Interconnected moving parts 3D printed in one piece have now become reality, thanks to the research teams from Disney Research Zurich, ETH Zurich and Columbia University.
[Image credit: “Computational Design of Linkage-Based Characters”, paper published by the research teams from Disney Research Zurich, ETH Zurich and Columbia University.]
The software in question integrates mechanical moving functions within an object whose parts can move through manual mechanical manipulation.
“With the advent of 3D printers, the machinery for fabricating personalised mechanical toys, artefacts, or even robots becomes widely available,” states the paper. “Without the assistance of specialised software, however, designing such animated characters is a virtually impossible task for casual users.”
The first method is called ChaCra and helps users define a means of movement within planar mechanical characters. The researchers have managed to design and develop an interactive software system which helps users create planar mechanical characters such as shadow puppets. The software also allows users to sketch out an object and pose the object whichever way they want. The software then determines if further modifications or mechanical structures need to be added.
[Image credit: “Computational Design of Linkage-Based Characters”]
With the abovementioned methods, anyone can add mechanical motion to any printed object.
The team of researcher will present the methods at ACM SIGGRAPH 2014, the International Conference on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques held in Canada, reports The Engineer.
3D printing of mechanical designs has now become a breeze and can only develop into something much greater, like designing complex robotic and mechanical systems.
Watch the video below.