Jul 3, 2016 | By Alec
What were you doing when you were ten? While most engineers and makers start playing with Legos and computers at a young age, the ten-year-old Atbin from the Netherlands is a bit more talented than most kids his age. An avid 3D printing fan, he showcased gorgeous 3D printed sculptures of the Eiffel Tower and the Leaning Tower of Pisa at Innorobo 2016 in Paris. Both standing over a meter tall, the remarkable sculptures were all 3D printed by hand using a 3D printing pen and showcase the boy’s incredible talent.
But this hasn’t come as quite a shock to Atbin’s parents, as the Dutch boy also excels at school. Having already skipped grades twice in the Dutch educational system, he’s on a path to reach university at the age of 13 or 14. Atbin also speaks three languages fluently, and is especially interested in science and technology, as well as in astronomy, cosmology, chemistry, geography, paleontology and aeronautics. Constantly exploring new things, he has already studied numerous engines with different power sources, and loves to make 3D models with Cinema 4D and play the Kerbal Space Program video game.
Atbin will obviously be a success in whatever he chooses to do in later life, but fortunately making has caught his eye. Having already learnt to program with Scratch and having received a diploma from Code.org, Atbin is a huge making and 3D printing fan. Having been working on numerous models, he and his father were invited to showcase his work at the Innorobo 2016convention in Paris in late May.
Loving the idea, Atbin even worked hard to complete a custom model of the most iconic symbol of Paris: the Eiffel Tower. “I got the idea for it because the Eiffel Tower is a very recognized monument, and the exhibition is in Paris so I surely had to make an Eiffel Tower. It took about two months of part-time working, and two weeks of full time work. It is pretty big and has all these one-layered details and is very strong,” he revealed at the convention.
The tower itself is a massive 120 cm tall and completely made from ABS. Using over twenty different colors, the Eiffel Tower was made from nearly 100 meters of filament and stands on a 42 x 42 cm platform. As he revealed, it was completely based on a detailed structural map of the Eiffel Tower, and he strived to make a perfect replica.
While the Eiffel Tower was definitely an eye catcher for the Parisian crowds at Innorobo 2016, Atbin’s Leaning Tower of Pisa is perhaps even more remarkable. Most impressive of all, it leans over slightly, just like the actual tower. “We managed to get it leaning because of [a series of] triangles that have been positioned in such a way to keep it leaning. To keep the whole thing stable, we used a stone that is polished and made in cube. I won the stone in a chess competition,” Atbin revealed.
As you can see below, the tower consists of a series of round strips of ABS figures, which have all been attached to a cage of gold ABS. “The cage acts as the center of mass to keep the whole thing stable,” Atbin revealed. The single-layered gold frame essentially acts as a flexible (more so than conventional ABS) and strong skeleton, with the series of rings providing extra stability.
That only showcases the amount of planning that went into this model. As Atbin revealed, he chose the Tower of Pisa because it’s also a popular monument, and was particularly fascinated by the fact that it’s been stooping for centuries. “Tourists take those false perspective photos at the tower, but now they can actually hold it,” he says. Consisting of about 200 meters of ABS filament (twice as much as the Eiffel Tower), it features about ten different colors for a fantastic aesthetic effect. The young genius revealed that it took about a week of full time work just to assemble the massive tower.
But that wasn’t all, as Atbin also showcased a 3D printed drone frame at the event in Paris. While impressive already, it is most remarkable for showing Atbin’s smart approach to design. Wanting to make it bigger and more detailed, he first planned a hemisphere shape with eleven of what he calls leaves – segments of 3D printed frames that fit snugly together. “The triangle shapes are already strong, but we used these gridded patterns to make the drone even stronger,” the young designer says. “The whole thing is very light and rigid.” He used no glue, as ABS bonds very well already, and simply used scissors to realize desired shapes. While it’s simply a frame and therefore doesn’t fly, the 3D printed drone is certainly impressive.
Most remarkable of all, Atbin created all these models using nothing more than 3D pens and ABS filament. It just shows what can be achieved with an accurate plan, a dream and enough dedication. In the right hands, even a 3D printing pen can clearly become an impressive architectural tool. But one thing seems certain: the next generation of makers is coming, and Atbin is going to be a part of it.
Posted in 3D Printing Application
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