Physical Feedback Workflows in Fabrication Information Modeling (FIM) Analysis and Discussion of Exemplar Cases across Media, Disciplines and Scales

Abstract

Novel digital fabrication platforms enable the design and construction of materially sophisticated structures with high spatial resolution in manufacturing. However, virtual-to-physical workflows and their associated software environments are yet to incorporate such capabilities. Our research sets the stage for seamless physical feedback workflows across media, disciplines and scales. We have coined the term Fabrication Information Modeling (FIM) to describe this approach. As preliminary methods we have developed four computational strategies for the design and digital construction of custom systems. These methods are presented in the context of specific design challenges and include a biologically driven fiber construction algorithm; an anatomically driven shell-to-wearable translation protocol; an environmentally-driven swarm printing system; and a manufacturing-driven hierarchical fabrication platform. We discuss and analyze these four challenges in terms of their capabilities to integrate design across media, disciplines and scales through concepts such as multi-dimensionality, media-informed computation and trans-disciplinary data.