APRIL 1st - EXPERIMENTAL OBJECT DESIGN


Because I had to leave town for the second last week of classes, I didn't have the opportunity to contribute to the project as much as I would have liked as it was developing. Instead I made sure to help organize and develop during the idea generation stage. 

During our first meeting we came up with two possible projects. The first: a comparison between 3D and 2D printing in layers on the CNC machine versus the PRUSA mini. We would each have contributed a layer to be stacked onto the previous, arrange these layers in rhino and generate the gcode in grasshopper, then print it in the air to droop over the previous objects. At the same time, we would have run the same layers on the CNC machine, having it draw in different layers and colors. In the end we'd have two similar but different objects depending on the printing method. 


The second idea we came up with (which we decided to develop) was proposed by Aryan. He had the idea that we each contribute a piece of a drawing and translate that to a physical and wearable object. The choices were between a vest or a sweater of some kind. Aryan drew an outline in rhino and divided the wearable into four sections so we could each draw on a different quarter of it. 

This was the section I designed. 

From here we plan to compile the drawings into one file, and use the cnc machine to draw the designs on a stiff canvas material that can be transformed into a garment. 

Additionally, if we have time, we plan to try to take this garment and print on it further using some kind of stretchy filament using the PRUSA mini. Amanda planned to experiment with this idea for their FDM printing in class. 

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I was away for the print itself but got some updates and photos from my team members. It sounds like everything went successfully while I was unavailable and the cnc machine drew on the canvas which has been transformed into a sweater. 

Aside from a few hiccups like the canvas becoming misaligned and the sharpie getting dislodged because of it, and one sharpie drying out half-way through my design's section, the final result seems to have turned out. Here are some of Amanda's photos from the printing process:






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For the final week we have available to us, we plan to incorporate the PRUSA mini by printing patches of filament onto the sweater itself. Each of us got to design a patch around 2"x2" in size, with four layers at a height of 0.5mm.

Here is my design:



Because we plan to print some of these during the first hour of the final class, this blog post doesn't show the final product. But we are all excited to see how printing on canvas turns out!
Here's how the sweater turned out (modelled by Amanda)

The first attempt at printing my patch design. Too much extrusion.
The second and final attempt to print my design. Much clearer pattern and cleaner print. Amanda is
now sewing the patch to the breast of the sweater







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