This document provides an overview of biomimicry and 3D printing for a workshop. It defines biomimicry as modeling design and production on biological entities and processes. It describes the key steps to 3D printing as modeling an object, fixing any errors, slicing it into layers, and printing. It also explains that 3D printers use materials like plastic instead of ink to create solid, three-dimensional objects. The workshop will include a live demo and discussion of biomimicry examples as well as the components of 3D printers.
9. 3D Printing Step 1: Model
The model stage has the user 3D modeling the object he wants to print.
This model is then converted into an STL (stereolithography) file.
10. 3D Printing Step 2: Fix
You can import your STL file into a fixup program that checks the model
and corrects it of any errors. Once that’s done, the print phase begins.
11. 3D Printing Step 3: Add & Slice
With the slice stage, a program called a slicer remodels the STL file by
dividing the object into layers (“slices”).
13. WHAT IS A 3D PRINTER?
Invented in the mid-1980s, it is a printer that uses
plastic, wax, resin, paper, gold, titanium—a whole host
of materials—instead of ink to create a solid, three-
dimensional object.
17. URLs
Biomimicry 3.8: http://biomimicry.net
Biomimicry Projects: http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/01/08/best-2013-
biomimicry-robots
Anansi Reconsidered: Creative, Critical, and Connected Making in
Interdisciplinary Education: http://museum.spelman.edu/events/anansi-
reconsidered-creative-critical-connected-making-interdisciplinary-education
Anansi Reconsidered (Tumblr page): http://anansireconsidered.tumblr.com
3D Printing Basics: http://www.supermediastore.com/blog/article/nitty-gritty-
3d-printing
Notas del editor
Researchers at TU Delft University have designed a prototype ultralight flying robot called the DelFly Explorer. This micro air vehicle (MAV) is the first of its kind to move by flapping wings. It weighs 20 grams and performs takeoff and obstacle avoidance autonomously. It is equipped with two camera eyes that provide binocular vision for judging distances, and can flap its double wings for about nine minutes on a tiny battery.
Researchers at TU Delft University have designed a prototype ultralight flying robot called the DelFly Explorer. This micro air vehicle (MAV) is the first of its kind to move by flapping wings. It weighs 20 grams and performs takeoff and obstacle avoidance autonomously. It is equipped with two camera eyes that provide binocular vision for judging distances, and can flap its double wings for about nine minutes on a tiny battery.
Anansi is a Ghanaian folk hero and spider-man who is the central character in countless West African and Caribbean fables. He proves an influential muse for the eight Black women artists who comprise the Spelman College Museum of Fine Art exhibition Brides of Anansi: Fiber and Contemporary Art. In November, I will join artists Saya Woolfalk and Xenobia Bailey in conversation to look at how contemporary women artists look at STEAM and biomimicry.
The user can develop the model by scratch or by downloading a pre-developed blueprint from a website, such as Thingiverse.
Your 3D model should be “water tight.” "Watertight" is a term used to describe a 3D mesh suitable for 3D printing. This is how you can make sure there are no holes, cracks or missing features specified in a file which would render it unsuitable for printing.
A printer works by producing layer upon layer until those layers become a complete object.
3D printers measure resolution by tenths to hundredths of a millimeter (mm). The more minute the resolution, the longer the printing process. A small object may take 10-12 minutes, while larger object may take 1-2 hours to print. The more precise the print the more expensive the printer. This printer is only able to print 1 mm at a time.
The filament is to a 3D printer what ink and toner are to 2D printers. Filament is commonly made of a plastic thread wrapped around a spool, but it can also be made up of other materials. The extruder is the component that delivers (“extrudes”) the filament to the hot-end, the nozzle section. (The extruder and hot-end are often combined.) The filament is then produced in layers on the print bed.
PLA or Poly-lactic acid is the type of filament we use, that is both biodegradable and available in soft or hard form.