Abstract
In the past decade, additive manufacturing processes have exhibited immense potential by pushing the boundaries of material exploration. Involving the construction of volumetric objects through adding flat knitting machines has gained recognition as an additive manufacturing technology since they possess the unique capability to directly fabricate three-dimensional articles from yarn. Nevertheless, while flat knitting machines have made significant strides in the production of three-dimensional textiles, they still face hurdles in handling intricate structures, achieving large-scale production, and accommodating a wide range of yarns. This article proposes crochet as a feasible substitute for knitting in multi-scale applications, owing to its inherent ability to create seamless three-dimensional shells. Despite recent progress in computing crochet instructions, the absence of a digital fabrication technique for volumetric crochet within the framework of additive manufacturing remains a notable gap. This paper provides a thorough examination of the recent advances in computational crochet design tools. It then proceeds to analyze crocheting hand gestures and toolpaths to identify the pertinent design characteristics for a novel technology. Lastly, the paper introduces a pioneering digital fabrication device specifically designed for robotic crochet frameworks. This device underscores the notable advantages of crochet in comparison to other related fabrication methods.
Keywords
Robotic crochet; textile additive manufacturing; Digital craft; Three-dimensional crochet
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/TI-2023/114
Citation
Nix, T.,and Sprecher, A.(2023) From Handcraft to Digital: Transforming Spatial Crochet into Cutting-Edge Technology, in Tincuta Heinzel, Delia Dumitrescu, Oscar Tomico, Sara Robertson (eds.), Proceedings of Textile Intersections Conference 2023, 20 - 23 September, London, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/TI-2023/114
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Conference Track
Advanced textiles materials and processes
Included in
From Handcraft to Digital: Transforming Spatial Crochet into Cutting-Edge Technology
In the past decade, additive manufacturing processes have exhibited immense potential by pushing the boundaries of material exploration. Involving the construction of volumetric objects through adding flat knitting machines has gained recognition as an additive manufacturing technology since they possess the unique capability to directly fabricate three-dimensional articles from yarn. Nevertheless, while flat knitting machines have made significant strides in the production of three-dimensional textiles, they still face hurdles in handling intricate structures, achieving large-scale production, and accommodating a wide range of yarns. This article proposes crochet as a feasible substitute for knitting in multi-scale applications, owing to its inherent ability to create seamless three-dimensional shells. Despite recent progress in computing crochet instructions, the absence of a digital fabrication technique for volumetric crochet within the framework of additive manufacturing remains a notable gap. This paper provides a thorough examination of the recent advances in computational crochet design tools. It then proceeds to analyze crocheting hand gestures and toolpaths to identify the pertinent design characteristics for a novel technology. Lastly, the paper introduces a pioneering digital fabrication device specifically designed for robotic crochet frameworks. This device underscores the notable advantages of crochet in comparison to other related fabrication methods.