The goal of DARWINPRINT is to develop, test, and share a 3D print workshop based on evolutionary principles for and with elementary school children. The workshop will make the scientific concept of ‘evolution’ tangible and serve as an example of the scientific way of working.
An essential step in evolution was the selection of the individuals that best fit in the environment (often known as 'survival of the fittest'). In nature, the natural environment makes this selection. In DARWINPRINT, elementary school children select the flower pot they like most from a set of possible designs generated by an algorithm. The most 'successful' designs have offspring, and the cycle repeats. After a few generations, the most successful flower pot will be 3D printed.
As such, in DARWINPRINT the flowerpots serve as an example of how evolution works.
Collaborating with 'De School' and Codam
The project will be developed together with the elementary school ‘De School’ in Zandvoort and Codam Coding College. While the pupils from De School play an active role in testing the workshop, Codam will ensure that the algorithms for DARWINPRINT run smoothly. The developed software code and workshop information will be made available online.
Notably, the underlying algorithms developed in DARWINPRINT are wider than designing flower pots and can be used to create anything. This opens up new ways for cities to include the preferences of inhabitants and other stakeholders, such as printing and designing street furniture 'liked' by the residents. It could even allow infrastructure, such as bridges, to be designed in a way that captures the 'national character': selecting the design that reflects the preference of the locals, for example — watch this space!
| Duration: |
|
Principal Investigators
Partners
