Every Project has a story.

This post could be a run on sentence if it were possible to do so with photos. Today I will be doing a double photo feature, about an ongoing collaboration between the Ultimate Workshop and HackLab Toronto, and one regarding what you will find at the Ultimate Workshop.

This on going collaboration between the two spaces is called the Retropopulator. The Retropopulator gets it name from its function and purpose. Retro is short for Retrofit, in this case we are re-purposing a 3D printer. While Populator is what happens when the 3D printer now is able to place components onto PCBs. The Retropopulator is intended to be a simple way of using older 3D printers as a pick and place. This project was born out of a response to Hackaday’s contest for the next new thing. To take a look at the Retropopulator on Hackaday.

For more photos of the build look below for (continue reading…) below.

The manufacturing of the retro-fit parts are happening over at the Ultimate Workshop, which is a maker friendly space with some of the neatest tools I have seen in any space. I should note I have more spaces to tour in the city and hope to see if another space has equally diverse selection of tools. The Ultimate Workshop offers pay per hour workspace, memberships, training, classes, and machine rental. I don’t think I can describe the space so look at the photos below of the most recent session of building the Retropopulator, and additional photos that provides a good idea of what The Ultimate Workshop can begin to offer.