3D Printing and Interactive Technologies

led by peter walters and david mcgoran
dates: Two week course, 9-20 july 2012
times: Each day runs from 9.30 - 16.30
price: £1150 (£920 concessions) - includes lunch vouchers, teas and coffees plus includes a basic Arduino kit, 3D print materials and general materials for making
(Participants should bring an external drive - for transferring files between rooms)
limited to 10 participants

This new and exciting two week course is perfect for artists, designers, hobbyists, hackers and anyone interested in creating interactive objects or environments.  You really don’t need any previous experience just the desire to release your inner inventor.  We will provide you with a comprehensive, hands-on introduction to 3D computer aided design and fabrication technologies, interactive electronic hardware and software tools to enable the design and construction of interactive art and design artefacts - what you make depends upon your imagination!

 
(David McGoran, Heart Robot Project)

The course will cover:

Rhino 3D CAD modelling software with practical tuition in Rhino 3D including geometric modelling, free-form NURBS modelling and preparation of watertight models for 3D printing – you will print in 3D – have a look at our printing in icing sugar: Made in the Future: 3D printing demos at the Science Museum

 

Laser cutting in 2D – you can use laser cutters to make stencils, cut intricate shapes, create surface pattern on textiles, paper, card, plastics, vinyl's and some types of wood, create pockets, windows and cut outs, etch and score.

 

An introduction to interactive technologies with the Arduino microprocessor-based Physical Computing platform.  Arduino is a small, cheap open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible hardware and software that’s easy to get started with - it can sense the environment by receiving input from a variety of sensors and can affect its surroundings by controlling lights, motors, and other actuators. Even if you don’t know a lot about electronics you can get good results fairly quickly – the course will cover sensors and actuators, sound, light, temperature and motion sensors, servo motors, shape memory alloy “artificial muscles”  and an introduction to programming.  This technology will allow you to  make LEDs light up in different colours and patterns, make sounds and drive motors and other mechanical devices.

 

(Peter Walters, 3D printed objects)

Facilities:

 

·         State-of-the art computer lab equipped with Mac workstations running Rhino 3D modelling software

 

·         Industry standard 3D printers for building high-quality 3D parts in polymer and composite materials – we have ZCorp, Objet and RapMan  printers

 

·         In the Laser Studio there are 10w, 30w and 200w CAD/CAM flat bed laser beds with cutting areas of 70 x 95cm, 40 x 60cm and 90 x 140cm respectively. The lasers can cut or engrave into textiles, paper, card, plastics, vinyl's and some types of wood (materials must be flat)

 

·         TechLab creative electronics studio equipped with power supplies, soldering stations and computers for programming with the Arduino physical computing platform

 

Full technical support will be given throughout the course. Participants should bring along an external drive - for transferring files from room to room.  All other materials and refreshments will be provided.

 

Course Tutors

 

Peter Walters

Peter trained and worked as an industrial designer in Sheffield before undertaking his PhD studies in design and prototyping technologies, at the Art and Design Research Centre, Sheffield Hallam University. He joined the Centre for Fine Print Research, University of the West of England, in February 2007, to take up the position of RCUK Research Fellow in the Centre’s 3D research laboratory. Peter’s ongoing programme of research focuses on creative uses for new 3D technologies such as CAD-CAM and rapid prototyping (3D printing) and 3D scanning within art and design practice. Peter enjoys undertaking research and technical consultancy in diverse fields of practice, and he has recently contributed to projects in the fine and applied arts, animation, and robotics.

 

David McGoran

David is a Senior Technical Instructor at the Department of Art and Design, University of the West of England, Bristol.  Here he manages the “Tech Lab” within the Fabrication Centre, where students can learn to apply kinetic and robotic technologies to their creative practice. He is also a Research Associate for the CFPR, UWE, where he explores the potential of combining interactive technology within contemporary 3D fabricating techniques. Working as a freelancer, David enjoys regular commissions to design and build novel and interactive artefacts. He is also a co- director and founding  member of RustySuqid, a Bristol based collective applying robotic technology within the performing and visual arts.

 

The many years David worked as a puppeteer and his background in dance and movement analysis inspires and influences his work. David is a graduate of the National Theatre School of Canada and has a BSc  in Robotics from the University of the West of England.

Watch videos of the team's 3D printed smart objects: