Engineer creates 3D-printed marble fountain using procedural generation
SMRTR summary
What starts as a tangled mess of string transforms into something mesmerizing when Will Morrison flips a switch on his latest creation. Ball bearings begin trickling down eight intricate tracks in his sculpture called Marble Fountain, each marble riding complicated curves before being conveyed back to the top by a ball screw.
The mechatronics engineer thought he was embarking on a simple weekend project. Instead, he found himself swept into a multi-month obsession that landed his work in a Massachusetts art gallery.
"I started this just planning for the janky splines as a weekend project, but it has gotten thoroughly out of hand," Morrison wrote on his blog.
Working at Formlabs gave him access to industrial-grade 3D printers, spurring bigger ambitions. He developed an algorithm using procedural generation to create the sculpture's eight winding paths, each following strict rules to maintain proper spacing and constant downward slopes.
After 65 iterations, Morrison finally achieved his vision: controlled chaos that fills every bit of printable space while keeping marbles flowing smoothly through aggressive banks and constant curves.
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