Notes on possible future class/research topics that Buechley suggested.
- Self-assembly
- Paper from Buechley: Meshing complex macro-scale objects into self-assembling bricks
- 4D Printing
- Consistent concepts of self-organization and self-assembly
- Self-assembly at the macroscopic scale
- This paper focuses on macroscopic man-made self-assembling systems, not microscopic or naturally-occurring ones
- At the macroscopic scale, microscopic thermal effects are negligible, so external agitation of the system is required
- Penrose's simple 1D replicator - try to 3D print these pieces?
- Hokusawa self-assembling hexagons: triangular prisms with magnets of opposite orientation in two of their sides
- High-budget examples: contain programmable hardware/microcontrollers or switchable electromagnets
- White et al: communication between cubes allowed for synchronized disassembly and reassembly
- Much previous research has to do with large collections of simple robots (with very little functionality, e.g. simple docking functionality and some limited motor control) efficiently self-assembling by docking with each other
- Docking between pairs of robots can be difficult
- Random idea from me: one reason why it might be advantageous for robots to self-assemble into larger solids is to conserve heat - a set of N^3 cubical robots has a total surface area of 6N^3 when they are disassembled, but a surface area of only 6N^2 when they are assembled into a larger cube, meaning a slower rate of heat exchange with the environment
- Question: of the polyhedra that tesselate 3D space (e.g. tetrahedron, cube, hexagonal prism, rhombic dodecahedron, etc) which will "settle into" a tesselated configuration when placed into a bin and agitated? All of them? None of them?
- Discrete fabrication
- Cardboard construction kit, suggested by Buechley: http://fab.cba.mit.edu/classes/863.12/people/charles.fracchia/wk1.html
- Zome tools? Tangrams? Legos?
- This might fall more under "discrete design" rather than "discrete fabrication" - but it could be pretty cool to see what kind of aperiodic tilings result from different sets of generating tiles: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_aperiodic_sets_of_tiles
- Self-assembling tilings?
- Jigsaw puzzles?
- Could we design a jigsaw puzzle that can be assembled into two (or more) distinct solutions?
- Ceramic 3D printing
- FORMLABS 3D printer: https://formlabs.com/store/3d-printers/form-2/
- from $2400 to $2900 to $3500, good for printing smaller/finer objects
- other 3D printers from formlabs are extremely pricy!
- uses actual stereolithography
- ceramic resin designed for Form 2 printer: https://archive-media.formlabs.com/upload/ceramic-user-guide.pdf
- ceramic resin (for experimentation and prototyping) is $149/L, technical data about its physical properties can be found here: https://archive-media.formlabs.com/upload/Technical_Data_Sheet_EN_-_Ceramic.pdf
- CERAMBOT 3D printers: https://www.cerambot.com/store/
- CERAMBOT Pro is $700, CERAMBOT Air is $600
- Can also buy individual parts - are they included when you buy the full printer, or must they be purchased separately?
- Layer thickness between 0.1 and 2 mm
- Uses Kalonite HAP or other pastes
- Guide to clay for 3D printing: https://www.cerambot.com/clay-for-3d-printing/
- CERAMBOT Pro is $700, CERAMBOT Air is $600
- FORMLABS 3D printer: https://formlabs.com/store/3d-printers/form-2/
- Nontraditional printing materials