The phrase "standalone cutting machine" may sound like something from Terminator but this clever little robot, called the Goliath CNC, wants to help humanity, not to hurt it.
Created by Lorenzo Frangi, Alessandro Trifoni and Davide Cevoli, the robot is basically a free-rolling numerical control machine that can crawl on a surface and engrave and cut lines in many materials. The machine uses a drill and multidirectional wheels and can automatically measure the size of the material you are cutting.
The team pre-sold more than 400 machines and raised $ 814,000. It will be shipped this month. It costs $ 1,850.
"The Goliath CNC can be positioned directly on the work surface: this innovative mode of operation makes it a machine tool with an unlimited working surface, because it corresponds to the surface of the workpiece," says Frangi. "The user can design or download designs from online project libraries, then upload the drawing to Goliath and supervise the progress of the work through a computer, smartphone or tablet."
Because the machine is portable, you can build where you want and even drag it to work sites where it can cut parts automatically. He has an automatic leveling so that he does not lose at random.
"The concept of Goliath CNC was born in early 2014 as a thesis project for the Master in Design & Engineering at Politecnico in Milan," said Frangi. "I wanted to contribute in one way or another to the world of digital manufacturing tools that, with the Maker movement, hold my attention for the enthusiasm and the great success achieved – at least in Italy ! – and especially dealing with 3D printing .I wanted to develop something capable of making real and quality materials, so I focused on CNC milling machines of an office size. "
So yes, this robot could become aware of itself and start drilling everyone in its path, it is clear that Frangi and his team took care to allow the Goliath to cut the materials and not to climb walls and zap our bodies … again.