@inproceedings{nguyen_jitterbug_2023,

title = {Jitterbug: A Hybrid Digital Fabrication Platform for Rapid Prototyping of Printed Electronics},

author = { Vinh Nguyen and Anika E. Harding and Kaito Yan and Nadya Peek and Corie L. Cobb},

doi = {https://doi.org/10.1115/DETC2025-159953},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-08-17},

urldate = {2025-08-25},

booktitle = {ASME 2025 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference},

number = { IDETC2025-159953},

publisher = {ASME},

abstract = {Hybrid digital fabrication combines 3D printing with additional fabrication functionality such as pick-and-place (PnP) to enable customizable, printed electronic (PE) devices with an expansive array of form factors. Researchers have investigated a wide range of new materials, methods, and processes to advance PE devices. However, existing platforms cannot be easily modified or customized, severely limiting one’s ability to adapt hybrid digital fabrication platforms to ever evolving research and prototype needs. This paper introduces Jitterbug, a hybrid digital fabrication platform that supports rapid prototyping of PEs. Jitterbug consists of a toolpath generation workflow and an automatic tool-changing hardware system that builds upon existing open-source 3-axis motion frameworks. The toolpath generation workflow allows users to design PEs and generate toolpath programs directly in its computer-aided design (CAD) environment, provides granular control of the fabrication workflow, and enables printing of conductive traces on substrates with curved features at low-incline angles (< 50°). For demonstration purposes, Jitterbug's initial tool-changing system is designed with the core fused filament fabrication (FFF), direct ink writing (DIW), and PnP tools necessary for hybrid digital fabrication; the system can support up to ten tools for different PE workflows. Jitterbug’s capabilities are demonstrated through fabrication of two functional light-emitting diode (LED) prototype devices, and its implications on designing specialized workflows for PEs are discussed.},

keywords = {additive manufacturing, digital fabrication, printed electronics},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}

@inproceedings{fossdal_vespidae_2023,

title = {Vespidae: A Programming Framework for Developing Digital Fabrication Workflows},

author = {Frikk H Fossdal and Vinh Nguyen and Rogardt Heldal and Corie L. Cobb and Nadya Peek},

url = {https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3563657.3596106},

doi = {10.1145/3563657.3596106},

isbn = {978-1-4503-9893-0},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-07-01},

urldate = {2023-07-01},

booktitle = {Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference},

pages = {2034--2049},

publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery},

address = {New York, NY, USA},

series = {DIS '23},

abstract = {Digital fabrication machines are controlled through code. Software that generates this code, such as slicers, often rely on abstractions that restrict practitioners from exploring the full design space. We contribute Vespidae, a programming framework for developing custom toolpaths and visualizations. Vespidae module types include Toolpaths, Actions, Solvers, and Export. These generate geometry, specify machine tasks, sort and visualize action sequences, and generate and stream machine code. We show example workflows that demonstrate Vespidae’s strengths in supporting iteration and unconventional practice. These include non-planar 3D printing, varying a print’s tactile qualities with under-extrusion, and exploring the design space of milling marks. Furthermore, we used Vespidae over the course of six months to explore multi-material 3D printing for energy storage devices on a custom machine. Finally, we discuss how Vespidae contributes to a movement in HCI arguing for human-machine collaboration.},

keywords = {3D printing, CAD/CAM, digital fabrication},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {inproceedings}

}