Anethole

A cobbled-together toolkit for turning mathematical expressions into physical objects using Python and 3D printing.

From this

to this

to this

This project aims to provide a toolkit and a tutorial which will enable any moderately technical user to turn a mathematical equation into a 3D printed physical object. You don't even need to own a 3D printer.

Want to skip to the end? The example from the tutorial is available at The Intricate Geometries shop at Shapeways

Docker Image:

• jjpr/anethole: Environment with JupyterLab, Mayavi and all their dependencies. Contains tutorial notebook and related support files.

Prerequisites

• A Macintosh with macOS no more than about 6 years old
• Docker Desktop
• Meshlab
• An account at Shapeways
• The shell script start_anethole.command from https://github.com/jjpr/anethole (obtain the shell script either by cloning the repository from GitHub, or by downloading the script via the "Raw" link on its listing on GitHub)

Setup Instructions

• Install the applications from the prerequisites list.
• Download and run the shell script start_anethole.command.
  • The script will start a download of a Docker image; this download could take time.
  • Once the download is complete, the script should automatically start a Docker container based on the image, launch JupyterLab, and open your browser to the JupyterLab interface.
• Navigate to the Equation To Object Instructions notebook in the examples directory, and open it. Follow the instructions in the notebook.

To preview the Equation To Object Instructions notebook on GitHub in a non-executable form, including more detailed instructions, go to Equation_To_Object_Instructions.

Shutting Down:

To stop JupyterLab, from the File menu select Shut Down. In the warning dialog, click Shut Down.

To start up again later, just double-click start_anethole.command.