Mohamed Amr Abdelaziz

Architect, computational designer and 3D printing expert.

Robotic 3D printing at architectural scale, mostly in ceramics, also in polymers and concrete. I design in code, print with industrial robot arms and run them with software I write.

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The left UR10 in my lab with my clay extruder, printing a Spherene façade tile. Overhangs are coloured as MoTech Studio shows them before a print: 35 to 45°, over 45°. Drag to turn it.

Mohamed Amr AbdelazizArchitect · Computational designer

About me

My name is Mohamed Amr Abdelaziz. I'm an architect, computational designer and 3D printing expert, specialised in robotic 3D printing at architectural scale.

Most of my work is in ceramics: façade tiles, vessels and wall elements printed in clay, then dried, fired and glazed. I also print with polymers, concrete and other materials. Each piece starts as a script in Rhino and Grasshopper and becomes one continuous toolpath for a robot arm.

CeramicsStoneware and earthenware, my main material

PolymersThermoplastics, printed by robot

ConcretePrintable mortars at building scale

And morePastes and new materials, tested in the lab

One print, in numbers.

The tile on the robot above, read from its program the way MoTech Studio reads it before a print.

The part

Part: Spherene façade tile L_Sx1Project: Spherene façade
Size: 125 × 253 × 234 mm
Layers: 130 layers of 1.8 mm
Bead: 4 mm wide, one continuous toolpath
Toolpath: 95,061 robot commands
Clay: 3.3 to 4.5 LCounted by MoTech Studio from the extruder's run time, and measured in the tank
Print time: 1 h 38 min plannedReal prints of this tile took about 1 h 40 min

The machine

Robot: Universal Robots UR10, the left of two6 axes, 1300 mm reach, CB3 controller
Extruder: My own clay extruderCompressed air feeds the clay, a motor-driven screw doses it
Nozzles: 2 to 8 mmMostly 4 or 6 mm
Clay tank: Aluminium tube, 100 × 550 mmAbout 4.3 L of clay
Program: Rhino, Grasshopper and the Robots plugin
Run by: MoTech Studio, a few moves at a time

Overhangs

Measured from the toolpath when the 3D view has loaded.

From a line of code to a fired piece.

Design, print and finish are one process: the toolpath is designed with the material and the machine in mind, and every piece is followed until it leaves the kiln.

Computational design

Forms written as scripts in Rhino and Grasshopper. The shape, the layer height and the bead are designed together, so the toolpath is the design.

Robotic printing

Large pieces printed on industrial robot arms and a delta clay printer. Prints run for hours and can be paused, watched from a phone and resumed at any layer.

Drying, firing, glazing

Each piece is checked and tracked through drying, bisque firing, glazing and the final firing, with what went right and what didn't.

In the lab:Two Universal Robots UR10WASP Delta 40100 ClayOwn clay extruderMoTech Studio

MoTech Studio, the software behind the prints.

Robot programs for large clay pieces are too big for the robot to open. MoTech Studio sends them a few moves at a time, so any print starts in seconds.

Runs both robots and the clay printer at the same time, from one screen.
Pauses where the extruder stops, lifts the nozzle and starts again from any layer.
Every print can be followed from a phone, in the lab or away from it.
Keeps a timelapse of each print, one picture per layer, and the clay it used.

Let's make something in clay.

Commissions, collaborations, workshops or questions about robotic printing: write or call me.

[email protected] +49 176 36392119 Save my contact

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