Team members: Antonio Tamez y and Daniela Quesada Rivas

Process

We decided to begin with an agreed triangulation design fro the composition of the mass, and then individually experimented with different trial bricks:

The first dealt with the extrusion of curves to form poly-surfaces as the body and structure of the lego brick. However this resulted in a bulkier configuration than originally envisioned, and we encountered problems boolean-joining the volumes.

Team members: Antonio Tamez & Daniela Quesada

This second assignment had the aim of fabricating a bench using laser cutting technology.  The end product was to become part of a larger additive collection of furniture. We were given a simple 3D model designed in Rhino and our task was to shape it into our desired shape. Some constrains had to be observed, such as the fixed dimensions of the furniture.

Visualizing the bench.

We first generated a cage around the original Rhino model, adding control points in the three dimensions, 5,7,5. These control points allowed us to morph the model into our desired shape, although it wasn’t as easy as we though it would be. Visualizing the shape was one thing, but actually getting it done properly imposed several challenges, specially because we had certain design restrictions.

First problems

We discovered that some of our ribs were not thick enough to make it pass the laser cutting process. These ribs were so thin they would have been burned during cutting, or worse, cause an accident in the machine. Not only that, but we also saw, after closer scrutinity, that despite our first attempt, the chair would probably not be able hold structurally, let alone carry the weight of a person. We decided to start from scratch and try a thicker, less wobbling approach for our design.

Second design

Just as before, we began working with the original Rhino shape, using the same cage with control points on the axis, 5,7,5. This time, however, we went for a cleaner, smoother design.

Once we obtained the shape we wanted and made the intersections, the next step was to unroll the pieces into the construction plane and arrange them like a puzzle in the frame that would serve as a template for them to be printed.

Laser cutting.

Assemlby

Group: Luz Michelle Lavayen and Erina Filipovska.

Assignment: Digital Fabrication / 3d printing.

The inspiration for the 3d brick came from an Arabic pattern which we used to make the skin of the brick.

Since the pattern consisted lines and circles, we used that particular one to correspond to the shape of the brick which has flat surfaces and circled pipes. We started modeling the brick in Rhino, working on the separated surfaces which we made to be 3mm thick. We offset the lines of the pattern, joined all the lines, we could have closed polylines in order to extrude them and make them solid. By Boolean difference we were able to make the desired holes in the 3mm surface.

The pattern is made to supplement itself, we used the basic one twice for the longer side and once for the shorter side. We copied the surfaces in order to make the whole skin of the brick. The circled geometric forms were designed to be where the pipes of the brick should have been, so we were able to use the form as a base of making the pipes.

For this is a 3d printing model, we wanted to do something in the inside of the brick too. Using the places where the circles intersect the lines we made solid boxes connecting the circled surfaces inside the brick, from one side to the other but connecting the opposite points. That way we got interesting structures inside the brick which can be seen throw-out the skin.

This work is a collaboration between Ayber Gülfer and Jordi Portell and describes the fabrication process for the Lego-like-brick exercise in the Digital Fabrication Tools class.

The nurbs modell was converted to a mesh and exported as *.stl in order to send it to the fabrication laboratory.

Brick as nurbs beeing modelled in Rhino 4.0. Unifying the parts.

Nurbs transformed into mesh in order to submit to fabrication.

We rendered the modell with Blender 2.54 to see the final result. We assigned materials and lights in order to have a realistic look at the piece before fabricating.

Model checked and rendered in Blender 2.54 (view b).

Model checked and rendered in Blender 2.54 (view a).

We submited the file to the FabLab and where notified by the assistants that our model had no problems and could be fabricated in the first batch.

We went to the FabLab and recovered our fabricated modell with the colleagues that had their modell fabricated in the same bunch.

Cleaning the first powder layer. A batch of 4 bricks in the machine.

Cleaning the surface once removed from the machine.

Getting rid of the powder.

The most powder removed. One can see the general form.

Removing the powder from the inside with a paint brush.

Last operations before completion.

Cleaning the remaining powder from interstices with pressurised air.

The finished brick ready to be reinforced by projecting glue on it.

Finished modell where the fabrication layers can be seen.

The brick at Iaac. A rest of fabrication powder remained in the inner edges and has to bee cleaned.

> First, we created three curves. We copied and multiplied them in order to create a pattern. This pattern would only leave 3mm in between each of the curves in order to remove as much mass as possible from our brick. Next, we extruded the curves passed the brick. Next, we used the Boolean difference command to remove the excess masses from the outer part of the brick. Lastly, we repeated all the steps to the other side of the brick, and to the cylinders.