A Dutch designer’s innovative robot has found purpose for the discarded 1.5 million kg of wool in the Netherlands by making 3D structures that can be used as an environment-friendly substitute for materials like foam, polystyrene foam, rubber, glass wool, stone wool and rubber.
Design & designer: Christien Meindertsma’s revolutionary Flocks Wobot, made in collaboration with robotics company TFT, is a tailor-made robotic arm that can deposit wool layer by layer, using a needle felting technique, to form all kinds of objects, without adding water or any other material. The robotic arm attaches to a ‘cobot’, which is a specific type of user-friendly robot.
- Simply put, the wobot punctures the wool with a barbed needle until it turns to felt. The three-dimensional wool structures that are created are strong and soft at the same time.
Use, Not throw: The machine works with different types of wool, but coarse wool varieties are the most effective.
- The wool just needs to be washed.
- Besides using natural virgin wool, it is also possible to blend the wool with recycled wool to add colour and create a rich colour palette.
- The technique has many potential applications in design, with examples including furniture, acoustic products and insulation.
Sidelights: The Flocks Wobot was one of two wool research projects that Meindertsma presented at the recent Dutch Design Week.
- The other was a method for turning wool into soft blocks that can be cut into different shapes, and perhaps offer a sustainable alternative to upholstery foam.
- The designer is currently on show at the Dr Susan Weber Gallery in London. This exhibit will continue till 19 October 2024.
Building on: The project is a follow up to the Zachte Stad; a research project commissioned by Rotterdam Circulair about finding out what was the quality and value of the wool of the Rotterdam herd of sheep owned by Martin Oosthoek. After doing this project Meindertsma felt there was a need for a new technique that would make it possible to build wool in truly three-dimensional shapes without limits in size.
- Two techniques are being developed at the same time; one is the Wobot that is developed for creating free needle felted forms, the other a is a new ‘Block wool’ machine that can create blocks of wool that can be cut to shape.
