Tensegrity

youmagine

I really do need to get out from under my rock more often... Many "tensegrity" styled chairs, tables and Lego models have been showing up in my "suggested video" feed as of late, and I must admit that I had never heard of tensegrity before. As a result, I was clueless about what it meant. So I watched several videos on the subject from my feed, and then decided to try designing, 3D printing and assembling a small and simple tensegrity model. This tensegrity ("tensional integrity") model is entirely 3D printed, including the three longer "print in place" outer chains and the single "print in place" shorter center chain. These chains are crucial because while the three outer chains hold the top and bottom together (compression), at the same time the single center chain pulls the top and bottom apart (tension). With proper chain length design, the model's compression and tension forces are balanced, and thus the model appears to "float." I used Autodesk Fusion 360 to design 3D printed chains that were precise enough in length to balance the compression / tension forces required by this model. In contrast, assembling with string or twine requires numerous trial-and-error adjustments. After printing and assembling several copies of this model, the 3D printed chains proved to be much easier to assemble than my string/twine versions, so I stuck with the chains. As usual, I probably forgot a file or two, or who knows what else. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask, as I make plenty of mistakes. Designed using Autodesk Fusion 360, sliced using Cura 4.6.1, and 3D printed in PLA on an Ultimaker 2+ Extended, an Ultimaker 3 Extended and an Ultimaker S5.