CHS: Small: Expanding the Design Space for Interactive Objects Through Development of Advanced 3D Printers and Printing Technology

3D打印具有巨大的潜力，可以提高美国大大小小的企业的生产力，并通过创新扩大我们的竞争能力。它有望从为所有人批量生产一种设计转向大规模定制，在这种定制中，物体可以个性化，以满足个人需求和偏好，以及不同任务的需求。它还承诺将生产手段“民主化”，将制造独特产品的新能力扩展到以前无法负担自己制造的个人和小企业。然而，目前有许多障碍阻碍着这项令人兴奋的新技术得到更广泛的应用。其中一个障碍是3D打印机可以处理的材料范围有限。目前，几乎所有的3D打印都是在单一的硬材料上完成的，比如塑料。然而，我们经常使用的大多数物体都是由多种材料制成的，而且通常包括柔软的材料，到目前为止，3D打印机还无法实现。该项目旨在通过探索新型3D打印机的设计和实现来改善这种情况，包括：可以生产软纤维材料的3D打印机；不需要高温或特殊环境就能制造金属物体的；混合打印机能够生产混合材料物体，包括硬金属和塑料以及软部件。目标是创造简单的打印机，价格低廉，适合潜在的家庭或小型企业使用。为了最大限度地发挥作用，将重点放在操作的简单性上，这样新的打印机就可以在你的车库或地下室运行，如果不是在你的桌面上，没有经过广泛培训的人；同样，也不会使用外来材料或化学物质。如果成功，项目成果将产生广泛的影响，通过扩大其可用性和灵活性，特别是对于小规模生产，有助于改变制造业的性质。本项目旨在开发三种新型3D打印机，并探索其为交互设备打开的设计空间。第一种是将柔软的纤维（通过静电纺丝生产）与传统的硬质塑料混合在一起。第二个将考虑在接近室温的情况下以一种支持材料嵌入和混合的方式打印分层金属物体，而第三个将利用这一特性来提供能够包含金属（例如，作为一个强大的结构核心），传统塑料（例如，作为一个功能体）和柔软纤维成分（例如，作为一个柔软的皮肤和/或在需要的地方提供灵活性）的打印。对于每一台打印机，该项目将在三个层面探索大量的新设计空间：基本的打印能力（如定制弯曲的工程刚度变化），由新材料启用的可重用组件（如输入传感器或新的兼容机制），以及将测试实际工作范围的完整示例对象。

3D printing has tremendous potential to improve productivity in American businesses large and small, and to expand our ability to compete through innovation. It holds the promise of moving from mass-manufacture of one design for all, to mass customization where objects can be individualized to meet personal needs and preferences, as well as the demands of varying tasks. It also holds the promise of "democratizing" the means of production, by extending a new ability to manufacture unique products to individuals and small businesses who could not previously afford to do their own manufacturing. However, there are a number of barriers which are currently keeping this exciting new technology from reaching more widespread use. One of those barriers is the limited range of materials that 3D printers can handle. Currently, nearly all 3D printing is done in a single hard material such as plastic. However, most of the objects we use regularly are made from multiple materials, and often include soft materials which, as of yet, are inaccessible to 3D printers. This project seeks to improve this situation by exploring the design and implementation of new types of 3D printers, including: those that can produce soft fibrous materials; those capable of creating metal objects without the need for high temperatures or specialized environments; and hybrid printers capable of producing mixed material objects that include both hard metal and plastic as well as soft components. The goal is to create simple printers that are inexpensive and suitable for potential home or small business use. To maximize impact, a premium will be placed on simplicity of operation, so that the new printers can be run in your garage or basement if not on your desktop, by people without extensive training; similarly, there will be no use of exotic materials or chemistry. If successful, project outcomes will have a wide impact which helps to change the nature of manufacturing by expanding its availability and flexibility, especially for smaller scale production.This project seeks to develop three new types of 3D printers and to explore the design space for interactive devices which is opened by them. The first will produce prints that are able to mix soft fibers (produced by electrospinning) with traditional rigid plastic in a single print. The second will consider printing of layered metal objects at near room temperature in a way that will support embedding and mixing of materials, while the third will take advantage of this property to provide prints which are capable of containing metal (e.g., as a strong structural core), conventional plastic (e.g., as a functional body) and soft fiber components (e.g., as a soft skin and/or to provide flexibility where needed). For each of these printers, the project will explore the substantial new design space that is opened up at three levels: basic printing capabilities (such as engineered stiffness variations for custom bending), reusable components that are enabled by the new materials (such as input sensors or new compliant mechanisms), and full example objects which will test the practical bounds of the work.