Printflatables Can Automatically Fabricate Inflatables from 3D Models

The staggering rise in the popularity of 3D printing has created a corresponding interest in other automated means of manufacturing. Many makers now have tools like laser cutters, CNC mills, and plasma tables in their workshops. While all of these tools already existed in the industrial arena, consumer and hobbyist interest has both dramatically reduced their costs and simultaneously driven their advancement.

One type of fabrication, however, seems to have escaped our notice: inflatables. Traditionally, inflatables (like rafts, pool floatation toys, and inflatable furniture) have required dedicated tooling to manufacture. Fabric is cut to the required shape (using dies or similar tools), and then manually sealed. Now, researchers at MIT have created a fabrication system that many hobbyists could potentially own, and which even leap frogs industrial methods.

That new system is called Printflatables, and it’s capable of taking a CAD model (made in Rhinoceros with Grasshopper) and automatically fabricating a complete inflatable object. It does this by laying two layers of thermoplastic fabric (the exact type depends on the needs of the object), and then folding them and heat sealing them as required. The whole system is built on components that are well known to makers: an Inventables X-Carve CNC router table, two Arduino Unos with GRBL V5 shields, and a handful of steppers and motor drivers.

While it is, of course, still in development, Printflatables is already capable of making a wide range of inflatable objects. Traditional manufacturing, as usual, can churn these objects out much more quickly and at a lower cost. But, for prototyping or small production runs, Printflatables already has industrial methods beat.