The Interactive Parametrics workshop with Studio Mode and MakerBot is going well, resulting in MakerBot-ready models generated from Processing sketches. Take a look at the slideshow above to get a preview.

Plenty of models have been going up on Thingiverse, tagged with intparam2011. I’ll be posting code and more pictures after we wind up the workshop tomorrow.

Workshop with Studio Mode & MakerBot: Interactive Parametrics

This weekend I’ll be teaching the Interactive Parametrics Workshop with Studio Mode (Gil Akos and Ronnie Parsons) and MakerBot (represented by Bre Pettis). We’ve been planning this for a while, but since it’s happening during my residency at MakerBot we thought it’d be fun to focus on the MakerBot as a possible output method. Our thanks to Bre and the MakerBot crew for supporting the workshop!

With a good mix of architects and code-hacking designers as our participants it should be an interesting weekend. We will be posting the resulting code examples and STL models after the workshop.

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To be revisited: Prime light installation

I am currently working on a solo show for ROM Art + Architecture in Oslo under the title “Extrusion”, opening on March 11th. The show will focus on physical installations, a bit of a departure from my software works that I’m very excited about.

One of the pieces will be a new version of my light installation Prime, a public art commission for the Bybanen light rail system in Bergen last year. The Bybanen version uses LED lighting elements and electric relays, intended to be stable for a minimum of 5 years in the rough environment of a subterranean tunnel. The new version will use fluorescent tubes and computer-controlled switching via a DMX-512 lighting control interface.

Fortunately there are several USB interfaces for DMX control, as well as a recently released Processing library by Henri David titled dmxP512. Thanks to the generous assistance of Dan Shiffman I was able to test my interface with dmxP512 today. I’m very pleased to say that both the USB box and David’s library worked without a hitch, literally working perfectly on the very first attempt.

Even given the simplicity of the DMX standard it’s rare that anything works that easily, let’s hope I don’t jinx myself by writing it publicly. In any case, the exceedingly simple code I used is listed below, based on the sample code provided with the dmxP512 lib. Happy hacking, my thanks to Henri David for the library!

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MakerBot model tests

I’m excited to announce that I’ve been asked by Bre Pettis and the MakerBot crew to be first ever MakerBot artist-in-residence. This means that I am free to use and abuse their new Thingomatic model and waste spools of ABS plastic, trying out forms suited to the MakerBot’s quirky plastruder 3D printing method.

If you’ve somehow managed to miss the buzz about MakerBot, what you need to know is that it’s an Open Source 3D printing platform using a plastic extruder head with a moving platform controlled by stepper motors. By laying threads of plastic in layers calculated by slicing 3D models into cross-sections, the MakerBot is capable of producing durable 3D prints for a fraction of the cost of high-end SLA or SLS systems.

Having shipped close to a thousand of their MakerBot kits, MakerBot Industries is the most popular Open Source 3D printer out there. Their new Thingomatic machine is a big improvement on their Cupcake model, adding an automatic build platform and improved layer alignment, as well as replacing some of the Cupcake’s more vulnerable parts with superior equivalents.

The MakerBot is a DIY hacker project and wears its colors on its sleeve. It might lack the slickness and of a SLS machine, but at a fraction of the price it makes 3D printing affordable for experimentation on a shoestring budget. With some tinkering skills and loving care a MakerBot will deliver endless amounts of 3D printed fun. If you need convincing just look at all the models on Thingiverse, the Open Source sharing site for digital designs.

MakerBot’s core community is based on hackers and DIY enthusiasts, for whom assembling a kit and even hacking the hardware is no big challenge. A logical next step is to reach designers, artists and architects, who want 3D printing but might be less technically inclined. But as Bre Pettis likes to say, if you can assemble an IKEA bookshelf you should be able to assemble a MakerBot. Your mileage might vary…

My interest in the MakerBot is as a low-cost platform to test parametrically generated geometry. Having experimented with SLS printing as a way to produce miniature sculptural forms (the Object 1-3 series), I want to make much larger objects and installations. The MakerBot is perfect for hands-on testing of shapes I can later replicate at a larger scale.

The MakerBot is also ideal for parametric models for mass customization. A typical workflow might involve an applet on a web site allowing the user to customize their model, with parameters sent to a server-side application that generates a STL file ready for printing. Nervous System already have several such interactive applets showing how their jewelry is designed.

My goal for my MakerBot residency is to produce a set of models for my upcoming exhibition at ROM for Kunst og Arkitektur in Oslo next month. As part of that process I will be developing a new Processing library for 3D model building, to be released as Open Source along with a series of models I’ll publish on Thingiverse (see thingiverse.com/watz) in the MakerBot spirit of openness. You can already get a preview on Flickr, I can’t wait to add more!