Dendritas created by Tredé in Puerto Rico. Check out these designs and then dig in deeper to learn how artist Vicente Gascó‘s parametric design research (and Diffusion-Limited Aggregation) have lead to these complex, natural formations in his site here. He drew on fractal/mathematical research used to explore shapes such as corals, brains, tree roots and more.

Dendritas is a 3d printed flower planter / household container and part of a generative design research exploring the intersection of art, science and mathematics. Dendrites are part of Diffusion-Limited Aggregation, introduced in 1981 by Witten and Sander, a fractal growth algorithmic model which produces forms frequently found in living and non-living nature. Forms produced are similar to certain corals, crystals, brains, tree roots, veins, etc.

Dendritas was recently exhibited in ‘Santurce es Ley 5’, a local Puertorican art festival.

Fabrication files include two .stl files for two iterations but due to the nature of how the geometry is generated, each piece is unique. (read more)

And from his research write up:

Dendrites are part of Diffusion-Limited Aggregation, introduced in 1981 by Witten and Sander, a fractal growth algorithmic model which produces forms frequently found in living and non-living nature. Forms produced are similar to certain corals, crystals, brains, tree roots, veins, etc.

Based on Daniel Piker’s DLA explorations, the parametric algorithm programmed in Rhinoceros plug-in, Grasshopper, aims to generate a design scheme, variations and outcome to what could further become a design language to generate products such as jewellery, wearables, vases, etc.

The form starts with seed points, particles are introduced and they wander around randomly until touching part with the existing cluster and the process repeats. Parameters include spin angles, speed, how much the particles will wander and how close they’ll stick to the cluster. This allows for unlimited variations within the same algorithmic process…. (read more)

Every Thursday is #3dthursday here at Adafruit! The DIY 3D printing community has passion and dedication for making solid objects from digital models. Recently, we have noticed electronics projects integrated with 3D printed enclosures, brackets, and sculptures, so each Thursday we celebrate and highlight these bold pioneers!

Have you considered building a 3D project around an Arduino or other microcontroller? How about printing a bracket to mount your Raspberry Pi to the back of your HD monitor? And don’t forget the countless LED projects that are possible when you are modeling your projects in 3D!

The Adafruit Learning System has dozens of great tools to get you well on your way to creating incredible works of engineering, interactive art, and design with your 3D printer! We also offer the LulzBot TAZ – Open source 3D Printer and the Printrbot Simple Metal 3D Printer in our store. If you’ve made a cool project that combines 3D printing and electronics, be sure to let us know, and we’ll feature it here!