PlugnMake FabLab Delft
At PlugnMake FabLab Delft, our mission is: “To make people drive the digital fabrication revolution”.
FabLab Delft is open to students, designers, makers, companies, with the goal to offer access to knowledge and tools, and the opportunity to experiment and acquire new technical skills.
A Fabrication Laboratory is a small-scale workshop for (personal) digital fabrication.
It is a technical prototyping platform for innovation and invention, providing stimulus and support for local entrepreneurship. But a FabLab is also a platform for learning and innovation: a place to play, to create, to learn, to mentor, to invent.
In educational settings, rather than relying on a fixed curriculum, learning happens in an authentic, engaging, personal context. Students go through a cycle of imagination, design, prototyping, reflection, and iteration as they find solutions to challenges or bring their ideas to life.
Our NLmakertour
In December 2013 and January 2014, we did an interview tour among the most innovative Dutch FabLabs and places of making.
All related videos and articles are available for you to enjoy, consult, and build upon. Which is exactly what we did in that early 2014 while listening to the amazing people that shared their experience with us. After about one year, in 2015, FabLab Delft was born. Visit the NLmakertour section to find all video and articles.
A worldwide community
Our Fab Lab is member of a global community of learners, educators, technologists, researchers, makers and innovators. Use this map at the following link to spot a FabLab in your area.
Learning and creating
In the FabLab environment, makers and users learn by designing and creating objects of personal interest or importance. Empowered by the experience of making something themselves, they both learn and mentor each other, gaining deep knowledge about the machines, the materials, the design process, and the engineering that goes into invention and innovation.
Inventory
FabLabs are generally equipped with an array of flexible computer controlled tools with the aim to make “almost anything.” This includes technology-enabled products generally limited to medium series.
Currently FabLab Delft is equipped with 3d printers, laser cutter, cutting plotter, 3D scanner, a hot press, and work benches equipped with traditional tools and hardware.
Fab Charter
FabLab is an international community and all fablabs agree to the “Fab Charter”, a set of values that we all share and adopt:
What is a fab lab?
Fab labs are a global network of local labs, enabling invention by providing access to tools for digital fabrication
What’s in a fab lab?
Fab labs share an evolving inventory of core capabilities to make (almost) anything, allowing people and projects to be shared
What does the fab lab network provide?
Operational, educational, technical, financial, and logistical assistance beyond what’s available within one lab
Who can use a fab lab?
Fab labs are available as a community resource, offering open access for individuals as well as scheduled access for programs
What are your responsibilities?
Safety: not hurting people or machines
operations: assisting with cleaning, maintaining, and improving the lab
knowledge: contributing to documentation and instruction
Who owns fab lab inventions?
Designs and processes developed in fab labs can be protected and sold however an inventor chooses, but should remain available for individuals to use and learn from
How can businesses use a fab lab?
Commercial activities can be prototyped and incubated in a fab lab, but they must not conflict with other uses, they should grow beyond rather than within the lab, and they are expected to benefit the inventors, labs, and networks that contribute to their success.