Cornell researchers are taking 3-D printing and 3-D modeling to a new level by using augmented reality (AR) to allow designers to design in physical space while a robotic arm rapidly prints the work.
To use the Robotic Modeling Assistant (RoMA), a designer wears an AR headset with hand controllers. As soon as a design feature is completed, the robotic arm prints the new feature.
The researchers have developed an interactive technique that allows the robot and the designer to work together – knowing to print in the back of the object if the designer is working in the front and also automatically re-computing the changes being made in real time.
With RoMA, users can integrate real-world constraints into a design rapidly, allowing them to create well-proportioned tangible artifacts. Users can even directly design on and around an existing object, and extending the artifact by in-situ fabrication.
On the hardware end, RoMA consists of an augmented reality headset with its controllers (both indicator and cutter), a rotating platform, and a 6DOF robotic 3D printer.
“Instead of designing 3-D models on the computer screen, we wanted to give users the opportunity to work in conjunction with the robot. We call it in-situ fabrication,” said Huaishu Peng, Cornell information science doctoral student.
News Source: http://news.cornell.edu/stories/2018/02/augmented-reality-takes-3-d-printing-next-level
http://hcie.csail.mit.edu/research/roma/roma.html
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