DF/CAD: Computer-Aided Design Tools for the Age of Digital Fabrication

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The last three decades have seen tremendous progress in digital fabrication technology. Today, 3D printers are able to produce designs with ever growing resolution, constantly increasing speed, and a rapidly expanding range of materials. In order to leverage the potential of this new manufacturing complexity, we have to be able to create designs on the same level of complexity. But how do we design buildings, vehicles, planes, or robots when 3D printers can, and have to, use information at the submicron scale? In order to master the extreme complexity that future digital fabrication technology will enable, I envision a new generation of computer-aided design tools for digital fabrication technology (DF/CAD). Rather than overwhelming the designer with technical detail, DF/CAD tools capitalize on computation in order to promote human creativity, regardless of the complexity of the underlying problem. The research described in this proposal focuses on the three central components of DF/CAD tools: 1. High-performance simulation models that are able to predict functional aspects of designs with complex geometry and material distributions, 2. Optimization algorithms that can invert the simulation model in order to determine design parameters that lead to desired functional aspects, and 3. Design interfaces that, leveraging simulation and optimization algorithms, allow users to navigate complex design spaces in an intuitive and efficient way. The economic importance of 3D printing is already significant today, and it is growing at a rapid pace. The software that will be developed as part of this research program has the potential to benefit virtually all industries that rely on additive manufacturing. DF/CAD tools will also make 3D printing more accessible to Canadian individuals, thus promoting personalized design and fabrication of consumer goods.