Hello, Today I'm going to present lamiFold.
This project is a collaboration between Nadya Peek, Raf Ramakers, and myself, Danny Leen
I will start with a quick impression of how LamiFold works
and later on, I will discuss Lamifold in more detail.
LamiFold allows for creating 3D objects with embedded functional mechanisms.
We do this by cutting and stacking individual sheets inside the laser cutter
and selectively applying glue using a stencil.
This allows some parts in the stack to adhere together and others to move freely.
After laminating, the scrap material surrounding the object is removed.
Revealing the designed object that can be folded into its intended 3D shape.
The hinge locks the object in place, creating a desk lamp that is ready for use.
With Lamifold, we make three contributions. First, we developed a set of parametric mechanical primitives.
These three primitives result from our research,
on how to fabricate mechanisms using only stacked sheet material.
All the LamiFold primitives are designed in such a way that they achieve their motion,
using only three selectively glued layers.
Lamifold also offers extensive support for customizing these primitives.
Users can add unlocking mechanisms or select the detent option
to restrict the movement to discrete steps
or adjust the orientation, size, angle, and so on.
One option is, for example: to add a button to a sliding mechanism.
This button compresses the laser cut spring allowing the mechanism to move in the reverse direction.
Another parameter is the shape of the notch that restricts the movement in one or two directions.
Of course, the user can still reverse the direction by adding a button.
We refer to the paper for more options, but all parameters can be applied to our primitives
resulting in a wide variety of mechanisms.
The second contribution is our custom design environment.
This design environment facilitates previewing, customizing, and adding our LamiFold mechanisms.
Traditional CAD operations, for example, align and combine, can easily integrate our LamiFold
mechanisms with the rest of the design.
Testing and Folding are done by pulling and pushing the handles that simulate the motion of the mechanism.
and shows the user how the object will behave.
When Exporting, Lamifold first checks for errors, for example, inconsistent layer thicknesses.
With no problems found, LamiFold will generate the model's contour, taking into account that
it is possible to remove all scrap pieces later.
Last, LamiFold calculates a glue stencil by analyzing the regions where glue needs to be applied.
Our third and last contribution is a novel fabrication workflow using stencils for selectively applying glue.
Fabricating a LamiFold object starts by:
Adding stock material Then we cut the model contours
Next, we add a temporary paper stencil and laser cut the glue contours
After, removing all loose parts We apply adhesive using a brush or spray can
After removing the stencil, the process
repeats itself until all layers are cut and glued
The last step is to fold the object and securing all the locking mechanisms
preventing it from folding back into its flat shape.
Last I want to talk about some Limitations & future work.
Creating LamiFold objects is often restricted by the build size of the laser cutter.
We think that a future version of LamiFold could mitigate this problem by automatically
splitting large objects into smaller sub-assemblies.
Because we use standard commercially available glue, a lot of different materials can be laminated.
We think that further investigation into flexible
and conductive materials could generate exciting results.
Lamination can produce quite some waste. To reduce this
a future version of our design environment could take scrap material into account and
use it as part of the laminated stack.
Last, we think that more primitives, such
as primitives containing cylindrical or planar movement could further broaden the design space
With that, I want to thank you for your attention.