Nervous System's Latest 4D Printed Dress Twirls into the Museum of Fine Arts
3D列印的翹楚 Nervous System 在 2014 年發表了令人驚豔的 4D 列印作品 "Kinematics Dress",被紐約的當代美術館(MoMA in New York)列為永久館藏的展示作品。波士頓的現代美術館(Museum of Fine Arts, Boston/MFA)緊追其腳步,在 techstyle 會展上收購了另一件該設計團隊的作品。
原先版本 "Kinematic Dress" 的問世,是一項重要的成就;它樹立了數位化生產的新模式,讓列印件與工作平台的關係,因為作品的自由度而變得更動態。作為 3D 列印的服裝,如何穿得更流暢、具有靈活度,比如何把單元串接在一起更為重要;換句話說,它更加接近於我們所習慣穿著的服裝。這個作品在這樣的前提下,透過 3D 掃描與設計,將它以製作一件完整衣服的邏輯與方式生產出來。當作品被列印出來之後,只要取出列印件,它就是完整的一套衣服,不需要再進行額外的組裝。
透過電子手指產生的黏附力,具有抓力的機器問世(EPFL/瑞士洛桑理工學院)
Robots getting a grip with electroadhesive fingers
原文出處:makezine.com
機器人技術的發展,目前較有前瞻性的領域就是通用終端作動器(universal end effectors)。這類的技術在過去幾年大量的被關注,其中之一就是氣球型的作動器(以及相關類似的計畫),一個氣動控制的燈泡狀橡膠物,用於抓取物件之塑型與再定型。這些應用對工程師而言是相對容易的,甚至部分的機械愛好者也可以做出自己的模組。(這邊提供一個由 Jason Poel Smith 撰寫的教學手冊:Make: Projects/Universal Robot Gripper)
個人化的製造流程目前是一個單向不可逆的過程;一旦物件以 3D 印表機製作完之後,便不能再做修改。任何的改變都需要從頭列印一個新的版本。這種操作的方法忽略了設計反覆檢視的特性(意味著後繼版本的設計其實僅是小部分的修改,其本質還是大部分繼承了之前的設計),這使得「從零開始製造」夾雜了許多不必要地浪費。
在本文中,設計師提出了不同的做法;不再是重新列印整個物件,而是針對現有物件進行檢查與修改。設計師重新改良了現有的 3D 印表機,透過構建一個嶄新的系統,來實現這樣一個想法。使用者將現有物件安置在 3D 印表機上,然後將原始模型以及修改後的模型,以 3D 的格式載入到設計的軟體,逆向演算如何進行物件的修改、修補。在系統查明哪些部分要刪除/添加哪些內容後,使用內置於印表機內的 3D 掃描器進行截取,而後標定好模型的坐標,小型銑床首先會刪除多餘的幾何部分,然後印表機的列印頭會堆疊列印新的幾何部分。
This house is sited among tall buildings in downtown Hiroshima, overlooking a street with many passing cars and trams. To obtain privacy and tranquility in these surroundings, we placed a garden and optical glass façade on the street side of the house. The garden is visible from all rooms, and the serene soundless scenery of the passing cars and trams imparts richness to life in the house.
Sunlight from the east, refracting through the glass, creates beautiful light patterns. Rain striking the water-basin skylight manifests water patterns on the entrance floor. Filtered light through the garden trees flickers on the living room floor, and a super lightweight curtain of sputter-coated metal dances in the wind. Although located downtown in a city, the house enables residents to enjoy the changing light and city moods, as the day passes, and live in awareness of the changing seasons.
光學玻璃幕牆
這棟建築的立面一共安置了大約 6,000 塊淨透的玻璃磚(尺寸為 50mm x 235mm × 50mm),這麼大面積的玻璃量體不僅有效地阻絕噪音,並同時創建出一個開放通透的花園,可一覽城市的風景。為了實現這樣的立面效果,玻璃磚的澆鑄應用了非常高透明性的硼矽酸鹽(硼珪酸ガラス),一種光學玻璃的原料。這種材料的鑄造是極其困難的,因為它需要兩階段緩慢冷卻才能除去殘留的應力,同時維持尺寸該有的精準度。
Optical Glass Façade A façade of some 6,000 pure-glass blocks (50mm x 235mm x 50mm) was employed. The pure-glass blocks, with their large mass-per-unit area, effectively shut out sound and enable the creation of an open, clearly articulated garden that admits the city scenery. To realize such a façade, glass casting was employed to produce glass of extremely high transparency from borosilicate, the raw material for optical glass. The casting process was exceedingly difficult, for it required both slow cooling to remove residual stress from within the glass, and high dimensional accuracy.
So large was the 8.6m x 8.6m façade, it could not stand independently if constructed by laying rows of glass blocks a mere 50mm deep. We therefore punctured the glass blocks with holes and strung them on 75 stainless steel bolts suspended from the beam above the façade. Such a structure would be vulnerable to lateral stress, however, so along with the glass blocks, we also strung on stainless steel flat bars (40mm x 4mm) at 10 centimeter intervals. The flat bar is seated within the 50mm-thick glass block to render it invisible, and thus a uniform 6mm sealing joint between the glass blocks was achieved. The result —a transparent façade when seen from either the garden or the street. The façade appears like a waterfall flowing downward, scattering light and filling the air with freshness.