This project introduces Dynamic 3D Printing, a fast and reconstructable shape formation system. Dynamic 3D Printing assembles an arbitrary three-dimensional shape from a large number of small physical elements. It can also disassemble the shape back to elements and reconstruct a new shape. To demonstrate the idea, we describe the design and implementation of Dynablock, a working prototype of a dynamic 3D printer. Dynablock can form a three-dimensional shape in seconds by assembling 3,000 9 mm blocks, leveraging a 24 x 16 pin-based shape display as a parallel assembler. Dynamic 3D printing is a step toward achieving our long term vision in which 3D printing becomes an interactive medium, rather than the means for fabrication that it is today. We explore possibilities for this vision by illustrating application scenarios that are difficult to achieve with conventional 3D printing or shape display systems.

　

Ryo Suzuki, Junichi Yamaoka, Daniel Leithinger, Tom Yeh, Mark D. Gross, Yoshihiro Kawahara, Yasuaki Kakehi

Contact: ryo.suzuki@colorado.edu