3D Printed Fabric: Techniques for Design and 3D Weaving Programmable Textiles

We present a technique for fabricating soft and flexible textiles using a consumer grade fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer. By controlling the movement of the print header, the FDM alternately weaves the stringing fibers across a row of pillars. Owing to the structure of the fibers, which supports and strengthens the pillars from each side, a 3D printer can print a thin sheet of fabric in an upright position while the fibers are being woven. In addition, this technique enables users to employ materials with various colors and/or properties when designing a pattern, and to prototype an interactive object using a variety of off-the-shelf materials such as a conductive filament. We also describe a technique for weaving textiles and introduce a list of parameters that enable users to design their own textile variations. Finally, we demonstrate examples showing the feasibility of our approach as well as numerous applications integrating printed textiles in a custom object design.