The advent of 3D printing is often heralded as the “democratization of manufacturing”. However, realizing this democratization requires not only novel fabrication hardware, but also new computational algorithms for the interactive design and feasibility validation of the envisioned objects prior to manufacturing. The bespoke objects that the broad maker movement seeks to manufacture are arbitrarily free-form: from customized furniture, through one-of-a-kind jewelry and artwork, to personalized prosthetic limbs and medical implants. However, while the range of shapes manufacturable using emerging technologies is vastly greater than what has been possible before, not every shape can be manufactured. The arbitrary geometries envisioned by users must be projected into the space of manufacturable shapes that satisfy the laws of physics. Traditionally, analysis and design of manufactured shapes has been the realm of engineers, but recently computer graphics researchers have applied their methodologies to the computational fabrication. Originally developed for the design and simulation of virtual objects, these computer graphics methods offer high-level control (e.g., balance under gravity) while solving complex numerical shape optimizations. However, robustness has quickly become a bottleneck. While the greater flexibility and control compared to traditional engineering tools is welcomed, computational fabrication requires much greater rigour than virtual world design. Manufactured objects must not only achieve the desired aesthetic appearance, they must also obey physical laws and perform actual functions in the real world.

Robust virtual design of fabrication-ready shapes requires addressing new challenges across a range of topics, including:

• descriptive geometry (e.g., categorizing space of shapes spanned by a given manufacturing method),
• computational geometry (robust discrete computation),
• physical simulation (virtually validating resulting object properties),
• mechanical engineering and computational mechanics (structural analysis),
• numerical optimization (efficient optimization of the resulting numerical problems), and
• interface design (enabling artists and laymen to easily model envisioned geometries).

Structure

The workshop will bring together researchers whose work addresses the numerous questions posed by computational fabrication including geometry processing, physically based simulation, computational mechanics, computational geometry and descriptive geometry. As robustness of computation has emerged as a major bottleneck in design and prototyping of fabrication ready shapes, we focus our workshop on research addressing robust processing of virtual shapes, and specifically on robust discrete geometry representations and operations for design, analysis and simulation of objects intended for manufacturing.

The workshop will highlight presentations of state-of-the-art research by leading experts and introductory surveys into trending topics to facilitate cross-pollination across our, too often, disparate communities. Alongside research presentations, we will feature introductions to available tools including open source libraries (CGAL, libigl, el topo) and proprietary 3D-printing related applications from industry (e.g., from Autodesk, OnShape, nTopology, etc.).

Robust geometry algorithms in the context of computational fabrication—specifically where geometric operations appear as subroutines in the simulation and optimization loops of computational design or analysis algorithms—will be a concrete focal topic.

As a direct product of the workshop, together we will discuss, debate and ultimately converge on what we see as the “top open research problems in computational fabrication”.

Working toward achieving true democratization of fabrication promised by modern additive manufacturing techniques (e.g., 3D printing), this workshop will highlight topics on the computational side of fabrication, including but not limited to:

• mathematical theories and frameworks to describe physical behaviors of dynamic manufacturable objects,
• robust discretization and mesh surgery operations on surfaces and solids,
• optimization of fabricated shapes to perform high-level functions,
• numerical methods for analysis and simulation of 3D printed shapes,
• collision detection and contact handling during shape design, and
• incorporation of constraints from specific fabrication technologies.

These topics invite the researchers across various disciplines to pool their knowledge and strive together toward more unified and generalizable approaches. We expect that this workshop serves as an initial cross pollination of ideas that will sprout many fruitful collaborations in the years to come. To achieve the desired cross-pollination our participant list includes top experts across a large set of area, some more practical and others more theoretical; we balance academics vs industry participants, and seek a representative demographic balance with respect to seniority and gender.