麻省理工学院的3D打印充气设备将塑造未来汽车内饰
MIT's 3D-printed inflatables could shape the interiors of cars in the future

由专筑网王帅，蒋晖编译

麻省理工学院的研究人员开发出一款3D打印充气结构，在汽车内部使用这种材料后，只需要拨动开关，就可以变换车内的配置。

该项目名为Liquid Printed Pneumatics，由麻省理工学院（MIT）的自组装实验室与宝马公司合作开发。

这家德国汽车品牌想通过实验室的工程技术帮助其实现未来概念车所设想的一些变形特征。

项目的样品为有弹性的，充气的硅树脂原型，通过改变内部的气压，使样品形成多种不同的形状。

如果使用这种材料做成汽车座椅，就可以根据用户的需要迅速调整到不同的位置，同时座椅的弹性水平也取决于用户的喜好。

Car interiors could morph into different configurations at the flick of a switch, using 3D-printed inflatable structures developed by researchers at the MIT.
The Self-Assembly Lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) worked with BMW on the project, called Liquid Printed Pneumatics.
The German auto brand wanted to see how the lab's experimental engineering techniques could help it realise some of the shapeshifting features imagined in its futuristic concept cars.
The result is a stretchy, inflatable silicone prototype that can take on a number of different shapes depending on the level of air pressure inside.
If turned into a car seat, it could quickly be tuned to different positions, or levels of springiness depending on user preference.

同样的技术可以潜在地创造一个动态的汽车内部空间，如果用户不需要座椅时，座椅就会下沉，或者可以根据需要改变仪表板的形状。汽车公司对此很感兴趣，如果汽车可以完全自动驾驶，那么就可以通过这项技术为用户腾出更多空间，让乘客在旅途中得到享受。

宝马集团（BMW Group）品牌视觉和品牌设计主管Martina Starke表示：“没有必要把未来的汽车限制在为任何特定的形状内，汽车内部甚至可以采用可塑性的，模块化的用途。”

她继续说：“这次合作的结果表明，新材料的未来即将到来。”

Potentially, the same technology could help to create a more dynamic interior, where seats sink away when not needed, or the dashboard can change shape. This is of interest to automakers because if cars go fully autonomous, it could free up space for passengers to enjoy a range of activities while they travel.
"There is no need to lock the car of the future into any particular shape," said Martina Starke, head of brand vision and brand design at BMW Group. "Interiors could even take on malleable, modular uses."
"The outcome of this collaboration manifests that a new material future is imminent," she continued.

这个项目标志着充气物体首次通过3D打印技术制造出来，而传统的充气方法无法产生这样复杂的设计。

这款可膨胀的材料利用了自组装实验室的快速液体打印技术，这种技术于去年首次亮相，用于打印家具和其他物品。

这项技术将材料从计算机控制的喷嘴挤到凝胶罐中，然后在该位置固化。该技术可以使用更软的材料，而其它3D打印技术在处理软材料时，很容易造成模型的坍塌。

其制造过程非常迅速，很容易实现大规模生产，这是传统3D打印所不具备的。

The project marks the first time an inflatable object has been 3D-printed, with traditional inflatable production methods unable to yield a design this complex.
The inflatable was made using the Self-Assembly Lab's Rapid Liquid Printing technique, which was first unveiled last year as a way of printing furniture and other objects.
The technique involves extruding material from a computer-controlled nozzle into a tank of gel, where its left to harden. This allows for the use of softer materials that in other forms of 3D printing would collapse under the weight of gravity before they are set.
The process is also fast, meaning it opens up possibilities for mass manufacture in a way that traditional 3D printing doesn't.

自组装实验室的负责人Skylar Tibbits告诉Dezeen的记者说：“快速液体印刷结合了铸造的优势与3D打印的定制能力，打印出的第一个充气设备就像气球一样可以拉长和转换。”

“速度和定制是很重要的，但更重要的是，我们可以用弹性硅橡胶、聚氨酯橡胶、泡沫、塑料和其他各种材料进行独特的印刷。这是其他形式的3D打印技术所不具备的。”

他继续说：“同样，在不依赖其他印刷工艺所需的支撑材料的情况下，我们可以打印内部填充空气或者水的装置，这使得快速液体印刷技术在制造这些充气打印结构方面处于独特的地位。”

"Rapid Liquid Printing combines the advantages of casting with the customisation and capabilities of 3D-printing and demonstrates the first printed inflatables that can fully stretch and transform like balloons," Self-Assembly Lab head Skylar Tibbits told Dezeen.
"Speed and customisation are important, but more than that, we can uniquely print with truly elastic silicone rubbers, polyurethane rubbers, foams, plastics and a variety of other materials that are difficult or impossible to print with using other forms of 3D printing."
"Similarly, we can print air and watertight chambers to create the inflatables without relying on support materials as required in other printing process," he continued. "This makes Rapid Liquid Printing uniquely situated to creating these inflatable printed structures."

Liquid Printed Pneumatics技术的发展得益于汽车内饰的发展，同时Tibbits认为这项技术在家具、鞋子、包装和柔性机器人中也可以得到应用。

Tibbits和自组装实验室的工程师专注于发明新的可编程材料和自组装结构。

除了去年的迈阿密设计展上展出的为游客打印手提袋的快速液体印刷技术外，最近的一项创新是一种能对不同温度产生反应的活性辅助材料。自组装实验室以前曾与空中客车公司和匡威（Converse）都有合作。

While Liquid Printed Pneumatics was developed with car interiors in mind, Tibbits sees possible applications for these customisable 3D-printed inflatables in furniture, shoes, packaging and soft robotics.
Led by Tibbits and the Self-Assembly Lab of engineers and designers focuses on inventing new programmable materials and structures that assemble themselves.
Besides Rapid Liquid Printing — which it demonstrated at last year's Design Miami by printing tote bags for visitors — another of its recent innovations is an Active Auxetic material, which responds to different temperatures. The Self-Assembly Lab has previously partnered with companies ranging from Airbus to Converse.

虽然宝马公司目前还没有使用Liquid Printed Pneumatics的计划，但这种新材料进行的试验为宝马公司提供了从根本上重新思考汽车外观和与乘客互动的机会。虽然空气和有机硅目前并不是汽车制造的主流材料，但是未来很有可能成为汽车的主要材料。

该公司在其2016年发布的概念车“the self-driving Vision Next 100”中探索了一些潜在的未来设计特色，该车型配备了可伸缩方向盘，集成的挡风玻璃显示器，同时具备可变形的外表。

在概念车的发布会上，宝马表示，在未来的设计和生产过程中，材料的选择将变得“更加重要”，材料将决定新车型的诞生。

Liquid Printed Pneumatics技术将在伦敦的V&A博物馆展出，作为“The Future Starts Here”展会的一部分，该展览将持续到2018年11月4日。

While it has no immediate plans to use Liquid Printed Pneumatics, experiments with new materials provide BMW with the chance to radically rethink how cars look and interact with their passengers. Air and silicone aren't currently major car components, but one day, they may be.
The company explored some potential future design features in its influential 2016 concept car, the self-driving Vision Next 100, which had a retractable steering wheel, integrated windshield display and morphing exterior.
At the concept car's launch, BMW said the choice of materials would become "even more important throughout the design and production process" in the future, "allowing different vehicle shapes to emerge".
Liquid Printed Pneumatics is on display at London's V&A museum as part of the exhibition The Future Starts Here until 4 November 2018.

项目信息：
自组装实验团队：Bjorn Sparrman, Shokofeh Darbari, Rami Rustom, Maggie Hughes, Schendy Kernizan, Jared Laucks, Skylar Tibbits
宝马团队： Sophie Richter, Akos Stegmar

Project credits:
Self-Assembly Lab Team: Bjorn Sparrman, Shokofeh Darbari, Rami Rustom, Maggie Hughes, Schendy Kernizan, Jared Laucks, Skylar Tibbits
BMW Team: Sophie Richter, Akos Stegmar