NEGAR KALANTAR

Robotic Light

—PROCESS

Data-Driven Design e

Seashell-Inspired Robotic Fabrication

Robotic Light Visualization

Clay++ | 3D Printing on Arbitrary Surfaces

Robotic Clay Printing

Non-Planar Robotic Printing


—BEHAVIOR

Tunable Smart Materials

Reconfigurable Kerf Structures

Flexible Textile

3D-Printed Flexible yet Rigid Textile

Self-Forming 3D Printed Structures

a2o | Responsive Mediator

—MATTER

Algorithmic Kerfing

BioMaterial | BacTerra

BioMaterial | Shell We Dance

BioMaterial |ShoreThing

—GEOMETRY

Nested Vault

2D Nesting

2.5D Nesting

3D Nesting

PRINT in PRINT

Casting on Sand

Folding Unfoldable

Kinetic Shading Structures

Deployable Structures

Deployable Domes

D-Form

Robotic Light Visualization

PARAMETRIC BIOMIMICRY

2024 | CCA Digital Craft Lab & Autodesk Technology Center, San Francisco.

Collaborators: Ali Farajmandi (Lead Researcher), Boya Wang

Links: Extended Description

Project Description: This project investigates the expressive potential of robotic motion through light and long-exposure photography. A compact LED spotlight is mounted on the robotic arm, transforming its movements into visible trajectories. As the robot performs a series of spatial operations—twisting, expanding, dividing, and turning—its illuminated path is captured as ethereal light traces, revealing the geometry of its behavior over time.

The luminous patterns evoke the spiraling elegance of seashell forms, offering both analytical and aesthetic insights into how specific parameters, particularly twist, shape the evolving structure. This visual simulation serves as a foundational study for a subsequent project focused on biomimetic 3D printing. By using light as a medium, the work maps out the formal logic that informs material fabrication processes in nature-inspired robotic construction. (By Ali Farajmandi)


The same technique is also used to visualize mathematical equations, translating abstract formulas into dynamic light drawings. The resulting images document both geometric logic and motion in space, serving as standalone visual artifacts within the project’s narrative.(By Boya Wang)