Statement about the Research Content and Process

Description

Discrete Design v1.0 and v2.0 is discrete aggregation software developed specifically for large-scale 3D printing. The software aggregates thousands of instantiated fragments into a continuous line. Two fullscale prototypes – VoxelChair v1.0 and the Ogonori chaise longue – were created to test the software and its various iterations.

Questions

1. How can robotic 3D printing scale-up to produce architectural structures?

2. How can the 3D-printing process be accelerated and efficiently optimised to reduce the amount of material used?

How can possible errors be anticipated?

3. How can a design method accommodate local variations of material density in the prefabrication of 3D-printed objects, while also ensure their structural stability?

Methodology

1. Iterative coding and scriptwriting for new software development;

2. Iterative digital prototyping of line fragments;

3. Iterative physical testing using robotically 3D-printed prototypes to serialise and anticipate errors;

4. Reviews, lectures and seminars to ensure continuous peer feedback and knowledge exchange.

Dissemination

Discrete Design v1.0 and v2.0 and the 3D-printed prototypes have featured in four exhibitions and seven invited talks, lectures and conference presentations internationally. The authors have written about the project in seven chapters and have published two related edited volumes, one for Detail and one for Architectural Design. VoxelChair v1.0 has been positively reviewed in print (Wired) and on numerous online platforms like 3D Printing.

Project Highlights

VoxelChair v1.0 is now part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Ogonori won a ‘Special Mention’ in the 2018 3D Pioneers Challenge exhibition in Erfurt. Further to this, the authors won the ACADIA Autodesk Emerging Research Award in 2016 for their paper ‘Discrete Computational Methods for Robotic Additive Manufacturing: Combinatorial Toolpaths’.