JigFab: Computational fabrication of constraints to facilitate woodworking with power tools

Leen, Danny; Veuskens, Tom; Luyten, Kris; Ramakers, Raf

doi:10.1145/3290605.3300386

Danny Leen, Tom Veuskens, Kris Luyten, & Raf Ramakers, JigFab: Computational fabrication of constraints to facilitate woodworking with power tools, in Stephen A. Brewster, Geraldine Fitzpatrick, Anna L. Cox, & Vassilis Kostakos (eds.), Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 2019, Glasgow, Scotland, UK, May 04-09, 2019,156 (ACM 2019). DOI PDF

Abstract:

We present JigFab, an integrated end-to-end system that supports casual makers in designing and fabricating con- structions with power tools. Starting from a digital version of the construction, JigFab achieves this by generating vari- ous types of constraints that configure and physically aid the movement of a power tool. Constraints are generated for ev- ery operation and are custom to the work piece. Constraints are laser cut and assembled together with predefined parts to reduce waste. JigFab's constraints are used according to an interactive step-by-step manual. JigFab internalizes all the required domain knowledge for designing and building intri- cate structures, consisting of various types of finger joints, tenon & mortise joints, grooves, and dowels. Building such structures is normally reserved for artisans or automated with advanced CNC machinery.