CRITICAL MAKING STUDIO

Iterating on Topography

Printing using Formlabs

Patch version on left, image sampler version on right, printed on Formlabs Form 2

This week proved a little challenging to complete what I had set out to do. Last week, I was able to get my parametric Grasshopper topography design printed on the studio’s Ultimaker printer:

Topographic 3D Printing

I wanted to play with other ways of creating smoother, more realistic contours, while I continue to try and figure out ways to import contours from real maps into Rhino and Grasshopper.

Patch tool using interpolate curve in Rhino version

I used the surface patch tool in Rhino, in order to create the illusion of contours. This was interesting to work through, but since I was manually drawing interpolate curves and applying the extrusion and patch tool, it did not feel as parametric as I would prefer.

Formlabs Form 2 SLA 3D Printer, Form Wash, and Form Cure machines

For this iteration, I was able to get both of the designs printed using the Formlabs Form 2 printer through the CU Boulder Ideaforge. It took a couple days to get it right, as the original material I wanted to use (clear), failed to print. They also must run the prints through a wash and cure stage.

Thankfully, it all got figured out. For the next stage, I will hopefully be working with imported contours and Grasshopper to create new, interesting 3D tactile forms with topographic mapping!