There is something of a parallel between the recent dramatic rise of 3D printing and the rise of desktop printing in the 1980s, but there is also a major difference between these two phenomena: While it was relatively easy to create digital documents that could leverage the capabilities of the new personal laser printers, it is proving far more difficult to create complex 3D models that can leverage the potential of the new 3D printers. The 3D printing work cycle requires a high level of skill for all but the simplest models, and is hampered by the separation between the design and production processes. The design of new objects for 3D printing generally requires the use computer-aided design software, but using such software to build physical objects stands in sharp contrast with traditional 3D craft activities in which design and construction can occur at the same time, such as in pottery in which coils of clay can be depositing in a circular pattern to create a bowl. In such physical craftwork, the intimate interaction between the designer and the material at hand establishes a constant reflective feedback loop promoting faster convergence towards a satisfactory design. This project will simplify the creation of new artifacts by directly bridging the gap between the physical hands-on design and digital modeling of objects for 3D printing by creating a pen that can effectively draw in 3D by depositing clay, wax, or plastic coils in physical space, while simultaneously using the same movements and depositing of material to create a digital 3D model of the object that could then be printed with a 3D printer.
The project will address numerous challenges in parallel. (1) In terms of the depositing of material to build a physical model, the project will build on the existing D-Coil extrusion system but broadly explore the physical material that is deposited to find one that can be smoothly and steadily extruded, that dries with minimal shrinkage, that permits free standing and overhanging structures, and that is visually appealing. (2) The project will explore not just additive operations, but also subtractive, which would permit a designer to mill or drill a physical model that has been extruded and have these reductions registered in the corresponding digital 3D model. (3) The project will explore different ways to engage a designer in a tighter, more reflective loop with the physical instantiation of their 3D printed object than is currently possible by providing the designer with a quick, incremental, medium-resolution printout as they create it. This more iterative approach will be explored through a variety of innovations, such as by extending existing 3D printers to permit more optimal scheduling of printer movements, and by developing techniques to ensure proper realignment of the object in the printer after it has been removed for inspection and consideration.
