Work

Breaking the template paradigm: a highly generative toolpath design platform for melt electrowriting

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Melt electrowriting (MEW) enables the fabrication of precise microarchitectures; however, its inherently uninterrupted printing feature imposes a strict continuous-path constraint. This requirement confines existing toolpath design platforms to a template-based paradigm that merely provides a library of predefined patterns, offering limited flexibility and constraining novel architectural exploration. Moreover, existing platforms provide limited support for designing heterogeneous toolpaths essential for replicating transitional native tissue interfaces. In this context, an open-source, generative toolpath design platform that extends beyond the conventional template-based paradigm is proposed. Rather than selecting from predefined geometries, users can customise lattices, uniform patterns, and controlled deformations using a modular graphical user interface (GUI), from which a suite of tools can be used individually or collectively, enhancing design freedom. To further reduce reliance on template constraints, the GUI incorporates an Eulerian-circuit–based algorithm that automatically converts any externally sourced interconnected linework into MEW-compatible continuous toolpaths, as demonstrated by printing a ‘dragon’ motif. By shifting the paradigm from predefined pattern selection to generative design, this platform lowers the barriers to advanced MEW toolpath generation, accelerates design iteration, and enables scaffold architectures that are difficult to realise efficiently with existing template-based methods.

Source: Virtual and Physical Prototyping

DOI: 10.1080/17452759.2026.2689795