A Creative Approach to 3D print for Novel Methods of Fabrication.

This research project will investigate novel approaches to 3D fabrication technologies from a creative interdisciplinary perspective that brings together art, design, and robotics.

Conventionally 3D printing starts with the creation of a digital model of an object through Computer Aided Design or 3D scanning. The digital model is a virtual representation of the shape of a desired object. From an engineering perspective, 3D print technology automatically configures the fabrication of materials to translate the digital model into a solid physical form.

This proposal aims to create a new method of fabrication by creatively exploiting a material’s natural properties, to allow the developer to creatively manipulate, understand and explore materials directly, seeking novel printable material properties, texture and construction.

The aim is to circumvent the normal automated processes to instead control the 3D printer directly to allow for the manipulation of materials in continuous, craft-life and free-form ways. The expectation is to render materials into novel states that are difficult or impossible to create conventionally. The findings will create new aesthetics for art and design. A new approach to the fabrication and construction of 3D print objects will create novel structural properties of interest in wider industrial and engineering contexts.