OpenFab and Spec2Fab Offer New Possibilities for 3D Printing

Some of the most exciting breakthroughs in additive manufacturing (AM) don’t revolve around the newest 3D printer to hit the market. Nor do they revolve solely around the properties of the newest material. Simplifying and expanding on the manner in which materials can be used have the potential for the greatest impact on the industry.

Researchers at MIT have developed two new methods for dealing with multi-material objects built with AM. These projects are named OpenFab and Spec2Fab. OpenFab offers a “programmable pipeline” for the actual printing process, while Spec2Fab focuses on simplifying the composition of a multi-material object. 

As multi-material 3D printers grow in complexity, the amount of information required to build an object in three dimensions similarly grows. In place of a simple 3D design, computers are asked to calculate gradations between materials along with the actual shape of an object, which can lead to enormous files that become unwieldy. OpenFab intends to assist multi-material efforts with the development of a program that can be readily adapted to the materials used, independent of the object’s geometry.

“Instead of a static mesh per piece of material, OpenFab describes a procedural method to synthesize the final voxels of material at full printer resolution, on demand. This provides efficient storage and communication, as well as resolution independence for different hardware and output contexts. It also decouples material definition from geometry," according to MIT's research. "A domain-specific language and pipeline features specific to 3D printing make it much easier for users to specify many types of procedurally printed output than they could by writing standalone programs for every different material or fabrication application.”

While OpenFab focuses on the actual printing process, Spec2Fab is aimed at the design end of the spectrum. Spec2Fab is essentially a giant toolbox program that uses algorithms in the forms of a “reducer tree” and a “tuner network” to breakdown the material composition of the object to be printed. This allows users to define the properties desired for an object, rather than predetermining materials.

“Today, 3D printing of an object requires a material be directly specified for each voxel inside the object volume. This approach is fraught with difficulties. First, 3D printable models become specific to a single printer type, i.e., the models are built from materials provided by a given printer… Second, working directly with printing materials rather than material properties is extremely challenging for users. Imagine the difficulty in finding the right combination of printing materials that would provide a specific color, stiffness, or refractive index.”

Taken together, the research offers a glimpse into the future of multi-material freeform fabrication. Users could create a 3D design, and define the material characteristics they prefer for the finished object, before printing out the entirety of the object without tedious rendering-type wait times. If this sort of research continues to be successful, it might not be too long before, “Earl Grey, hot” is a viable command.

Below you’ll find a video about Spec2Fab.

Sources: OpenFab, Spec2Fab