Santiago Perez, Associate Professor in the FAMU School of Architecture and Engineering Technology, initiated contact with the Department of Art with an interest in sharing ideas about 3D printing with clay. Professors Marty Fielding and Perez met to look at the digital fabrication equipment at FAR including the Multi-Modal Additive Printer (mMAP) that has been used to 3D print clay as well as other materials. The FSU Ceramics Area also received funding through the Student Technology Fee Grant to purchase a 3D Potterbot ceramic paste printer which was a featured tool in Fielding’s Digital Ceramics course this fall. Simultaneously, Perez taught Design Robotics: 2D & 3D Crafting and Assembly, a course on programming and constructing with a robotic arm for architecture students. Professor Perez’s syllabus describes a common theme in both courses, “Robotic Crafting emphasizes learning to work with a ‘Cobot’ or robotic ‘partner’ in a human + machine collaborative workflow.”
Perez and the FAMU students hosted the FSU class at midterm showing their process for using Grasshopper software for programming the robotic arm to perform two tasks: weave fiber on a loom and assemble wooden structures. The FAMU students visited the FSU Ceramics studio at the end of the semester and witnessed the 3D printer operating and saw finished work from the Digital Ceramics class including 3D printed clay sculpture and slip cast pieces made from 3D printed models. In both instances, the students were inquisitive and engaged in conversations, comparing notes and sharing experiences gained from their interactions with related but different digital tools. The benefit of facilitating this intercampus cross-discipline connection between students and faculty was palpable. Now that a relationship has been established between these labs, stay tuned for further collaborations.