Introducing Bespoke Properties to Slip Cast Elements: Designing a Process for Robotically Controlled Rotational Casting

The industrial use of slip casting is niche but highly recognizable. The phase-changing nature of the clay slip makes the process ideal for the production of complex, standalone geometries, such as those needed by the sanitary ware and fine porcelain industries. Slip casting, however, currently lacks the ability to produce meaningful visual variation between components without the need for an entirely new mold. This research explores a novel technique for creating bespoke, slip-cast artifacts through the use of 6-axis robotic motion. By incrementally injecting different amounts of colored slip into the mold while it is rotated, we are able to achieve variable color, pattern, and structure. Because of the highly precise nature of the robotic motion, this variation can be repeated with a high degree of accuracy. In addition, the incremental injection of slip also allows us to achieve a full cast with a minimal amount of slip, removing the draining process of traditional slip casting entirely. The level of control this process might give a designer is explored through a series of tetrahedral components that demonstrate the types of marbling that can be achieved. This work borrows heavily from the field of plastic rotational molding, as numerous parallels can be made between the two processes’ flexibility and parametrization. By drawing on this neighboring field, we hope to bring new variables into the world of mass-manufactured slip-cast ceramics in the form of controllable color and pattern.

Dunaway, D., Rothbart, D., Gwinn, L., King, N., Stuart-Smith, R. “Introducing Bespoke Properties to Slip Cast Elements: Designing a Process for Robotically Controlled Rotational Casting” In M. Akbarzadeh, D. Aviv, H. Jamelle, & R. Stuart-Smith (Eds.), ACADIA 2022: Proceedings of the 42nd Annual Conference of the Association of Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA): Hybrids and Haecceities, IngramSpark, 2023, 44–55.

The paper is available for download on the Cumincad website here.

The Autonomous Manufacturing Lab (AML) explores the integration of robotic manufacturing and construction within architectural design. The AML aims to reduce the environmental and economic costs of design and production while enhancing their cultural and aesthetic impact. The lab's integrative methods for generative design and manufacturing are developed as semi-autonomous systems, exploring possibilities for artisanal-like craftsmanship to be scaled to large production volumes. This approach provides greater specificity and enhanced aesthetic character in design responses compared to traditional automated methods, whilst also reducing material use and waste within bespoke design and production processes. The AML's research enhances design and production capabilities across diverse manufacturing methods and materials by developing industrial and mobile robot fabrication techniques, multi-agent systems, AI/machine learning computational approaches, and applications of real-time sensor and computer vision technologies. This multidisciplinary research includes the development of Aerial Additive Manufacturing, recently published in Nature, which demonstrates the world’s first in-flight additive manufacturing by cooperating drones, representing a rapidly deployable form of collective robotic construction.

University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
The Weitzman School of Design prepares students to address complex sociocultural and environmental issues through thoughtful inquiry, creative expression, and innovation. As a diverse community of scholars and practitioners, we are committed to advancing the public good–both locally and globally–through art, design, planning, and preservation.

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Introducing Bespoke Properties to Slip Cast Elements: Designing a Process for Robotically Controlled Rotational Casting

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