A lot of people might be busy worrying about AI cloning their face or work or who-knows-what. But this YouTuber decided to do some cloning in his own way.
In what would be quite an effort just for a bit of content, Ivan Miranda decided to create a life-size clone of himself.
And that was only half of the making he had to do in the process because Miranda also built the ‘world’s largest DIY 3D printer' that enabled him to create his printed pal.
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It seems to be a bit of a thing for the YouTuber, who has previously 3D printed an excavator and go-kart himself. He literally has a whole Giant 3D Printer series.
The absolutely massive printer he assembled has a potential build volume of 1110x1110x2005mm, so obviously it seemed only natural to make a life-size copy of himself as his first task.
Oh, and the printer itself is also completed with 3D-printed items. Obviously.
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In his video, Miranda came across a couple of challenges such as using ‘V-wheels’ instead of linear rails due to his budget.
A bigger challenge he faced was preparing a heated printing bed. As reported by Tom’s Hardware, these help the various print materials to stick while the printer does its thing.
Miranda overcame this by using domestic unfloor heating cables.
In a slightly unique choice, the YouTuber chose to use a bright, striking red shade of Polylactic Acid (PLA) as his printing material.
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And his finished print consists of a mega 4,375 layers of the bright PLA plastic.
For those with some technical 3D-printing knowledge, on the printer’s first print run, Miranda used a 4mm layer height, a 1mm nozzle, zero infill, three walls and variable speed.
Although he sped up parts of the video showing his clone being formed, the actual 3D printing process of this human-scale piece took 108 hours. That does however include numerous failures and interruptions, with the successful full print taking 76 actual printing hours.
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Some of the issues included layers being misaligned or plastic running out mid-print and a motor failing along the way.
The epic 3D-printed version of Miranda stands at 1.7 meters tall and weighs just 6.2 kilograms as it is hollow.
In the video, the YouTuber places his glasses on the clone for an even creepier effect.
If you’re a tech-wizz yourself, he actually sells the design files for the ginormous 3D printer on his website for $30.
Topics: Technology, YouTube, Weird