Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for customizable daily life products

Master's thesis

Alessia Romani
Politecnico di Milano, 2018 Apr 20

Cite

APA Click to copy
Romani, A. (2018, April 20). Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for customizable daily life products (Master's thesis). Politecnico di Milano.

Chicago/Turabian Click to copy
Romani, Alessia. “Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for Customizable Daily Life Products.” Master's thesis, Politecnico di Milano, 2018.

MLA Click to copy
Romani, Alessia. Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for Customizable Daily Life Products. Politecnico di Milano, 20 Apr. 2018.

BibTeX Click to copy

@mastersthesis{alessia2018a,
  title = {Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for customizable daily life products},
  year = {2018},
  month = apr,
  day = {20},
  school = {Politecnico di Milano},
  author = {Romani, Alessia},
  howpublished = {Italian (Over 5/95. Stampa 3D e Modellazione Parametrica per la Personalizzazione di Prodotti d'Uso Quotidiano)},
  month_numeric = {4}
}

Abstract

Over 5/95: going beyond the Percentiles. In a context in which technology is having an ever greater role, considering people and their background more than data or technical specifications could seem something anomalous or, even worse, worthless. Nevertheless, technology could not have a purpose without human involvement: the topic seems clear referring to the new frontiers that 3D Printing (Additive Manufacturing) has been currently developing, including everyday life objects’ customization. Despite the countless applications in which it is applied, Additive Manufacturing is often identified as a “game” or not a real manufacturing process, especially due to the spread of products without a clear function. Is it possible to create a positive collaboration between the technological part and the social one, exploring new landscapes for 3D printing applications? Could be created an useful product in user’s everyday life through his engagement during and after the Design Process? An exhaustive response has been developing since the +Ability’s birth, a meaningful +Lab side, through the definition of a design methodology that tries to combine Co-Design, Customization and Low Cost 3D Printing Processes. Within the thesis, this methodology was adopted by adding the use of Parametric Modelling (in particular Grasshopper) as a useful tool for the design of custom products. Through bibliographic research and case studies, the context overview has explored considering the methodology main topics (Additive Manufacturing, 3D Modelling, Co-designing and Customization). Thanks to design experimentations made during Noi Non Ci Fermiamo and B.EAUTYlities, the adopted methodology has been further refined, leading to the creation of customizable sharable products that really correspond to user’s needs(even better, Prosumer). Finally, a comparison was made considering the sustainable costs for the production of this kind of products, with a focus on its distribution and commercializing’s possibility. Considering the outputs, ie customizable product files that could be sold and used regardless of their primary function, it seems possible to combine the technological factor with the human/social one. In this way, tangible results could be obtained, for starting a new business idea. In the future, a further verification step should be done in order to apply this methodology in similar areas and, after, in different fields. 1

Keywords

Additive manufacturing // Parametric design // 3D modeling // Customization // co-design // Participatory design // Grasshopper // 3D printing

[Gallery picture]

[YouTube video]

Media Coverage

Who is scared of 3D printing? (Chi ha paura della stampa 3D?) by Marinella Levi at TEDxMacerata 2018 (Video recording).2

Resources and links

📑 Full text (publisher version) 3
🛠️ OSF Repository (3D models and parametric definitions) 4
🛠️ OSF Repository (3D models and applications) 5
🛠️ OSF Repository (3D models and applications) 6
🌐 ShapeDiver customizator of IF (Website) 7
🌐 ShapeDiver customizator of THEN (Website) 8

Romani, A., 2018. Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for customizable daily life products (Over 5/95. Stampa 3D e Modellazione Parametrica per la Personalizzazione di Prodotti d'Uso Quotidiano). M.Sc. thesis in Design & Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. Link: https://www.politesi.polimi.it/handle/10589/140897 ↩
1. Who is scared of 3D printing? (Chi ha paura della stampa 3D?) Youtube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au9endflLsE&ab_channel=TEDxTalks
Romani, A., 2018. Over 5/95. 3D Printing and Parametric Design for customizable daily life products (Over 5/95. Stampa 3D e Modellazione Parametrica per la Personalizzazione di Prodotti d'Uso Quotidiano). M.Sc. thesis in Design & Engineering, Politecnico di Milano. Link: https://www.politesi.polimi.it/handle/10589/140897 ↩
Romani, A. 2025. Over 5/95: 3D Printing and Parametric Design for customizable daily life products - 3D models and parametric definitions Project repository. Available at OSF.io. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/Y4B3F ↩
Romani, A. 2025. Parametric 3D printable Assistive Technology Products for people with rheumatic Diseases - Grasshopper Configurators. Project repository. Available at OSF.io. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/JBXAF ↩
Romani, A., 2025. Parametric 3D printable Assistive Technology Products for people dealing with cancer treatments - Grasshopper Configurators. Project repository. Available at OSF.io. DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/JHVAB ↩
1. IF Pattern 01 online customization. ShapeDiver. Available at: https://www.shapediver.com/app/m/if-pattern-01
1. THEN Pattern 01 online customization. ShapeDiver. Available at: https://www.shapediver.com/app/m/thenpattern