 |
Dictionary of Manufacturing Terms in Science Fiction
(Technovelgy items at top: skip
down to News)
Name |
Author (Publication Date) |
Automated Factories Manufacturing facilities that do not require human workers. |
Poul Anderson (1957) |
Automatic Factory Manufacturing facility that functions entirely autonomously. |
Philip K. Dick (1955) |
Automatized Factory A factory consisting of machines with imposed human abilities. |
Frederik Pohl (1955) |
Biltong Life Form Remarkable organic manufacturing aliens, probably indigenous to the Centaurus system. |
Philip K. Dick (1956) |
Cutteray - mining laser A laser used in a range of tools - including mining equipment. |
Frank Herbert (1965) |
Deposition (3D Printing) A method for creating any object, molecule by molecule. |
James P. Hogan (1978) |
Device Replication Manufacturing devices from a template to save space on space craft. |
Robert Silverberg (1969) |
Distributed Assembly Plant Bringing parts together for assembly in a crowd anonymously. |
Daniel Suarez (2006) |
Inert Resin - resinous coatings A special coating that eliminates maintenance on marine structures. |
Bruce Sterling (1988) |
Instant Customized Clothing - mass customization A machine that produced a selected item of clothing, on the spot, based on customer demand. |
Robert Heinlein (1941) |
Martian Print Amoeba - unicellular organism An organism able to mimic consumer goods. |
Philip K. Dick (1966) |
Matter Compiler - stereolithography on steroids A device that builds the desired article (such as a dress) atom by atom according to a specified design. |
Neal Stephenson (1995) |
Nanofax - fax 3D objects, not flat ones Send a copy of a three-dimensional object to a distant place. |
William Gibson (1999) |
Orbital Factory Putting manufacturing in space, orbiting the planet. |
Jerry Pournelle (1976) |
Orbiting Factories Manufacturing centers in orbit around the Earth. |
Arthur C. Clarke (1978) |
Panatrope - mutation for survival A device that modifies human dna to ensure survival in harsh alien environments. |
James Blish (1952) |
Perpetual Train A vast machine that lays its own tracks as it moves forward. |
China Mieville (2004) |
Plastic Constructor (3D Printer) A 3D printer - for spaceships. |
Murray Leinster (1945) |
Product Prescription A file that can be used to reproduce an object. |
Stanislaw Lem (1955) |
Puddinged A poorly formed 3D printed copy, with an interior that was a mass of malformed material. |
Philip K. Dick (1956) |
Service Drones - flying fix-it bot Small flying construction and repair robots. |
James P. Hogan (1979) |
Unattended Factory A factory that works entirely automatically, without human guidance. |
Otfrid von Hanstein (1935) |
Vehicle Seeds A matrix of materials and instructions that allow vehicles to grow themselves when placed in an environment of plentiful materials. |
Greg Bear (2015) |
Related Science Fiction in the News
Varda Space Industries Orbital Factories '... work summers in their orbital factory complex.' - Jerry Pournelle, 1976. (re: Jerry Pournelle, 6/21/2023 ) |
Boring Company Bricks Predicted In 1929 '... used to make building blocks for these invaders.' - Frank Phillips, 1929. (re: Frank Phillips, 7/3/2021 ) |
Is It Possible To GROW Planes And Vehicles? 'These are your rudimentary seed packages...' - Greg Bear, 2015. (re: Greg Bear, 3/19/2021 ) |
Scaly-Foot Snail Works With Iron 'Micro-Scale suit tiles fabricated by genetically engineered metal affinity bacteria...' (re: Unknown, 1/19/2021 ) |
Looms To Manually Weave Lunar Rover Wheels It's fascinating to me how the Apollo program forced people to think outside their usual boxes. (re: Charles Sheffield, 1/3/2021 ) |
3D Printed 'Blisk' Manufactured In Orbit 'It can be mass-produced only in the orbiting factories...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1978. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 12/15/2020 ) |
3D Printing With Sunlight And Sand 'We made a crude, small cell and were delighted...' - John W. Campbell, 1950. (re: John W. Campbell, 11/9/2020 ) |
As Big As A Biltong - World's Largest 3D Printer 'Huge and old, it squatted in the center of the settlement park... On the concrete platform... lay a heap of originals to be duplicated.' - Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 3/1/2020 ) |
The Dawn Of Orbiting Manufacturing In 2020? 'It can be mass-produced only in the orbiting factories.' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1978. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 1/11/2020 ) |
Orbital Manufacturer 'Made in Space' Gets $73 Million NASA Contract 'Mass-produced in the orbiting factories...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1978. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 8/3/2019 ) |
CNSILK Robotic Spider Builder 'We could certainly spin a web right through the Solar System, if we can think of a good use for one.' - Charles Sheffield, 1979. (re: Charles Sheffield, 6/9/2019 ) |
NASA 3D Printed Habitat Challenge Won By AI SpaceFactory 3D printing - on Mars! (re: John W. Campbell, 5/21/2019 ) |
Superfast Replicator: Volumetric Additive Manufacturing I can't wait. Bring it on. (re: Gene Roddenberry, 1/29/2019 ) |
A 'Genuine Nanorobotic Production Factory' 'Microscopic machinery, smaller than ants, smaller than pins, working energetically, purposefully - constructing something...' - Philip K Dick, 1955. (re: Philip K. Dick, 2/4/2018 ) |
Made In Space To Manufacture Optical Fiber In Orbit 'Mass-produced only in the orbiting factories...' - Arthur C. Clarke, 1978. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 12/9/2017 ) |
Self-Assembling Bacteria Build A Pressure Sensor Nature is a master of fabricating structured materials consisting of living and non-living components. (re: Unknown, 10/13/2017 ) |
Artificial Spider Silk You can also use it to make a roof - on an asteroid. (re: Robert Heinlein, 8/22/2017 ) |
Archinaut Orbiting Robotic Factory 'Mass-produced only in the orbiting factories...'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1978. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 4/26/2017 ) |
Digital Construction Platform Robot 3D Prints A Building 'It extrudes material like a spider.' - Charles Sheffield, 1979. (re: Charles Sheffield, 4/16/2017 ) |
Ford Stratasys Infinte Build 3D Printer 'He proudly indicated his Buick... Almost as good as the original it was printed from...' - Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 2/24/2017 ) |
Pay For The 3D Printer - NexD1 Kickstarter 'The works of the tiny Swiss watch were a fused, unformed mass...' - Philip K Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 12/4/2016 ) |
Chemputer To Grow Bespoke Drones Through Chemistry 'These are your rudimentary seed packages...' - Greg Bear, 2015. (re: Greg Bear, 6/18/2016 ) |
Siemens 3D Printing Robot Spiders 'The eight thin metallic legs were pointed downwards, balanced delicately...' - Charles Sheffield, 1979. (re: Charles Sheffield, 5/9/2016 ) |
3D Cocooner From Festo Spins Web In Mid-Air 'It makes drawings in the air following drawings it scans with photo-cells.' - Murray Leinster, 1945 (re: Murray Leinster, 4/12/2016 ) |
XYZprinting 3D Pen Used, Reviewed By Terrible Artist 'Plastic comes out of the end of the drawing arm and hardens...' - Murray Leinster, 1945. (re: Murray Leinster, 1/7/2016 ) |
3D Printing Microparticles 'Finest quality. Superior workmanship...' - Ridley Scott, 1982. (re: Ridley Scott, 12/6/2015 ) |
LM3D Swim First 3D-Printed Production Car 'Almost as good as the original it was printed from…' - Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/29/2015 ) |
MultiFab 10-Material 3D Printer 'On the concrete platform, in front of the dying Biltong, lay a heap of originals to be duplicated.' - Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 8/29/2015 ) |
Ekso Works Industrial Exoskeleton 'Earth's scientists [devised] rigid metallic clothing not unlike armor...'- Edmond Hamilton, 1932. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 8/1/2015 ) |
Audi's Chairless Chair Lower Body Exoskeleton 'Solved the problem to some extent by devising rigid metallic clothing...'- Edmond Hamilton, 1929. (re: Edmond Hamilton, 3/3/2015 ) |
CreoPop 3D Pen Draws In Midair 'It makes drawings in the air...'- Murray Leinster, 1945. (re: Murray Leinster, 3/2/2015 ) |
3D Printer 'Teleports' Objects Like Simak's Way Stations 'An entirely new being but exactly like the old one'- Clifford Simak, 1963. (re: Clifford Simak, 1/18/2015 ) |
3Doodler 2.0 Create A 3D Object With A Pen 'Plastic comes out of the end of the drawing arm and hardens as it comes.'- Murray Leinster, 1945. (re: Murray Leinster, 1/5/2015 ) |
Oak Ridge To Pay For The (Giant, Superfast 3D) Printer 'Can your Biltong print for more than a hundred people?'- Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/27/2014 ) |
Artisanal 3D Printing By Martha Stewart 'Nanofax AG offers a technology that digitally reproduces objects, physically, at a distance.'- William Gibson, 1999. (re: William Gibson, 11/17/2014 ) |
3D Printer Vending Machine Dispenses Dreams 'Nanofax AG offers a technology that digitally reproduces objects, physically, at a distance.'- William Gibson, 1999. (re: William Gibson, 10/19/2014 ) |
3D Printing With Moon Regolith Simulant (Moon Dust) Don't forget, it costs about 5k dollars to lift one pound up from Earth. A penny saved is a penny earned. (re: John W. Campbell, 9/22/2014 ) |
Strati 3D Printed Car 'You rode in it - you know how good it is.'- Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 9/14/2014 ) |
First 3D Printer In Space? 'It can be mass-produced only in the orbiting factories...'- Arthur C. Clarke, 1978. (re: Arthur C. Clarke, 9/3/2014 ) |
World's First Rapid 3D Nanoscale Printer 'Down, to the limit imposed by the ultimate indivisibility of the atoms themselves...'- Raymond Z. Gallun, 1937. (re: Raymond Z. Gallun, 8/28/2014 ) |
Robot Lamp Assembles Itself (Via 3D Printer) 'You see, the Sheen Robots assemble themselves...'- James Schmitz, 1966. (re: James Schmitz, 6/9/2014 ) |
3D Printing An Entire Car "... Almost as good as the original it was printed from."- Philip K. Dick, 1956. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/26/2013 ) |
Self-Building, Self-Tooling, Autonomous Manufacturing 'The machinery was building a miniature replica of the demolished factory.'- Philip K. Dick, 1953. (re: Philip K. Dick, 7/6/2013 ) |
3D Printing Is Here - Pay For The Printer! 'On the concrete platform, in front of the dying Biltong, lay a heap of originals to be duplicated.'- Philip K. Dick, 1955. (re: Philip K. Dick, 12/18/2012 ) |
3D Printing: The End Of Global Supply Chains? 'Nanofax AG offers a technology that digitally reproduces objects, physically, at a distance.'- William Gibson, 1999. (re: Philip K. Dick, 10/14/2012 ) |
MGX 3D Printed Goods Almost Has it They almost have that Gibsonian business model figured out. (re: William Gibson, 12/19/2010 ) |
3D Nano Molecular Structures Can Be Built On A Surface Working nanotechnology gets a bit closer with this first time development. (re: Philip K. Dick, 11/23/2010 ) |
Brick Road-Printing Machine Now with Disney and Thunderbirds update! Pretty impressive machine performs a difficult task admirably well; those of us who have done this task by hand salute the designers. (re: China Mieville, 11/16/2010 ) |
Autofac - Real-Life Nanoscale Assembly Line Remarkable experiment demonstrates that a nanoscale assembly line can actually work. (re: Philip K. Dick, 5/16/2010 ) |
3D Printing In Ceramics - The Vitraglyphic Process A new way to fabricate glass and ceramic objects. (re: Philip K. Dick, 5/11/2010 ) |
Zprinter 350 Full-Color 3D Printer Nothing like getting a full-color object right out of the printer - or the nanofax, for William Gibson fans. (re: William Gibson, 10/19/2009 ) |
D_Shape 3DPrints Houses, Rocks, Temples All you need is a CAD file - use it to print out conventional houses - are you kidding? Print out Mayan temples or Planet of the Apes houses! (re: Larry Niven, 5/11/2009 ) |
Mcor Matrix 3D Paper Printer This device prints out three-dimensional objects using regular paper. It seems like only yesterday that I brought home my MX-80. (re: William Gibson, 11/8/2008 ) |
Hexapod Robot CNC Router I'd never look at a six-legged robot and think to myself 'This thing would make a great CNC router.' But Matt Denton did, and you'll be glad he did. (re: Jack Vance, 6/13/2008 ) |
Roll-to-Roll Processing OLEDs And Video Wallpaper This is a very cool technology, one that could provide us with several different sfnal devices in the not-too-distant future. (re: Vernor Vinge, 4/18/2008 ) |
Contour Crafting House Printer Nears Test It appears that the work of Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis and his 'house printer' will finally get a real-world test in the next few months. (re: Murray Leinster, 1/15/2007 ) |
Fab@Home 'Fabber' Freeform Fabricator Lipson and Malone bring the printing of three-dimensional objects into the home with this project. (re: Jack Williamson, 1/11/2007 ) |
Sketch Furniture Ultra Rapid Prototyping Amazing technology so advanced only children's fantasy could predict it; the purple crayon is included. (re: Murray Leinster, 11/4/2006 ) |
Contour Crafting: 3D House Printer Perhaps you've used those programs that let you design your dream house, creating a Computer Aided Design (CAD) file. Not quite ready to take up the hammer and start building? What if you could just "print" your house? (re: Murray Leinster, 3/11/2004 ) |
Desktop Manufacturing - 3D 'Printouts' Unlike other systems that are more expensive and energy intensive, this machine can work with a relatively low-tech electrical heater filament. (re: William Gibson, 11/26/2003 ) |
Categories:
Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Output Devices
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Output Devices
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work
