These 3D Furniture Pieces Experiment with Complex Curved Forms
Laura McQuarrie — February 15, 2016 — Art & Design
A group of students from the Bartlett School of Architecture at the University College London called 'CurVoxels' created a new technique for printing complex curved 3D furniture shapes. To test out their system, the students decided to reinterpret the making of the famous Verner Panton chair.
Before taking their design to the printer, the students "voxelized" their 3D models, a process that breaks the model into volumetric pixels. In conjunction with this, a custom robot was created to place strings of filament that would be able to solidify in the air. To make this system even more impressive, the student designers also created an app that allows them to make changes to the 3D pattern's density during the printing process in order to ensure that structural integrity could be maintained throughout.
Before taking their design to the printer, the students "voxelized" their 3D models, a process that breaks the model into volumetric pixels. In conjunction with this, a custom robot was created to place strings of filament that would be able to solidify in the air. To make this system even more impressive, the student designers also created an app that allows them to make changes to the 3D pattern's density during the printing process in order to ensure that structural integrity could be maintained throughout.
Trend Themes
1. Complex Curved 3D Furniture - Opportunity for disruptive innovation in the furniture industry by creating intricate 3D furniture with complex curved forms.
2. Voxelized 3D Models - Opportunity for disruptive innovation in the 3D printing industry by using voxelization to break models into volumetric pixels.
3. Filament Solidification in the Air - Opportunity for disruptive innovation in the robotics industry by developing robots that can place strings of filament to solidify in the air.
Industry Implications
1. Furniture - Disruptive innovation opportunity in the furniture industry through the integration of complex curved 3D printing techniques.
2. 3D Printing - Disruptive innovation opportunity in the 3D printing industry by incorporating voxelization to break models into volumetric pixels.
3. Robotics - Disruptive innovation opportunity in the robotics industry by developing robots that can solidify strings of filament in the air.
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