Running materials through a modified 3D printer to create sealed compartments can yield forms that change shape when inflated. MIT’s Tangible Media Group demonstrates.
This work presents a design, simulation, and fabrication pipeline for making transforming inflatables with various materials. We introduce a bending mechanism that creates multiple, programmable shape-changing behaviors with inextensible materials, including paper, plastics and fabrics. We developed a software tool that generates this bending mechanism for a given geometry, simulates its transformation, and exports the compound geometry as digital fabrication files. We show a range of fabrication methods from manual sealing to heat pressing with custom stencils and a custom heat-sealing head that can be mounted on usual 3-axis CNC machines to precisely fabricate the designed transforming material. Finally, we present applications to show how this technology could be used for designing interactive wearables, toys, and furniture.
More info at their website.
• aeroMorph (Vimeo / Tangible Media Group)