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KnitScript: A Domain-Specific Scripting Language for Advanced Machine Knitting

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Knitting machines can fabricate complex fabric structures using robust industrial fabrication machines. However, machine knitting’s full capabilities are only available through low-level programming languages that operate on individual machine operations. We present KnitScript, a domain-specific machine knitting scripting language that supports computationally driven knitting designs. KnitScript provides a comprehensive virtual model of knitting machines, giving access to machine-level capabilities as they are needed while automating a variety of tedious and error-prone details. Programmers can extend KnitScript with Python programs to create more complex programs and user interfaces. We evaluate the expressivity of KnitScript through a user study where nine machine knitters used KnitScript code to modify knitting patterns. We demonstrate the capabilities of KnitScript through three demonstrations where we create: a program for generating knitted figures of randomized trees, a parameterized hat template that can be modified with accessibility features, and a pattern for a parametric mixed-material lampshade. KnitScript advances the state of machine-knitting research by providing a platform to develop and share complex knitting algorithms, design tools, and patterns.

Megan Hofmann, Lea Albaugh, Tongyan Wang, Jennifer Mankoff, Scott E. Hudson: KnitScript: A Domain-Specific Scripting Language for Advanced Machine Knitting. UIST 2023: 21:1-21:21

Domain Specific Metaheuristic Optimization

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For non-technical domain experts and designers it can be a substantial challenge to create designs that meet domain specific goals. This presents an opportunity to create specialized tools that produce optimized designs in the domain. However, implementing domain specific optimization methods requires a rare combination of programming and domain expertise. Creating flexible design tools with re-configurable optimizers that can tackle a variety of problems in a domain requires even more domain and programming expertise. We present OPTIMISM, a toolkit which enables programmers and domain experts to collaboratively implement an optimization component of design tools. OPTIMISM supports the implementation of metaheuristic optimization methods by factoring them into easy to implement and reuse components: objectives that measure desirable qualities in the domain, modifiers which make useful changes to designs, design and modifier selectors which determine how the optimizer steps through the search space, and stopping criteria that determine when to return results. Implementing optimizers with OPTIMISM shifts the burden of domain expertise from programmers to domain experts.

Megan Hofmann, Nayha Auradkar, Jessica Birchfield, Jerry Cao, Autumn G. Hughes, Gene S.-H. Kim, Shriya Kurpad, Kathryn J. Lum, Kelly Mack, Anisha Nilakantan, Margaret Ellen Seehorn, Emily Warnock, Jennifer Mankoff, Scott E. Hudson: OPTIMISM: Enabling Collaborative Implementation of Domain Specific Metaheuristic Optimization. CHI 2023: 709:1-709:19

Rapid Convergence: The Outcomes of Making PPE during a Healthcare Crisis

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Kelly Avery Mack, Megan Hofmann, Udaya Lakshmi, Jerry Cao, Nayha Auradkar, Rosa I. Arriaga, Scott E. Hudson, Jennifer Mankoff. Rapid Convergence: The Outcomes of Making PPE During a Healthcare Crisis. [Link to the paper]

The U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH) 3D Print Exchange is a public, open-source repository for 3D printable medical device designs with contributions from clinicians, expert-amateur makers, and people from industry and academia. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NIH formed a collection to foster submissions of low-cost, locally-manufacturable personal protective equipment (PPE). We evaluated the 623 submissions in this collection to understand: what makers contributed, how they were made, who made them, and key characteristics of their designs. We found an immediate design convergence to manufacturing-focused remixes of a few initial designs affiliated with NIH partners and major for-profit groups. The NIH worked to review safe, effective designs but was overloaded by manufacturing-focused design adaptations. Our work contributes insights into: the outcomes of distributed, community-based medical making; the features that the community accepted as “safe” making; and how platforms can support regulated maker activities in high-risk domains.

Maptimizer

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Megan Hofmann, Kelly Mack, Jessica Birchfield, Jerry Cao, Autumn G. Hughes, Shriya Kurpad, Kathryn J. Lum, Emily Warnock, Anat Caspi, Scott E. Hudson, Jennifer Mankoff:
Maptimizer: Using Optimization to Tailor Tactile Maps to Users Needs. CHI 2022: 592:1-592:15 [pdf]

Tactile maps can help people who are blind or have low vision navigate and familiarize themselves with unfamiliar locations. Ideally, tactile maps are created by considering an individual’s unique needs and abilities because of their limited space for representation. However, significant customization is not supported by existing tools for generating tactile maps. We present the Maptimizer system which generates tactile maps that are customized to a user’s preferences and requirements, while making simplified and easy to read tactile maps. Maptimizer uses a two stage optimization process to pair representations with geographic information and tune those representations to present that information more clearly. In a user study with six blind/low-vision participants, Maptimizer helped participants more successfully and efficiently identify locations of interest in unknown areas. These results demonstrate the utility of optimization techniques and generative design in complex accessibility domains that require significant customization by the end user.

A system diagram showing the maptimizer data flow setup. The inputs are geography sets, representations options, and user preferences. Geography types and representation options are paired and tuned using an optimizer. The output is a tactile map.

Computational Design of Knit Templates

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We present an interactive design system for knitting that allows users to create template patterns that can be fabricated using an industrial knitting machine. Our interactive design tool is novel in that it allows direct control of key knitting design axes we have identified in our formative study and does so consistently across the variations of an input parametric template geometry. This is achieved with two key technical advances. First, we present an interactive meshing tool that lets users build a coarse quadrilateral mesh that adheres to their knit design guidelines. This solution ensures consistency across the parameter space for further customization over shape variations and avoids helices, promoting knittability. Second, we lift and formalize low-level machine knitting constraints to the level of this coarse quad mesh. This enables us to not only guarantee hand- and machine-knittability, but also provides automatic design assistance through auto-completion and suggestions. We show the capabilities through a set of fabricated examples that illustrate the effectiveness of our approach in creating a wide variety of objects and interactively exploring the space of design variations.

Benjamin Jones, Yuxuan Mei, Haisen Zhao, Taylor Gotfrid, Jennifer Mankoff, Adriana Schulz:
Computational Design of Knit Templates. ACM Trans. Graph. 41(2): 16:1-16:16 (2022)

Four pink knit dresses mounted on four mannekins. each showing different styles of neckline and skirt. Behind each dress is the pattern used to create that dress. The shape of the quads in the pattern demonstrate their relationship to typical knitting patterns -- for example a collar knit in the round has quads that narrow as they go up.

Our interactive design system helps users explore key design axes for knitting to generate highly customized patterns from input shape templates; e.g., a seamless yoke dress with princess-cut apparent seams (a), and drop shoulder dresses with textures on the arms and skirt (b–d). The output of our system is a knit pattern template that lets users vary the shape while preserving the design, for example, creating a child’s dress with short sleeves (d) that matches an adult dress (b), or varying skirt texture and angle, and sleeve knitting direction (c). The system guarantees that all results and variations are machine knittable.

A diagram showing four differently shaped duck faces (a) which all have the same mesh, which can react easily to different shapes by adjusting quad shapes. The final product of a duck with a short, and a long, snout, is shown knitted in lavendar at the right.

Overview of our framework. (a) Triangle meshes from a parametric template (the system deals with a single mesh at a time). (b) Input triangle mesh with user annotations of composition, layout, and direction guidelines. (c) Generated quad mesh patches, which are consistent across template variations. (d) Quad mesh annotated for knitting the body tube in the round using short rows to curve the tube. Blue lines indicate seams. The same design applies to all template variations (two shown here). (e) Duck knit with short rows. (f ) Quad mesh annotated with different textures and orientations; the body is knit as seamed sheets with decreases. (g) Duck knit with textures and a large head from template (f ).

KnitGIST: Generative Texture Design

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Hofmann, M., Mankoff, J., & Hudson, S. E. (2020, October). KnitGIST: A Programming Synthesis Toolkit for Generating Functional Machine-Knitting Textures. In Proceedings of the 33rd Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (pp. 1234-1247).

Automatic knitting machines are robust, digital fabrication devices that enable rapid and reliable production of attractive, functional objects by combining stitches to produce unique physical properties. However, no existing design tools support optimization for desirable physical and aesthetic knitted properties. We present KnitGIST (Generative Instantiation Synthesis Toolkit for knitting), a program synthesis pipeline and library for generating hand- and machine-knitting patterns by intuitively mapping objectives to tactics for texture design. KnitGIST generates a machine-knittable program in a domain-specific programming language.

Picture of three different textures and how they look compressed and stretched.
Picture showing Stockinette, Cables, Seed stitch and Ribbing
A picture of a knit lampshade in blue and green surrounding a lit lamp on an orange table.

KnitPick: Manipulating Texture

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Knitting creates complex, soft objects with unique and controllable texture properties that can be used to create interactive objects. However, little work addresses the challenges of using knitted textures. We present KnitPick: a pipeline for interpreting pre-existing hand-knitting texture patterns into a directed-graph representation of knittable structures (KnitGraphs) which can be output to machine and hand-knitting instructions. Using KnitPick, we contribute a measured and photographed data set of 300 knitted textures. Based on findings from this data set, we contribute two algorithms for manipulating KnitGraphs. KnitCarving shapes a graph while respecting a texture, and KnitPatching combines graphs with disparate textures while maintaining a consistent shape. Using these algorithms and textures in our data set we are able to create three Knitting based interactions: roll, tug, and slide. KnitPick is the first system to bridge the gap between hand- and machine-knitting when creating complex knitted textures.

KnitPick: Programming and Modifying Complex Knitted Textures for Machine and Hand Knitting, Megan Hofmann, Lea Albaugh, Ticha Sethapakdi, Jessica Hodgins, Scott e. Hudson, James McCann, Jennifer Mankoff. UIST 2019. The KnitPick Data set can be found here.

A picture of a knit speak file which is compiled into a knit graph (which can be modified using carving and patching) and then compiled to knitout, which can be printed on a knitting machine. Below the graph is a picture of different sorts of lace textures supported by knitpick.
KnitPick converts KnitSpeak into KnitGraphs which can be carved, patched and output to knitted results
A photograph of the table with our data measurement setup, along with piles of patches that are about to be measured and have recently been measured. One patch is attached to the rods and clips used for stretching.
Data set measurement setup, including camera, scale, and stretching rig
A series of five images, each progressively skinnier than the previous. Each image is a knitted texture with 4 stars on it. They are labeled (a) original swatch (b) 6 columns removed (c) 9 columns removed (d) 12 columns removed (e) 15 columns removed
The above images show a progression from the original Star texture to the same texture with 15 columns removed by texture carving. These photographs were shown to crowd-workers who rated their similarity. Even with a whole repetition width removed from the Stars, the pattern remains a recognizable star pattern.

“Occupational Therapy is Making”

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Splint that has been 3D printed in a material of an appropriate skin color and fit to a client's hand.
Best Paper Award Icon “Occupational Therapy is Making'”: Design Iteration and Digital Fabrication in Occupational Therapy

 

Consumer-fabrication technologies potentially improve the effectiveness and adoption of assistive technology (AT) by engaging AT users in AT creation. However, little is known about the role of clinicians in this revolution. We investigate clinical AT fabrication by working as expert fabricators for clinicians over a four-month period. We observed and co-designed AT with four occupational therapists at two clinics: a free clinic for uninsured clients, and a Veteran’s Affairs Hospital. We find that existing fabrication processes, particularly with respect to rapid prototyping, do not align with clinical practice and its \textit{do-no-harm} ethos. We recommend software solutions that would integrate into client care by: amplifying clinicians’ expertise, revealing appropriate fabrication opportunities, and supporting adaptable fabrication.

3D Printed Wireless Analytics

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Wireless Analytics for 3D Printed Objects: Vikram Iyer, Justin Chan, Ian Culhane, Jennifer Mankoff, Shyam Gollakota UIST, Oct. 2018 [PDF]

We created a wireless physical analytics system works with commonly available conductive plastic filaments. Our design can enable various data capture and wireless physical analytics capabilities for 3D printed objects, without the need for electronics.

We make three key contributions:

(1) We demonstrate room scale backscatter communication and sensing using conductive plastic filaments.

(2) We introduce the first backscatter designs that detect a variety of bi-directional motions and support linear and rotational movements. An example is shown below

(3) As shown in the image below, we enable data capture and storage for later retrieval when outside the range of the wireless coverage, using a ratchet and gear system.

We validate our approach by wirelessly detecting the opening and closing of a pill bottle, capturing the joint angles of a 3D printed e-NABLE prosthetic hand, and an insulin pen that can store information to track its use outside the range of a wireless receiver.

Selected Media

6 of the most amazing things that were 3D-printed in 2018 (Erin Winick, MIT Technology Review, 12/24/2018)

Researchers develop 3D printed objects that can track and store how they are used (Sarah McQuate), UW Press release. 10/9/2018

Assistive Objects Can Track Their Own Use (Elizabeth Montalbano), Design News. 11/14/2018

People

Students

Vikram Iyer
Justin Chan
Ian Culhane

Faculty

Jennifer Mankoff
Shyam Gollakota

Contact: printedanalytics@cs.washington.edu

Expressing and Reusing Design Intent in 3D Models

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Megan K Hofmann, Gabriella Han, Scott E Hudson, Jennifer Mankoff. Greater Than the Sum of Its PARTs: Expressing and Reusing Design Intent in 3D Models CHI 2018, To Appear.

With the increasing popularity of consumer-grade 3D printing, many people are creating, and even more using, objects shared on sites such as Thingiverse. However, our formative study of 962 Thingiverse models shows a lack of re-use of models, perhaps due to the advanced skills needed for 3D modeling. An end user program perspective on 3D modeling is needed. Our framework (PARTs) empowers amateur modelers to graphically specify design intent through geometry. PARTs includes a GUI, scripting API and exemplar library of assertions which test design expectations and integrators which act on intent to create geometry. PARTs lets modelers integrate advanced, model specific functionality into designs, so that they can be re-used and extended, without programming. In two workshops, we show that PARTs helps to create 3D printable models, and modify existing models more easily than with a standard tool.

Picture of 3D models and a printout