The Suspended Deposition Project, Brian Harm’s new 3D printing concept, is built to change the way architects create and design structures. According to Harms, “This project aims to blur the line between processes of design and fabrication in the context of rapid prototyping by increasing the fluidity of the fabrication process through coordinated material and robotic processes.”
Translated from technobabble, the Suspended Deposition Project is a 3D printing tool that can be controlled even in the middle of a print job. The printer’s key feature is a bath of gelatinous support material in which the printing medium, a light-curing resin extruded from a needle-thin 3D print-head, can be suspended indefinitely, allowing the printer to take a more freeform approach, rather than that pesky gravity requiring that you build the thing from the ground up.
As Harm explains, “[The Suspended Depositions Project] allows for the ability to navigate and fabricate directly on and around other existing objects within the Gel, as well as the ability to observe the process from any angle. The suspension of time in this process allows for tool changes, manual injections, on-the-fly robotic injections, multi-material injections, live modification of the digital or physical model, and the ability to physically "undo" (resin removal via suction or scooping).”
While the Suspended Depositions Project – patent pending – isn’t necessarily as practical as other traditional 3D printers, the replacement of parametric printing with freeform building is an exciting development for the 3D printing universe.
Watch a Video of the Printer in Action:
Images and Video Courtesy of Brian Harms