GIANT ROBOTIC PLASTIC EXTRUSION MACHINE CREATES GREEN CHAIRS FROM RECYCLED PLASTICS

Just watch the video!

We know that headline sounds totally absurd, but bear with us, because what we’ve got here will blow. Your. Mind.

 

Endless from Dirk Vander Kooij on Vimeo.

 

 

The robot we speak of is Fanuc, a clunky, but speedy old machine late of a Chinese production line. The refrigerators: disused models ground up into bead-like bits. The chairs -- the work of Dutch design student Dirk Vander Kooij -- are made by melting the refrigerator bits, then tapping Fanuc to squeeze the resulting goo out of a tube, layer by layer in a pre-programmed sequence, as if decorating a cake. Two hours later, you've spawned a sturdy, modern little chair that looks like it came straight out of the Blu Dot catalog.

[Fanuc at work]

The chairs are cool and all but what's really exciting is what they represent: a new development in rapid prototyping that bridges the divide between mass production and one-off design. Normally, it takes eons to 3-D print anything bigger than your palm; Fanuc is able to print at a low resolution, so it can do a lot more work in a lot less time. The best part: The chairs still manage to be entirely customizable. Vander Kooij can program Fanuc to spit them out in any shape, size, and color -- hell, you could even request stripes. If the machine worked round the clock for a year, it would produce more than 4,000 chairs, each one unique.

 

Vander Kooij printed a slew of chairs for his thesis project at the Design Academy Eindhoven. No word yet on whether they’re for sale. For more info on the designer, go here.

[Update: The chairs are for sale! Each costs 800 Euros or approximately $1050. Email Vander Kooij for details atd.vanderkooij@gmail.com. --Eds]

COMMENTARY:  Those are neat 'green' chairs.  No two chairs are exactly alike.  They are really art pieces.  It's incredible how that robotic plastic extrusion machine creates each chair, one layer at a time.  It has to be a very time consuming.   This explains the high cost, no doubt.

Courtesy of an article dated December 1, 2010 appearing in Fast Company Design

 

Comments

[plastic pipe]

These chairs are really outstanding... Use of the plastic makes benefit to nature as well as for human. This really innovative act.. I like it...

[spider veins]

All this chairs are looking so awesome and Its very creative and Really breathtaking Information. The color of the chairs are so awesome. Thanks for sharing this. I got a lot of awesome ideas.

[French country furniture]

This chair is looking so awesome and nice. I like your concept and idea about chair.The chairs are cold and all but what is thrilling is what they represent.

[Tommy]

I love rocking chairs, President Kennedy used one all the time. Kids just love them. Wished there were more of them. I would prefer that they be made of wood, not plastic, but the article showed how they were made, and I found this fascinating. Thanks, again.

[akasha08]

Rocking chairs are those known for their very useful and effective for most people, especially older ones. This chair was found to be highly effective, especially when it gives comfort to someone who uses it.