Skylar Tibbits Introduces 4D Printing

Labels: 3D 3d printing 4d 4d printing Autodesk design Media Lab MIT Project Cyborg protein folding self-assembling skylar tibbits Stratasys TED

Skylar Tibbits Introduces 4D Printing

4D Printing

The emerging technology of 3D printing has grown in sophistication since the late 1970s; Skylar Tibbits is shaping the next development, which he calls 4D printing, where the fourth dimension is time. This emerging technology will allow printing of objects that then reshape themselves or self-assemble over time.

The emerging technology of 3D printing has grown in sophistication since the late 1970s; TED Fellow Skylar Tibbits is shaping the next development, which he calls 4D printing, where the fourth dimension is time. This emerging technology will allow us to print objects that then reshape themselves or self-assemble over time.

The concept for Tibbits' 4D priting stems from the field nanotechnology. In programs such as cadnano, the world of the nanoscale can be designed.

As Tibbits puts it, 4D printing will bring the world of the nanoscale to the human-scale, in what he calls transformational design. They are like robotic systems without the wires and motors. These designs can even be used to compute.

Turning to the world of nanotechnology, Tibbits looks to self-assembly as a way to create the human built environment. Tibbits defines self-assembly as a process by which disordered parts build an ordered structure through only local interaction.

In this example from Tibbits, shaking the bottle provides the energy for the components inside to self-assemble. Full Project Site: http://www.BioSelfAssembly.net

In biological molecules, such as the interactions of protein folding, transformational design and self-assembly are the norm, and what 3D printing, combined with software and material properties allow is the adoption of this design strategy to the macro-scale proposes Tibbits.

Working with companies like Stratasys and Autodesk, with their Project Cyborg, Tibbits’ 4D Printing project has come to fruition. Using Stratasys’ Connex multi-material 3D printing technology - with the added capability of embedded transformation from one shape to another, directly off the 3D printer.

In the process, a single print, with multi-material features, can transform from any 1D strand into 3D shape, 2D surface into 3D shape or morph from one 3D shape into another. Objet Connex multi-material 3D printing technology is an important part of his work – and is being used extensively in this new process.

The multi-material 3D printing technology allows the researchers to program different material properties into each of the various particles of the designed geometry and harnesses the different water-absorbing properties of the materials to activate the self-assembly process.

With water as its activation energy, this technique promises new possibilities for embedding programmability and simple decision making into non-electronic based materials.

Self-assembly is just a beginning of a whole innovative world of manufacturing with minimum energy. As environmental, economic, human and other constraints continue to fluctuate, we will eventually need dynamic systems that can respond with ease and agility. 4D Printing is the first of its kind to offer this exciting capability. This is truly a radical shift in our understanding of structures, which have up to this point, remained static and rigid (think aerospace, automotive, building industries etc) and will soon be dynamic, adaptable and tunable for on-demand performance.
Tibbits is a trained Architect, Designer and Computer Scientist whose research currently focuses on developing self-assembly technologies for large-scale structures in our physical environment. He graduated from Philadelphia University with a 5 yr. Bachelor of Architecture degree and minor in experimental computation. Continuing his education at MIT, he received a Masters of Science in Design + Computation and a Masters of Science in Computer Science.

Tibbits is currently a lecturer in MIT's Department of Architecture, teaching graduate and undergraduate design studios and co-teaching How to Make (Almost) Anything, a seminar at MIT's Media Lab. Skylar was recently awarded a TED2012 Senior Fellowship, a TED2011 Fellowship and has been named a Revolutionary Mind in SEED Magazine's 2008 Design Issue. His previous work experience includes: Zaha Hadid Architects, Asymptote Architecture, SKIII Space Variations and Point b Design. Skylar has exhibited work at a number of venues around the world including: the Guggenheim Museum NY and the Beijing Biennale, lectured at MoMA and SEED Media Group's MIND08 Conference, Storefront for Art and Architecture, the Rhode Island School of Design, the Institute for Computational Design in Stuttgart and The Center for Architecture NY. He has been published in numerous articles and built large-scale installations around the world from Paris, Calgary, NY to Frankfurt and MIT. As a guest critic, Skylar has visited a range of schools including; the Architectural Association, University of Pennsylvania, Pratt Institute and Harvard's Graduate School of Design.

Skylar Tibbits is the founder and principal of SJET LLC. Started in 2007 as platform for experimental computation and design, SJET has grown into a multidisciplinary research based practice crossing disciplines from architecture and design, fabrication, computer science to robotics.

SOURCE TED

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