Project Introduction
Wire is a new prototype design tool to empower the creation of 3D printed electronic devices. Recent advances in materials science have enabled the combination of high conductivity silver inks with standard 3D printing plastics. Wire will provide electronics and 3D printing enthusiasts with the ability to design 3D circuits for the first time. These 3D circuits can then be fabricated into unique electronic devices. Our partners at Voxel8 (previously Harvard University) are currently developing a unique electronics 3D printer that will be commercialized in the near future.
Figure 1: Wire will enable connection of existing PCBs (e.g. Arduino) to embedded components in a user designed 3D printed device.
Wire will be part CAD and part circuit design tool. 3D printed objects created with Wire will have mechanical and electrical functionality. Although a hybrid tool, Wire will aim to excel in a new area unsupported by existing tools: 3D wiring. Wire will enable users to connect electrical components in 3D space so they can be printed as physical objects.
Wire will leverage and integrate with existing design tools that support more extensive mechanical and electrical design functionality than Wire can offer by itself. Notably, we aim to support common 3D printing formats (e.g. STL) for model geometry import. As a browser-based tool, Wire will also aim to integrate with 123D Circuits to allow conventional 2.5D planar circuit design. Rather than serve as a monolithic ‘3D Printed Electronics’ solution, Wire aims to excel at 3D wiring and to play well with other complementary CAD/circuit design tools.
Wire will be tailored to support an exemplary use case involving a central printed circuit board (e.g. an Arduino) with printed wires leading from that board to other components embedded on the surface of a rigid 3D printed structure (Figure 1). Embedded components will include buttons, LEDs, sensors, actuators, connectors and so on. Although Arduino boards are expected to be the typical use case, any PCB with 0.1” headers can be used as the central board.
Wire will cater for two main user design workflows: Model First and Circuit First. Details of each workflow are in the chart below. Functionality for each workflow will be implemented progressively at each prototype stage as listed in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Wire will cater for two main user design workflows starting from model or circuit design.