By merging technology and biology, research group called Mediated Matter have “printed” a mind-blowing silk dome using 6,500 computer-guided live silkworms. The Silk Pavilion was constructed at MIT, and according to the team, lead by Media Lab professor Neri Oxman, it “explores the relationship between digital and biological fabrication on product and architectural scales.”
Project’s idea thrives on the silkworm’s ability to generate a 3D cocoon out of a single multi-property silk thread (1 km in length) and also the possibility to control the spinning patterns of the silkworm by altering its environment. Knowing this, the research team had to develop an algorithm to predict silkworm’s movement and the rest was done by a swarm of those biological “printers”.
It’s complex and purely amazing. Check out the images and video below!
Website: matter.media.mit.edu
“A swarm of 6,500 silkworms was positioned at the bottom rim of the scaffold spinning flat non-woven silk patches as they locally reinforced the gaps across CNC-deposited silk fibers. Following their pupation stage the silkworms were removed. Resulting moths can produce 1.5 million eggs with the potential of constructing up to 250 additional pavilions.”
“Affected by spatial and environmental conditions including geometrical density as well as variation in natural light and heat, the silkworms were found to migrate to darker and denser areas. Desired light effects informed variations in material organization across the surface area of the structure.”
“The primary structure was created of 26 polygonal panels made of silk threads laid down by a CNC (Computer-Numerically Controlled) machine.”
“An aluminum scaffold was constructed and a CNC robot was used to string a lattice of silk starter threads across it in patterns that would provide a base for the worms to operate.”
“The silkworm embodies everything an additive fabrication system currently lacks. It jets a structural material with superior function-specific variable properties; it’s small in size and mobile in movement; and it can spin, rather than print, non-homogeneous fibrous structures without waste. In more than one way, a silkworm is a sophisticated multi-material, multi-axis 3-D printer.”