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日本語

In recent years, digital fabrication tools, such as laser cutters and CNC routers, which had previously only been used by industry, have been developed into individual manufacturing facilities as tools available for personal use. Diffusion of such digital fabrication has dramatically changed the opportunities for manufacturing by individuals. It is also becoming apparent that the creation of a community centered on manufacturing can be carried out by networking on the Web and SNS. Our activities are aimed at building regional communities where manufacturing and community formation is actively performed using such digital fabrication. We designed chair making workshops specifically focused on children and their guardians with the goal of targeting citizens who have had little involvement in manufacturing and digital fabrication so far.

In the chair-making workshop: (1) The parents and children design the original chair that matches the child's figure, (2) the miniature model is processed and produced with the laser cutter, and (3) the actual product is processed with the CNC router. The original chair is designed and processed using a 3D CAD system (Fig. 1), which can design a 3D shaped chair through a simple operation I developed.

This unique 3D CAD system has been devised so that anyone can operate it easily, and in the chair-making workshop, parents and children can enjoy making a digitally fabricated chair using that system. Specifically, it is possible to design a 3D chair simply by manipulating the three lines that determine the elevation shape: the inner diameter line, the outer diameter line, and the seat surface/back plate range line. Normally, in order to manufacture something by digital fabrication, you need to first acquire basic techniques such as how to operate the 3D CAD. This kind of hurdle tends to lead to people giving up before they ever get to the fun part of actual design and manufacture. This workshop aims to overcome such hurdles by going the opposite way from the normal process, and starting with the pleasurable aspects of design, processing and production,. By making the experience more accessible and enjoyable, it is hoped that we can widely disseminate manufacturing by digital fabrication.

Complex curve shape processing and fitting parts in free 3D shapes are difficult processing even for craftsmen, but with digital fabrication tools, even beginners without professional knowledge and skills can process them. Details of the fitting parts, uniquely determined by the design and the size of the wood used, can be generated semi-automatically by using the 3D CAD system (Fig. 2). In other words, it is possible to operate it without having to bother too much with the bulk of the simple repetitive work, which relies on the machines’ strong point of accurate processing by numerical control. This allows people more energy to focus on creativity and fine handwork, our forte as human beings. What is special about our activity is the degree to which it makes previously remote technology so accessible, such as advanced woodworking production, digital fabrication and the independently-developed 3D CAD system.

We expect that the experiences at the chair-making workshop applying this digital fabrication will become the first step toward constructing local manufacturing communities, and the accumulation of these small steps will eventually become a major force connecting society as a whole. Technology using ICT has opened the doors to the future. We believe that an individual centred manufacturing revolution, applying such digital fabrication technology, will open up new possibilities for local communities.

A part of this activity was supported by Toyohashi City’s next-generation manufacturing R&D promotion subsidiary aid.