The Petri Collection is a coaster set made to resemble the bacterial colonies. These coasters were made using a fluid dispenser attached to a UR-10 industrial robot. Jesmonite, an eco-resin from the UK, was selected by our team for its material properties that harden like stone.

 

The designs were made by tracing sketches in Illustrator and importing the line paths to Rhino. Using the Grasshopper extension we were able to control movement of the robotic arm and the amount of material dispensed. The bacterial patterns were drawn in Jesmonite and set aside to dry then additional material was poured in to fill the molds.

UR-10 Robotic Arm 

Fluid Dispensing

Rhino & Grasshopper

Featured on Instructables

Collaboration: Patrick Brennan and Bill Qiao