research-article

AutoConnect: computational design of 3D-printable connectors

Authors:

Shinjiro Sueda,

Emma Steinhardt,

Takeo Igarashi,

Wojciech MatusikAuthors Info & Claims

ACM Transactions on Graphics (TOG), Volume 34, Issue 6

Article No.: 231, Pages 1 - 11

https://doi.org/10.1145/2816795.2818060

Published: 02 November 2015 Publication History

Abstract

We present AutoConnect, an automatic method that creates customized, 3D-printable connectors attaching two physical objects together. Users simply position and orient virtual models of the two objects that they want to connect and indicate some auxiliary information such as weight and dimensions. Then, AutoConnect creates several alternative designs that users can choose from for 3D printing. The design of the connector is created by combining two holders, one for each object. We categorize the holders into two types. The first type holds standard objects such as pipes and planes. We utilize a database of parameterized mechanical holders and optimize the holder shape based on the grip strength and material consumption. The second type holds free-form objects. These are procedurally generated shell-gripper designs created based on geometric analysis of the object. We illustrate the use of our method by demonstrating many examples of connectors and practical use cases.

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Index Terms

AutoConnect: computational design of 3D-printable connectors

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cover image ACM Transactions on Graphics

ACM Transactions on Graphics Volume 34, Issue 6

November 2015

944 pages

ISSN:0730-0301

EISSN:1557-7368

DOI:10.1145/2816795

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Copyright © 2015 ACM.

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Publication History

Published: 02 November 2015

Published in TOG Volume 34, Issue 6

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3639473.3665788
Sun LPan DZhang YHu HJi JTao YLou SLian BFan YTao YWang G(2024)Touch-n-Go: Designing and Fabricating Touch Fastening Structures by FDM 3D PrintingProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642906(1-14)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
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Guo MLiu ZTian SXie ZWu JLiu C(2024)Learning to Design 3D Printable Adaptations on Everyday Objects for Robot Manipulation2024 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA)10.1109/ICRA57147.2024.10610268(824-830)Online publication date: 13-May-2024
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