PneuFab
Publication:
CHI 2023 Honorable Mention
Guanyun Wang, Kuangqi Zhu, Lingchuan Zhou, Mengyan Guo, Haotian Chen, Zihan Yan, Deying Pan, Yue Yang, Jiaji Li, Jiang Wu, Ye Tao*, Lingyun Sun*
Access to computer-aided fabrication tools, such as 3D printing, empowers various craft techniques to democratize the creation of artifacts. To afford new blow molding techniques in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, we make efforts to simplify this challenging handy fabrication and enrich the design space of blow molding by taking advantage of the thermoformability and heat deformability of 3D printed thermoplastics. We propose a novel and democratized blow molding technique, PneuFab, enabled by FDM 3D-printed custom structures and temporal triggering methods. Then we implement and evaluate a design tool that allows users to play with parameters and preview the resulting forms until achieving their desired shapes. Showcasing design spaces including artifacts with complex geometries and tunable stiffness, we hope to expand access and dive into what more the digital blow molding fabrication can be.
Workflow
PneuFab aims to expand the boundary of FDM 3D printing technology by enabling blow molding. Users can program and print thermoplastic composite structures as parisons, which can morph into target shapes with thermo-pneumatic triggering.
Triggering Techniques
Four phases of temporal triggering can be controlled by adjusting heating times and alternating the heating, inflating, and cooling processes.
Design Space
PneuFab programs and prints thermoplastic composite structures as parisons, which can morph into target shapes with thermo-pneumatic triggering. PneuFab artifacts are transformative with volumetric expansion, inflating small pieces into larger-scale objects. Beyond the form factors, PneuFab imparts 3D-printed objects with tunable stiffness, ranging from rigid objects to dynamic structures.
Design Tool Dev
To help users understand PneuFab workflow and support design iteration, we developed a parametric design tool with Rhinoceros and Grasshopper as the design environment, Kangaroo as the simulation solver, and HumanUI as the user interface. With the design tool, users can program the target shape of the inflatable structure by manipulating geometry parameters.
User interface workflow: (a) drawing curves as the frame on the selected basic model as membrane; (b) structure geometry customization; (c) simulation with selected triggering phase; (d) generated model and fabrication instructions.
