Gathering 4 Gardner Gift Exchange
STEAM Gem Icosahedron Tensegrity
A brief history of the STEAM Gem tensegrity build system
Tom Draper and I met through the San Diego 3D printing meetup group, and it quickly became apparent that we had similar interests and many lively discussions ensued. During one of those discussions Tom mentioned that he had been printing tendons with his 3D printer. I had already been making tensegrities with a number of different build systems that I designed using 3D printed parts (but not tendons), and I decided to see if I could print tendons using a flexible 3D printing material called TPU. After trying a half dozen or more ideas, most of which involved some sort of strut tip to provide an interface between the straw and the tendon, I realized I could simplify by incorporating the strut tip into the tendon using a split peg printed as part of the tendons. Tom liked it and decided that he would participate in the gift exchange with the STEAM Gem icosahedron as his gift. We hope you like it too!
Guy