<< This is a guest post written by Nicholas Florek, CEO of Computational Design and Digital Fabrication company General Lattice based in Chicago, Illinois. They offer digital production solutions to companies that are looking to manufacture product concepts specifically designed for additive manufacturing. >>

From Prototypes to Scalable Production!

Over the last 3-5 years, the Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) industry has undergone a transformation unlike many others. Rapid advancements in hardware and materials have changed it from a low volume/prototyping technology into a highly scalable production manufacturing method.

Offering the ability to manufacture without the need for tooling or molds, Additive Manufacturing brings a number of advantages to the table. Most notably, it enables businesses to produce products with one-to-one personalization and advanced lattice geometries at scale, allowing an unparalleled level of design freedom not possible through traditional manufacturing methods.

General Lattice Overview

We focus on helping clients realize the benefits of additive manufacturing. At General Lattice we offer services that range from product design and assessment, to SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) development and manufacturing implementation. With the goal of helping clients bring production ready applications to life through additive manufacturing, we work to provide support along every step of the process.

Despite the tremendous advancements in additive manufacturing hardware, software and design tools have failed to keep pace. Built on out-dated software kernels and design toolkits, current CAD software has remained largely unchanged for the last 30 years.

New additive softwares on the market today focus heavily on auto-generated design tools that act as “solvers” to design hurdles, but lack significant control over form and function. Through our proprietary internal design software, which we plan to commercialize in the near future, we help clients preserve brand language and design control while delivering enhanced performance benefits.

The Power of Parametric Design with ShapeDiver

With the ability to quickly iterate designs and move from prototype to production all on a single machine, the power of parametric design is more important than ever before. However, working to visualize changes to parametric models in a B2C environment can be difficult.

Since we integrate directly with ShapeDiver, we are able to build custom parametric models that our clients can deploy through their personalized web applications. Leaning on additive manufacturing to support the production of these custom applications, ShapeDiver closes the gap between design and manufacturing, offering a streamlined interface and process flow.

Meta-Materials

Providing unparalleled design flexibility, Additive Manufacturing enables the integration of advanced lattice geometries that change the way we think about product applications. To better understand the tremendous benefits lattice geometries provide, we are building at General Lattice one of the world’s most comprehensive resources for lattice formulation.

Understanding the the mechanical properties of lattice structures when paired with varying material substrates, we are able to digitally program application specific “meta-materials”.

Whether looking to tackle impact dampening with soft elastomerics or seeking to improve heat sync applications with rigid metals, we are able to formulate a precise meta-material for your application.  Utilizing ShapeDiver’s powerful parametric visualization software, we have created a meta-material demo where users can experience the power of computational design by creating their own meta-material.

<< Want to get in touch with Nicholas and his team at General Lattice? Make sure to check out their website and follow them on Instagram. >>