Silkworm is a plugin that translates Grasshopper and Rhino geometry into GCode for 3d printing. Silkworm allows for the complete and intuitive manipulation of the printer GCode, enabling novel printed material properties to be specified by non-solid geometry and techniques of digital craft.
Project Silkworm is an open project to develop the concept of digital craft via the resources of open source 3d printing technology. The revolution of 3D printing is seeing a rise in novel methodologies of material design communication, from concept through to fabrication. Now additive processes can be manipulated through data driven logics programmed directly by the designer. Silkworm offers the designer a vocabulary to choreograph these processes and develop the way the printed object is conceived.
The software has over 7000 downloads and has been used in educational institutions and by businesses. Over the last decade it has significantly changed the way a number of businesses work with 3D printing for product design, interior design and architecture.