Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
The surprise would be an internal pattern that would appear unexpectedly
when the cookie was bitten into. Franz created a design ile and set up an
experimental test platform on Fab@home using two different print nozzles,
one with chocolate cookie dough and the other containing vanilla.
The irst batch of printed chocolate and vanilla cookies looked great when
they were squeezed out of the printer's nozzle. The CAD ile worked. The
problem was that when baked, the raw cookie dough quickly lost its shape in
the oven, melting into shapeless lumps. Franz's printed cookies tasted good
but looked like greyish lumps of coal. Worse, the surprise design on the inside
was a mess, a blurry smudge of white and brown cookie doughs.
After some soul searching and a bit of additional research into whether cocoa
or vanilla might have previously undiscovered material properties that behave
in an unexpected manner when forced through a nozzle, Franz was ready to try
again. He remembered that when he was a child, his grandmother used to make
a cookie known for its beautifully crisp physical shape. He called his family in
Austria and after a bit of explanation, was able to obtain the closely held recipe
for his grandmother's cookies.
With fresh hope and a new batch of vanilla and chocolate cookie dough,
Franz loaded up the printer. The CAD ile and Fab@home took care of their
part of the experiment, depositing perfectly formed cookie dough onto the
build platform. Then, the big test: whether this new batch of cookies would
hold their shape, both inner and outer, in the oven.
After an anxious 28 minutes, the cookies were pulled out. Like the irst
batch, they smelled delicious. Unlike the irst batch, their outer shape was
perfect. The old family recipe had come through.
The moment of truth lay in the next step: would the surprise design on the
inside also hold its shape? Once the cookies cooled, Franz took the irst anx-
ious bite and held the cookie aloft for all to see. Triumph! Inside the cookie,
as deined by project specs, the complex internal geometry, as revealed by the
irst bite, was a perfectly deined chocolate letter “C.”
The potential commercial market for cookies with custom printed insides
could be vast. Printed cookies could become vehicles to convey conidential
information back and forth. Perhaps printing a new password into the inside
of a fresh batch of cookies could help IT departments sweeten the annoyance
of customers over headquarters-mandated computer password changes.
