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Chapter 1: Preparing the Project Materials

YongHong Chen

Materials and Tools Required

  • 3D Printers and Printing Materials
  • Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle
  • Ultimaker 3
  • PLA filament (various colours)
  • Breakaway or PVA support material
🛈 Note: Any standard Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printer and compatible filament can be used. The listed devices were used for the demonstration.
Images of two 3D printers: the Ultimaker S5 Pro Bundle (max print volume is 330x240x300 mm) and the Ultimaker 3 (max print volume is 197x215x200).
Figure 1.1.1: UltiMaker S5 Pro Bundle and Ultimaker 3, illustrating the primary 3D printer utilised for this project. (Source: University College Cork, 2025)

Weaving Materials

  • Colourful yarns: In this project, four different colours of yarn have been prepared as an illustrative example. Choose any colours you like to represent your data categories – the selection here is for demonstration purposes. Each colour corresponds to a particular dataset:
    • Light green – Duration of exercise
    • Dark green – Hours of sleep
    • Yellow – Time spent in sunlight
    • Red – Daily mood self-assessment score
    🛈 Note: This example colour coding provides a tactile and visual method for representing personal data. However, you are encouraged to assign colours in a way that best suits your dataset or creative preference.

Additional Tools

  • Scissors
  • Fine-grit sandpaper
Image of white plastic loom, 3 pink loom accessory tools, 4 bundles of coloured yarn, and a pair of scissors.
Figure 1.1.2: 3D-printed miniature weaving tools, colourful yarns, and a pair of scissors.
Image of white plastic loom next to some sandpaper.
Figure 1.1.3: Fine-grit sandpaper used to smooth the surface of printed parts.

Software Preparation

  • Adobe Photoshop 2025 (Shown on macOS)
  • Blender 3.6.3 (Shown on macOS)
  • Ultimaker Cura 5.9.0 (Shown on Windows)
🛈 Note: The included screen captures for Adobe Photoshop and Blender are displayed on macOS, while Ultimaker Cura is shown on Windows. All three can be used on both operating systems; the only variance might be the user interface (UI) layout and keyboard shortcuts.

Design & Modelling Software – Optional Alternatives

  • For the loom sketching and design phase, you also draw the designs by hand or use other digital tools such as:
    • Procreate, Clip Studio Paint, Krita, MediBang Paint Pro, or Sketchbook
  • For 3D modelling, alternatives to Blender include:
    • Maya, 3ds Max, ZBrush, SketchUp, Fusion 360, or Cinema 4D
  • For 3D slicing and print preparation, you can also use:
    • Simplify3D, PrusaSlicer, or Slic3r

🛈 Note: This project used Blender and Ultimaker Cura, but learners are free to use any tool they are comfortable with.

License

Icon for the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Chapter 1: Preparing the Project Materials Copyright © 2025 by YongHong Chen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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