Mantaray: Robotic 3D Printing Clay

This research aims to revolutionizes the process of fabricating free-form surfaces and investigate the  bed usage in printing doubly curved clay panels. The development process of the printing bed involved two main systems that would coexist and work together flawlessly: (1) a printing surface; (2) a grid of linear actuators, which required a balance between it’s form and function.

The printing surface of the bed is made of a composite material consisting of a honeycomb TPU grid that reinforces the silicon surface cast on it. With 49 independent linear actuators, the bed surface’s shape and curvature can be controlled with a very high precision. To ensure these systems work together seamlessly, the research developed a TPU connection system and actuator head connected through fiberglass wires.

The printing bed developed for doubly-curved surface in the research eliminates the limitations of vertical printing, allowing to create lighter and thinner panels with openings and was successfully verified by producing only 1mm thick doubly curved panels with extreme curvature.