Robin's Lab

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Blatantly Obvious Self-Aggrandisement

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I created this site because if I don’t brag about myself, no one else will.

I’m an internationally recognised, award-winning, qualified designer, maker and technologist from the beautiful but technologically sparse county of Devon. There isn’t exactly an abundance of opportunities to show off those skills around here, so I turned to the internet to satisfy that very human need for validation, and maybe make some money.

I enjoy exploring ideas, solving problems and bringing things to life, whether that’s through practical craftsmanship, digital design or open-source technology.

From CNC projects and 3D design to Linux, software and self-hosted infrastructure, Robin’s Lab is where I document my work, share what I learn and explore the possibilities of making things differently.

I believe creativity shouldn’t be confined to a single discipline, and neither should the tools we use to express it.

Welcome to my lab, where there’s always something brewing.

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So if you’d like to support me, please visit my store by clicking the image below! Because considering the amount of effort I put into setting this up, you might as well take a look!

       

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Where To Go Next

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I split up my interests into useful sections, head to:

• Linux - The hardware and software systems I use.
• Craft - My tradecraft. brickwork, woodwork, physical projects, etc.
• Bonus - The section of the site where nothing else fits.

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I do this because I love it!

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My workflow is built around Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). I use Linux every day, alongside tools such as Blender, Inkscape, and FabexCNC to design, prototype, and manufacture projects from scratch. My workshop includes a homemade CNC machine, 3D printers, and various tools for general building.

When I was at university, open source software wasn’t exactly encouraged. There wasn’t much incentive to teach it when the software companies weren’t paying for the courses, and the commercial alternatives were considered the industry standard.

Funny how things change.

Now open source software is everywhere. Linux runs much of the infrastructure we depend on, open source tools power everything from development to design, and some of the most important technologies in the world are built openly and collaboratively.

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What Interests Me Most Is The Relationship Between Design, Technology, And Making.

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Technology changes what we are able to make, but making influences the technology we need. Humans tend to build something, discover what it cannot do, change the tool to push the idea further, and then suddenly something new becomes possible. The cycle then repeats itself.

I think of this as technopoietic reciprocity — a continual feedback loop between the tools we create and the things we want to create with them. It is an evolution we can see. For decades, technological progress was characterised by making things smaller, faster, and more efficient. But as the things we want to make become more ambitious, the technology itself must evolve in increasingly complex ways to keep up. We don’t simply shrink the tools anymore; sometimes we have to make them bigger, more capable, and more sophisticated. The same process applies equally to Linux and physical making: what we want to build drives the evolution of our tools, while the capabilities of those tools continually expand what we can imagine building.

Enjoy the site.

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