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AARM
AARM
AARM
digifabTURINg is
0_INTRO ................................................................................................................. 4
0.0_A.A.R.M. the project ................................................................................... 5
0.1_A.A.R.M. goals and objectives ................................................................... 6
1_RESEARCH .......................................................................................................... 8
1.0_inFORMed MATTER .................................................................................... 10
1.1_TOOLS ......................................................................................................... 12
1.2_inFORMed CLAY ......................................................................................... 16
1.1.0_CLAY ATLAS ..................................................................................... 42
1.3_inFORMed POLYMERS ................................................................................ 48
1.4_inFORMed BIOLOGIC ................................................................................. 62
1.5_inFORMed FLEXIBLE ................................................................................... 72
2_EDUCATION ........................................................................................................ 82
2.0_inFORMed Matter Workshop Series ......................................................... 84
2.1_MASTER THESIS .......................................................................................... 88
2.1.0_LAPO NALDONI Volatile Ground .................................................... 90
2.1.1_LORENZO SELVA Releasing Complex Tectonics .............................. 92
2.2_IED MONSTER TILING ................................................................................. 94
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introduction
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0.0 _ the project
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0.0 _ goals & objectives
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In 2015 Compagnia di San Paolo promoted an open call
for projects - Bando ORA! Linguaggi contemporanei
produzioni innovative - to trigger investigations for
innovative modes of production for the contamination of
artistic languages and contemprary culture.
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research
1.0 _ inFORMed matter
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The final output is then the result of influence, coop-
eration and conflict of these aspects upon, with and
onto one another. Only successfully combining compu-
tational simulation, material properties and capacities
and machine constraints and opportunities we can ef-
fectively evaluate and push further the design process
potential and foster design and fabrication skills and
sensibilities that will form the basis of a more compre-
hensive awareness in regard to the relations between
computation and material aspects.
Digital informations
(left) inform matierial
behaviours (right).
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1.1 _ tools
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Pneumatic-mechanic Claystruder (left), patisserie nozzles
set (left) and electronic polymers pellet extruder (right)
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1.2 _ inFORMed clay
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Since the team’s established experience with the ma-
terial and since its soft and viscous nature, clay became
the perfect testbed for the first material explorations
with the robotic setup. Ranging from the first small-
scale samples to the 1:1 architectural scale proto-
types, a wide set of patterns, geometries and material
behaviors have been designed, fabricated and baked.
Some of the experiments address precision and con-
trol, while other ones explicitly let the material express
its fluid properties into possibilities of a new aesthetic
vocabulary.
Robotic clay setup (top) and detail of inFORMed clay matter (bottom).
Machine and material informations affect the matter self-articulation.
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A.A.R.M. envisions machines as active tools to expand human creativity. Robotics and
craftsmenship inform one another so to trigger unexpected expressive possibilities.
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Selection of dried and fired small-scale clay samples.
Picture courtesy of Maurizio Montalti
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Smalll scale samples, close-up.
Picture courtesy of Maurizio Montalti.
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Gravity Serie, fired grès, 2017.
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Gravity Serie close-ups, fired grès, 2017.
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Reaction-Diffusion Serie, fired grès, 2017.
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Reaction-Diffusion Serie close-up, fired grès, 2017.
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Six Axis Serie, fired grès, 2017.
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Lamination Serie, fired grès, 2017.
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Tiles Serie drying process.
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Tiles Serie close-ups, fired grès, 2017.
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1.2.0 _ clay atlas
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Industrial matrix-based production processes need
repetition and serialization in order to be econom-
ically sustainable. Post-industrial numerical-based
processes, like robotic digital fabrication, are free
from such constraints, allowing formal variation,
customization and precision at no extra production
costs. In order to make this concept explicit, an at-
las of variations has been realized.
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Using the cylinder as basic geometric unit, design
and fabrication parameters have been algorithmically
tweaked and modified in order to visually express con-
cepts like variation, differentiation and self-similarity,
thus manifesting the wide range of creative potential
as well as the inherent production flexibility of robotic
fabrication.
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1.3 _ inFORMed polymers
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Thermoplastic polymers like PLA, ABS or PET are stan-
dard materials for desktop 3D printing applications:
heated up at temperature ranging from 190°C to
250°C, the material is melted and deposited using the
previous layer of deposited material as the support for
the next one.
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inFORMed Polymers Mid-Air Deposition. PLA truss production.
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inFORMed Polymers layer-based deposition. PETG lamps production.
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Spatial structure prototype, PLA, 2016
Picture courtesy Maurizio Montalti
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Dining table prototype, PLA and PETG (legs), wood (frame), PC (top), 2017
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Suspension lamps serie, PETG, 2017
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1.4 _ inFORMed biologic
inFORMed Bio Matter robotic setup.
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Exploring the potential of biologic materials for robotic
3D-printing applications requires a first fundamental
research and investigation step into the process of de-
fining the right material recipe. With the fundamental
support of Maurizio Montalti’s knowledge and experi-
ence, several work sessions were organized to scien-
tifically explore the possible combinations of biologi-
cal ‘ingredients’ that could result in a homogeneous,
3D-printable, fungi-based compound. The fundamen-
tal component of the mixture is cellulose (i.e. wood
chips), whih acts as support material and nutrient for
the living organisms (i.e. fungi). Defining the nature and
the proportions of the other ingredients represents the
main research challenge: fungal spores (e.g. mycelium,
plerotus, applantrum), binding agent (e.g. corn starch,
agar-agar, guar flour, tapioca) and water amount.
The research physical outcome is - by now - a set of
small-scale experiments expressing the properties of
the different material compounds, showing a visible
range in terms of colonization success, colour, surface
texture as well as inherent and invisible properties like
physical and mechanical performance.
The exhibited objects represent the very first step of
a complex and articulated material research oriented
to future applications in the field of product design,
building components and architecture for space colo-
nization.
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Materials and tools close-up (top), mixing phase setup (bottom).
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Small scale samples of robotically driven deposition of mycelium-based compund.
Fungal cells developement (2 weeks) renders artifacts in a white soft surface finishing.
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Samples of robotically driven deposition of various mycelium-based compunds.
Grawth process is illustrated (left-to-right) over a 3 weeks time span.
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1.5 _ inFORMed flexible
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Tension-active structures are ruled by behaviors which
are comparable to the working principles of camping
pop-up tents. The inFORMed Flexible Matter research
investigates how stiffness and elasticity, when hetero-
geneously distributed through algorithmically generat-
ed patterns, are able to inform a material system made
up of two material components: a thermoplastic poly-
mer (Polypropylene) printed on a flat pre-tensioned
fabric sheet (Lycra). When the fabric is released, the
tensional difference between the materials generates
a curvature pattern that unfolds three-dimensionally,
deploying structural stiffness and a plethora of other re-
lated properties. The printed pattern drives local differ-
entiation according to the divergent tendencies of the
two materials involved, converging towards a complex,
articulated equilibrium. During a three-days workshop,
the system has been explored at two different scales
using two different printing setups: a Delta WASP 2040
3D printer with a 20x20cm printbed and 1.75mm PP
filament, and a 6 Axis Comau NJ60 industrial robot
with a 50x50cm printbed and a 2.85mm filament. The
precious informations and knowledge acquired during
the workshop were later applied to produce a set of
robotically fabricated lamp prototypes.
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Big-scale setup for the inFORMed Flexible Matter workshop
(Comau NJ60 robotic arm, custom made tensioning frame)
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Small-scale setup for the inFORMed Flexible Matter Workshop
(Delta WASP 2040 3D printer, custom made tensioning frame)
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Results of the inFORMed Flexible Matter Workshop
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Equilibrium Serie close-up, PP and lycra, 2017.
Picture courtesy of Maurizio Montalti.
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education
2.0 _ inFORMed Matter Worksh
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hops Serie
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Snapshots from the inFORMed Matter Workshops Serie 2017.
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2.1 _ master theses
digifabTURINg supported the physical validation and
prototyping phases of two Master Theses students tu-
tored by professor Alessio Erioli from the Architecture
Department of Università di Bologna:
Volatile Ground front cover and image from the fabrication process
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Releasing Complex Tectonics front cover and image from the fabrication process
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2.1.0 _ Lapo Naldoni
Volatile Ground
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2.1.1 _ Lorenzo Selva
Releasing Complex Tectonics
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2.2 _ IED Monster Tiling
Master in Smart Building
and Sustainable Design
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Production (top) and assembly (bottom) processes of MonsterTling.
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Close-up of active (sensor and electronics) and passive (clay bricks) MonsterTiling components.
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collaborations
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One fundamental goal of the A.A.R.M. project was to
connect digifabTURINg with subjects operating in the
creative area - e.g. artists, designers, architects - with
the purpose of establishing fruitful project-based col-
laborations. How deeply can a (robotic) technology
impact on the development of a creative and artistic
process? How much can an established artistic vision
be contaminated by technological advances? By div-
ing into three different projects we had the chance
to share our questions and reflections with Francesca
Perona, Maurizio Montalti and Ianis Lallemand, artists
whose work stands at the interface between art, re-
seach and technology.
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Hand-crafted firing and glazing samples.
Picture courtesy of Radicate.
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Robotically 3D-printed test samples of hand-crafted (top) and industrial clays (bottom).
Picture courtesy of Radicate.
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Final piece exhibited at Museo della Ceramca di Savona.
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3.1 _ Ianis Lallemand
Unspecified Clay
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Unspecified Clay robotic setup (Comau NS12, Microsoft Kinect, Claystruder).
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Custom made software Graphic User Interface (top) and robotic material deposition (bottom).
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Unspecified Clay
material instantiations,
2016-2017.
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Unspecified Clay
fired and glazed material
instantiations, 2017.
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3.2 _ Maurizio Montalti
Bio Ex-Machina
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Deposition tests of various mycelium-based compound mixtures.
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Mycelium-based samples after 20 minutes.
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Picture courtesy of Comau
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Picture courtesy of MgM
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Picture courtesy of The Fablab Milano
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Picture courtesy of Xister
w/ Officine Innesto
3.6 _ Xister Nastro Azzurro
for
Software support and robot trajectories generation
for Armarius - The Label of Tomorrow, a robotic cal-
ligraphy project for the beer brand Nastro Azzurro.
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outcomes
Overview of the exhibition layout.
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Fired and glazed ceramics final production (ReactionDiffusion and Gravity series).
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Fired and glazed ceramics final production (tiles).
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Polymers final production (truss prototype, dining table, suspension lamps).
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Lycra+Polymers final production (Equilibrium suspension lamps).
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Workshop results : inFORMed Flexible Matter (top), inFORMed Bio Matter (bottom).
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acknowledgements
_ Lapo Naldoni and Lorenzo Selva for their outstanding thesis outcomes
_ Our students from IED Torino and all participants of the inFORMed Matter
Workshops for providing a big amount of inspiration
_ Paolo Bistrot for the catering and the daily doses of great food in the last
2 years
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