Thesis by Georgios Drakontaeidis
The Bartlett School of Architecture, Jul 2019
At the threshold of the digital revolution in fabrication, emerging technologies such as additive... more At the threshold of the digital revolution in fabrication, emerging technologies such as additive manufacturing are dramatically transforming both design and making (Gershenfeld, 2015). However, the current limitations of additive manufacturing regarding cost, time and quality are limiting its future development, especially its implementation on a large scale. From the abovementioned issues arises the hypothesis of this thesis, namely, the technological advances in machine learning algorithms and the open innovation in open source communities have the potential to revolutionize large-scale additive manufacturing, enabling it to shape the future of making. To test this hypothesis, this thesis introduces 3Dprint.AI, an open-source machine-learning framework for large-scale additive manufacturing, which aims to engage users and technology in the application of additive manufacturing at an architectural scale in a sustainable and affordable way.
3Dprint.AI operates in two modes, the manual and the automatic one. It involves the following steps i) video recording and object recognition while printing, ii) adaptive feedback to the robot, iii) documentation of all printing settings and results, and iv) distribution of those settings either via google sheet files-manual mode- or through an online distributed network to enable their use by machine learning algorithms to make predictions-automatic mode-.3Dprint.AI is implemented in design and development of a high-quality extruder, which entails the integration of the above steps in manual mode . Printing tests are conducted to create data sets for use to predict the extruding outcomes and train machine learning algorithms of the community. The thesis concludes by proposing software development as an additional operation to the above open-source framework, which can save computational power and earn an income for the community.
Conference Presentations by Georgios Drakontaeidis
Autodesk University Conference, 2019
In the wake of the second digital turn in architecture (Carpo, 2017), this paper questions the op... more In the wake of the second digital turn in architecture (Carpo, 2017), this paper questions the opinion of Gershenfeld (2012) that ‘’a new digital revolution is coming, this time in fabrication.’’ It questions the widespread use of digital fabrication from industry and investigates the impacts on architecture and society. It's not a pure architecture lecture but multidisciplinary research which tackles the 3D printing industry as we know it today. Specific examples from digital software such as processing would be given in order to demonstrate how the new tools give computational power to architects and produce a new architecture. The paper debates the above phrase through different approaches towards digital materiality, the use of digital tools in fabrication, the goal of mass customization-collaboration and the relation of design with making. Moreover, It searches the origins and the development of the idea of digital fabrication from antiquity to 21st century. Specific examples are presented towards the prospects of digital fabrication regarding its opening to the society, its further development of embodied technology, and the overcoming of temporal limitations of cost, speed, and quality. Finally, it concludes with useful findings and questions for further research in the field.
6th Conference of the Hellenic Sociological Society (HSS), 2018
The paper below presented on the 6th Conference of the Hellenic Sociological Society (HSS) with t... more The paper below presented on the 6th Conference of the Hellenic Sociological Society (HSS) with the title: Sociology and its public role in the era of the transformation of the world.
Conference proceedings [online] available at http://www.hellenicsociology.gr/sites/default/files/eke_conference_book_v310119.pdf [Accessed 23 May 2019], pp 834-842.
ISBN: 978 960 9596 04 6
Public space & re-use of industrial buildings, the example of Elefsina old oil mill. , 2018
The paper studies the creation of public space from the reuse of old industrial buildings within ... more The paper studies the creation of public space from the reuse of old industrial buildings within the urban fabric of modern cities. The example that it analyses is the old oil mill of Elefsina, a coastal city of Attica that has been inhabited since ancient times and is due to become the cultural capital of Europe in 2021. In antiquity, Elefsina was one of the five holy cities of Ancient Greece, connected to Athens through the “Holy Road.” Then, in the 19th and 20th centuries, it became a powerful industrial centre of Greece, and the subsequent abandonment of industrial uses created a strong heterotopia, caught between antiquities and its industrial heritage, as reflected in the public space of the city. Firstly, the paper explores the possibilities of converting industrial shells into public spaces, noting their comparative advantages over other urban gaps in cities. Then, it describes the evolution of public space in the city of Elefsina concerning the changes that occurred in that area due to residential and industrial development. Emphasis is given to the last two centuries when the most significant and most important changes occurred. The research focuses on the area of the old oil mill concerning the rest of the urban fabric through maps created during field research in the area. It studies the possibility of producing public space that follows already formed spaces through the transformation of old industrial buildings. It also examines the transformation of the industrial building into a public space with beneficial uses. Indeed, the oil mill now functions as a social capacitor where numerous events and artistic activities have taken place every summer for the last 43 years as part of the Aeschylia Festival. Finally, it presents valuable conclusions about the production of public space from the reuse of old industrial buildings.
Papers by Georgios Drakontaeidis
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Thesis by Georgios Drakontaeidis
3Dprint.AI operates in two modes, the manual and the automatic one. It involves the following steps i) video recording and object recognition while printing, ii) adaptive feedback to the robot, iii) documentation of all printing settings and results, and iv) distribution of those settings either via google sheet files-manual mode- or through an online distributed network to enable their use by machine learning algorithms to make predictions-automatic mode-.3Dprint.AI is implemented in design and development of a high-quality extruder, which entails the integration of the above steps in manual mode . Printing tests are conducted to create data sets for use to predict the extruding outcomes and train machine learning algorithms of the community. The thesis concludes by proposing software development as an additional operation to the above open-source framework, which can save computational power and earn an income for the community.
Conference Presentations by Georgios Drakontaeidis
Conference proceedings [online] available at http://www.hellenicsociology.gr/sites/default/files/eke_conference_book_v310119.pdf [Accessed 23 May 2019], pp 834-842.
ISBN: 978 960 9596 04 6
Papers by Georgios Drakontaeidis
3Dprint.AI operates in two modes, the manual and the automatic one. It involves the following steps i) video recording and object recognition while printing, ii) adaptive feedback to the robot, iii) documentation of all printing settings and results, and iv) distribution of those settings either via google sheet files-manual mode- or through an online distributed network to enable their use by machine learning algorithms to make predictions-automatic mode-.3Dprint.AI is implemented in design and development of a high-quality extruder, which entails the integration of the above steps in manual mode . Printing tests are conducted to create data sets for use to predict the extruding outcomes and train machine learning algorithms of the community. The thesis concludes by proposing software development as an additional operation to the above open-source framework, which can save computational power and earn an income for the community.
Conference proceedings [online] available at http://www.hellenicsociology.gr/sites/default/files/eke_conference_book_v310119.pdf [Accessed 23 May 2019], pp 834-842.
ISBN: 978 960 9596 04 6