Oyster 3D printer

Category: Digital fabrication, Industrial Design, Mechanical Design
Present at: Taiwan Tech Design Depart Graduation Exhibition 2022

The advent of 3D printing technology has transformed both manufacturing processes and material innovation. This project explores sustainable material development and introduces a blueprint for circular printing by utilizing a local resource—recycled oyster shells. To examine the feasibility of integrating oyster shells into the 3D printing process, I developed a composite material by combining natural polymers such as gelatin and gum arabic for curing and bonding. Furthermore, I designed customized printing kits for large-scale extrusion of oyster shell slurry, operated by a KUKA robotic arm. This approach successfully reintroduces oyster shells into everyday applications, achieving greater material efficiency and reducing overall resource consumption.
May 2022



Robotics Arm Control Graph by Grasshopper


Credit
Mechanical Engineering & CAM: Ching-Yao Su

CNC: NTUST Mechanical Department

Grasshopper support: Yu-Chieh, Lin

Mentors: Ming Huang Lin, Jianyou Li, Jia-Sheng Liu

Video: Shawn Wang