB de LABNL.jpg|thumb|284x284px|Material being processed in [[Numerical control|CNC machine]], done in FabLAB located in [[LABNL Lab Cultural Ciudadano]], [[Monterrey]], N.L. (Nuevo León), Mexico, 2021.]]

== FabFi ==
{{main|FabFi}}
One of the larger projects undertaken by fab labs include free community [[FabFi]] wireless networks (in Afghanistan, Kenya and US). The first city-scale FabFi network, set up in Afghanistan, has remained in place and active for three years under community supervision and with no special maintenance. The network in Kenya, (Based in the University of Nairobi (UoN))  building on that experience, started to experiment with controlling service quality and providing added services for a fee to make the network cost-neutral.

== Fab Academy ==
Fab Academy leverages the Fab Lab network to teach hands-on, digital fabrication skills.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fabacademy.org/about/diploma/|title=Fab Academy Course Structure {{!}} Fab Academy|website=fabacademy.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008094606/http://fabacademy.org/about/diploma/|archive-date=2016-10-08|url-status=dead}}</ref> Students convene at Fab Lab "Supernodes" for the 19 week course to earn a diploma and build a portfolio. In some cases, the diploma is accredited or offers academic credit.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://fabacademy.org/accreditations/|title=Accreditations {{!}} Fab Academy|website=fabacademy.org|language=en-US|access-date=2018-01-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181213102700/http://fabacademy.org/accreditations/|archive-date=2018-12-13|url-status=dead}}</ref> The curriculum is based on [[MIT]]'s rapid prototyping course MAS 863: How to Make (Almost) Anything.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://makezine.com/2014/07/08/fab-labs-at-10/|title=Fab Labs @ 10 {{!}} Make|date=2014-07-08|work=Make: DIY Projects and Ideas for Makers|access-date=2018-01-01|language=en-US}}</ref> The course is estimated to cost US$5000, but varies with location and available scholarship opportunities. All course materials are publicly archived online [http://archive.fabacademy.org/ here].

== Fab City ==
Fab City has been set up to explore innovative ways of creating the city of the future.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fab.city |title=Fab City Global Initiative. Until cities produce (almost) everything they consume. |access-date=21 October 2024 |publisher=SA Fab City Foundation |date= |location=Tallinn, Estonia}}</ref> It focuses on transforming and shaping the way how materials are sourced and used. This transformation should lead to a shift in the urban model from 'PITO to DIDO' that is, 'product-in, trash-out' to, data-in, data-out'.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fab.city/uploads/whitepaper.pdf |title=Fab City Whitepaper Locally productive, globally connected self-sufficient cities |access-date=2020-09-24 |archive-date=2020-11-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107233618/https://fab.city/uploads/whitepaper.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> This can eventually transform cities into [[Self-sustainability|self-sufficient]] entities in 2054; in line with the pledge that [[Barcelona]] has made.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://fab.city/about/ |title=What is the Fab City Global Initiative? |website=fab.city}}</ref>
The Fab City links to the fab lab movement, because they make use of the same [[human capital]]. The Fab cities make use of the innovative spirit of the users of the fab labs.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nesta.org.uk/blog/fab-city-how-can-we-build-more-sustainable-cities/ |title=Fab City: how can we build more sustainable cities? |first=Toby |last=Baker |website=nesta.org.uk |date=21 November 2016 |location=London, UK. |publisher=Nesta}}</ref>

== Green Fab Labs ==
''The Green Fab Lab Network,'' which started in [[Catalonia]]'s Green Fablab,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://greenfablab.org/about/|title=Green FabLab Barcelona {{!}} About|website=greenfablab.org|access-date=2019-10-26}}</ref> promotes environmental awareness through entrepreneurship.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.fablabs.io/organizations/green-fab-lab-network-7a681be5-d9ba-47f4-a044-4e21ef4adaa1|title=Green Fab Lab Network {{!}} FabLabs|website=FabLabs.io - The Fab Lab Network|language=en|access-date=2019-10-26}}</ref> For example, they promote distributed recycling, where locals recycled their [[plastic waste]] turning locally sourced shredded plastic into items of value with [[fused particle fabrication]]/ [[fused granular fabrication]] (FPF/FGF) [[3D printing]], which  not only is a good economic but also a good environmental option.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Byard|first1=Dennis J.|last2=Woern|first2=Aubrey L.|last3=Oakley|first3=Robert B.|last4=Fiedler|first4=Matthew J.|last5=Snabes|first5=Samantha L.|last6=Pearce|first6=Joshua M.|date=2019-05-01|title=Green fab lab applications of large-area waste polymer-based additive manufacturing|journal=Additive Manufacturing|volume=27|pages=515–525|doi=10.1016/j.addma.2019.03.006|s2cid=140762730 |issn=2214-8604|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02111342/file/Fab_Lab_Applications_of_Large-Area_Waste.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://3dprint.com/240856/green-fab-lab-using-the-fab-lab-to-3d-print-new-things-from-recycled-plastics/|title=Green Fab Lab: Using the Fab Lab To 3D Print New Things From Recycled Plastics|date=2019-04-09|website=3DPrint.com {{!}} The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-26}}</ref>

== List of labs ==
Listing of all official Fab Labs is maintained by the community through website fablabs.io.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.fablabs.io/labs |title=What is a Fablab? How to start a Fablab? Find a Fablab |website=FabLabs.io |access-date=21 October 2024}}</ref> As of November 2019, there existed 1830 Fab Labs in the world in total. Currently there are Fab Labs on every continent except [[Antarctica]].

== See also ==
{{Portal|Engineering|Manufacturing}}
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* {{Annotated link |3D printing}}
* {{Annotated link |Hacker Culture|''Hacker Culture''}}
* {{Annotated link |Hackerspace}}
* {{Annotated link |Makerspace}}
* {{Annotated link |Open design}}
* {{Annotated link |Open hardware}}
* {{Annotated link |Open Source Ecology}}
* {{Annotated link |RepRap}}
* {{Annotated link |Technology education}}
* {{Annotated link |TechShop}}
* {{Annotated link |Urban manufacturing}}

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===Examples===
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*[[Apple Valley High School (Minnesota)]]
*[[Charlotte Latin School]]
*[[De WAR, Amersfoort, the Netherlands]]
*[[Fab Lab Barcelona]]
*[[Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space]]
*[[John F. Kennedy High School (Richmond, California)]]
*[[Mobile fab lab]]
*[[Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships]]
*[[Rigetti Computing]]
*[[Three Lakes High School (Wisconsin)]]
*[[Vigyan Ashram]]

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== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last=Gershenfeld | first=Neil A. | author-link=Neil Gershenfeld | title=Fab: The Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication | year=2005 | publisher=[[Basic Books]] | location=New York | isbn=0-465-02745-8 | url=https://archive.org/details/fabcomingrevolut00gers }}
* {{cite book|editor1=Walter-Herrmann, Julia|editor2=Bueching, Corinne|year=2013|name-list-style=amp|title=FabLab – Of Machines, Makers and Inventors|location=Bielefeld, Germany|publisher=Transcript|isbn=978-3-8376-2382-6}}

==External links==
* [https://fabfoundation.org FabFoundation]

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[[Category:Digital manufacturing]]
[[Category:Fab labs| ]]
[[Category:Hacker culture]]
[[Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology]]