A boolean method to model knit geometries with conditional logic for additive manufacturing

As additive manufacturing (3D printing) technology becomes increasingly mainstream, new tools are required to enhance creative endeavors in disciplines such as fashion design, which have been slow to embrace digital technologies and computer-aided design software. Additionally, new techniques are required based on an understanding of the limitations of common desktop extrusion-based 3D printers, with 2.5D printing presenting new opportunities to rapidly produce complex forms, such as fashion, which can be assembled by hand as a hybrid approach to digital manufacturing. This paper presents a parametric system through which a new type of digitally fabricated, hand-assembled knit can be customized using a constrained selection of interactive controls. Novice users may rapidly iterate a pattern of loops and floats at a scale matching their Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printer, creating a series of knit courses which can be assembled into a textile of expandable dimensions. More advanced users may modify the geometry or logic of the system, building new forms of knits that could not be manufactured through traditional means. This paper will guide designers through the process of developing a new typology of textile appropriate for production on ubiquitous FDM machines, following a workflow from 2D to 2.5D to 3D. Examples were printed at various scales and contribute to discourse on customization, parametric design and visual programming languages for additive manufacturing.