ERROR MAKES FORM

As digital tools are becoming the dominant mode of architectural design and fabrication, developing hybrid design contexts that integrate currently separate design steps into the fabrication process is necessary. Current digital technology frontloads human expression and confines the design to a representation within a scale-free incorporeal setting. Ideally, we would be able to hand-sketch with CAM machines and use them the same way a potter would use a pottery wheel, or a carpenter would use hammers and chisels. When we interact with the tangible object of design, thinking and making evolve simultaneously. Handcrafting with the tangible object of design extends thinking and exploration. Moreover, the material instead of a digital model only adds another dimension of generative explorations and spontaneity to the design thinking

 

The project aims to investigate the impact of time and heat on a wire-cutting process. Two robots hold the wire, which is heated to cut foam blocks. In the control design case, the robots move in synchronization and follow a pre-defined toolpath to create a surface with an extruded curve shape.

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In the interactive setup, the designer can adjust the speed of each robot by moving their hands, resulting in an asynchronous motion that alters the cut surface's definition. However, this causes the robots' TCPs (Tool Center Point) to be at different distances, sometimes longer than the wire length. To address this issue, the wire cutter's temperature can be increased, lengthening the wire and accounting for the distance differences.

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Additionally, the wire's catenary shape can be adjusted to create undercuts and curved surfaces that are challenging to achieve with hotwire cutting. However, material and physical properties are difficult to access and simulate within 3D design tools, particularly if the designer wishes to embrace uncertainty and modify them throughout the process rather than regulating them.