Weekend Contest #3: Digital Fabric

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by bartv, Feb 22, 2013.

  1. bartv
    bartv Member
    modeling sheet.jpeg

    Picture: Modeling Sheet by PaulChanning

    One of my favorite types of objects on Shapeways is what we tend to call 'Digital Fabric': chainmail-like structures that behave like cloth. You can't resist it - you HAVE to play with these prints, and whenever I show them to people who are new to 3D printing, it leaves them with their mouth open.

    So, given that it's time for the weekend and some goofy modeling again, I challenge you: can you make a digital fabric model that's more interesting than just a square piece of cloth? You're free to use any kind of structure that you like: interlocked rings, parts that are connected by tiny springs, or anything else.

    You have until Monday morning 10:00, GMT+1 to come up with your ideas!

    How to enter

    Model the your digicloth, upload it to your gallery, tag it with 'Weekend Contest: Fabric' and post the link and picture here (upload the image, and click 'Insert image into message body' to embed it in your forum message).

    Who wins?

    You decide! Visit the model that you like most, and add it to your favorites. The model with the most votes wins.

    What's the prize?

    Eternal fame! Kudos from the Shapeways team! Riches! Okay, well, the winner will get a $25 gift certificate.

    That's all?

    Yep, grab a drink, goof around in your favorite modeling app this weekend and have fun!

    Bart
     
  2. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    Sounds just up my street :)

    Some numbers for those interested how Shapeways' Mesh Medic behaves with chain maille;

    Model - Triangles - Mesh Medic processing time between model uploaded and printable emails.
    Chain Maille Dice Bag - 319 rings - 343k tris - 6 minutes
    864, euro 4 in 1 sheet - 864 rings - 497k tris - 19 minutes
    euro 4 in 1 sheet - 1029 rings - 987k tris - failed (20 mins)
    euro 4 in 1 sheet - 693 rings - 665k tris - failed (21 mins)
    651, euro 4 in 1 sheet - 651 rings - 625k tris - 17 minutes

    There's a sneaky relationship between the number of triangles & number of shells (rings) to get Mesh Medic to behave.

    Have Fun!

    Paul
     
  3. Just curious - Shapeways Digi-fabrics one, two and three are in a Downloadable category, but I don't see the Download option for them.

    Am I missing something, or just hoping for too much? :p I was hoping to look at the internal structures to see how they work.

     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2013
  4. JACANT
    JACANT Well-Known Member
    Each 'pin' should be able to be inserted or removed from the 'Yo-Yo Torus' and angled up to 15°
    The idea is that you could have say five 'pins' and 'Yo-Yo's' fixed together to start to create a tailored effect by reducing the number of pieces.
    You could also join them together into a bracelet or necklace. Minimum12 'Yo- Yo's' (52.39 mm Internal Diameter)

    https://www.shapeways.com/model/939444/digital-fabric.html

    Digital Fabric.png



     
  5. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    Hex Maille Coaster
    [​IMG]


    The Hex Maille coaster is made up of interwoven hexangonal rings, the outer edge is in two parts.

    Paul

    p,s, scrolling up & down gives a weird effect with that image,
     
  6. UniverseBecoming
    UniverseBecoming Well-Known Member
    Very interesting Jacant!

    But am understanding you correctly? I'm thinking you're describing a kind of modular digital fabric that can be joined together in any way one may desire. Correct?

    If so, what I would like to know is, how do the pins fit into the tori? Do they snap in? Or are you describing something entirely different form what I'm interpreting?
     
  7. JACANT
    JACANT Well-Known Member
    That's what I had in mind, to be modular.
    The 'pins' are like round dumbels they should just pop in and out. There will be a bit of trial and error on this to get the correct tolerance fit.
    Take a look at the circular image on the model page.
     
    Last edited: Feb 23, 2013
  8. UniverseBecoming
    UniverseBecoming Well-Known Member
    I see I see. It sets my imagination on fire. I've been doing a lot of thinking about this and digital fabric in general. Namely, clothing made from textiles is one of the items that cannot be manufactured by robotic means, at least not until we can develop artificial intelligence that is. With 3D printing though, we can do it! :D

    I don't think I'll be able to enter anything this weekend as I'm obligated to something else. Fun to think about though. :)
     
  9. UniverseBecoming
    UniverseBecoming Well-Known Member
    Paul,

    Nice design, makes me think of digital wicker! :D Nice job!
     
  10. Gromfrog
    Gromfrog Member
    I thought i would have a go this week as i had some spare time. I have been design chain mail products to test for a while and i thought why not design a new design that used panels that i could use to produce an iPad Mini Case with. Here is a small sheet that i have produce and i am going to start on the iPad mini case soon.

    [​IMG]

    Link

    Thanks

    Ryan
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2013
  11. AmLachDesigns
    AmLachDesigns Well-Known Member
    All great designs, very innovative. But...

    I may have misunderstood, but is the challenge not to make something 3d with your digital fabrics? Like in the picture...
     
  12. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    Thanks :)
    The hexagon pattern is something I've been playing with since I created these Square Maille earrings and Square Maille coaster and as seen on the WSF material page - the Square design is quite fluid, but the hex design edging will make the coaster above more rigid.

    Chers,
    Paul
     
  13. bartv
    bartv Member
    Wow, this contest is really taking off! Awesome!

    @stop4stuff: wow, those processing times are huge! Is this always the case? Which file format do you upload in? Nice work on the coaster! How many parts is it in total?

    @denali3ddesign: hmm you're right, they don't have the 'download' flag set. I'll have to check with my colleagues, but I assume we'll be able to offer these for download after the weekend.

    @JACANT: ooooh, clever, I like that! A completely new approach :) Are you sure it's printable?

    @UniverseBecoming: I can't wait to see what you'll come up with, even if it's after this weekend. Don't hesitate to post it on this thread!

    @Gromfrog: do you think you can finish the case this weekend? I might also be interested in an iPhone 5 case with this structure! :)

    @AmLachDesigns: any kind of 'cloth' structure is welcome! Go crazy :)

    Cheers,

    Bart
     
  14. Gromfrog
    Gromfrog Member
    Hi @bartv, i am almost finished the case just got to sort out all the holes and run through netfabb and an iPhone 5 case i can do
    Ryan
     
  15. bartv
    bartv Member
    Yes! Excellent :)
     
  16. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    The files are stl binary and yes for multi shell models the processing time can be huge especially when the shells are inter-woven as with chain maille.

    Thanks, the coaster is only a small model - 21 parts/shells and only 13728 tiangles, there's some scope for a large creation using that hex design, maybe using as many as 2,500 rings :twisted:

    Cheers,
    Paul
     
  17. Gromfrog
    Gromfrog Member
    Finally after a whole 6 hours i have designed a new iPhone 5 case with a digital fabric back, i did design an iPad mini case but when i went to repair the file what ever i tried the file would come out the other end with errors and way to many shells but going to keep working at it but here is the iPhone 5 Version.

    [​IMG]

    Link

    I have worked out there is 371 shells/parts

    Thanks

    Ryan
     
  18. Keymaker
    Keymaker Well-Known Member
    this probably is not by contest description but i got an idea to do this http://shpws.me/nnfX
    [​IMG]

    I also try create something that would behave like fabric but it was failure :)
     
  19. stop4stuff
    stop4stuff Well-Known Member
    I've been playing with the hex design, reduced the rings to 240 triangles per ring.

    A huge 54.36 x 63.45 cm sheet of 2133 rings.

    [​IMG]


    Just about the max time for Mesh Medic and nearly the max size for WSF :twisted:

    What shall I do with it?

    Paul
     
  20. JACANT
    JACANT Well-Known Member
    This Schema (Conceptual model) should be printable. All pins have a 0.5mm gap. So the pins are free to move.
    Like I said before it will take a few trials to get this right.
    The Yo-Yo with five pins and the pins that fit into it would be slightly smaller to create the natural curve.

    Digital Fabric b.png