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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2025
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08459 |
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| _version_ | 1866911147381227520 |
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| author | Child, Oliver Hanton, Ollie Dawson, Jack Hodges, Steve Fraser, Mike |
| author_facet | Child, Oliver Hanton, Ollie Dawson, Jack Hodges, Steve Fraser, Mike |
| contents | Consumer-level multi-material 3D printing with conductive thermoplastics enables fabrication of interactive elements for bespoke tangible devices. However, large feature sizes, high resistance materials, and limitations of printable control circuitry mean that deployable devices cannot be printed without post-print assembly steps. To address these challenges, we present Printegrated Circuits, a technique that uses traditional electronics as material to 3D print self-contained interactive objects. Embedded PCBs are placed into recesses during a pause in the print, and through a process we term \textit{Prinjection}, conductive filament is injected into their plated-through holes. This automatically creates reliable electrical and mechanical contact, eliminating the need for manual wiring or bespoke connectors. We describe the custom machine code generation that supports our approach, and characterise its electrical and mechanical properties. With our 6 demonstrations, we highlight how the Printegrated Circuits process fits into existing design and prototyping workflows as well as informs future research agendas. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2509_08459 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Printegrated Circuits: Personal Fabrication of 3D Printed Devices with Embedded PCBs Child, Oliver Hanton, Ollie Dawson, Jack Hodges, Steve Fraser, Mike Human-Computer Interaction Consumer-level multi-material 3D printing with conductive thermoplastics enables fabrication of interactive elements for bespoke tangible devices. However, large feature sizes, high resistance materials, and limitations of printable control circuitry mean that deployable devices cannot be printed without post-print assembly steps. To address these challenges, we present Printegrated Circuits, a technique that uses traditional electronics as material to 3D print self-contained interactive objects. Embedded PCBs are placed into recesses during a pause in the print, and through a process we term \textit{Prinjection}, conductive filament is injected into their plated-through holes. This automatically creates reliable electrical and mechanical contact, eliminating the need for manual wiring or bespoke connectors. We describe the custom machine code generation that supports our approach, and characterise its electrical and mechanical properties. With our 6 demonstrations, we highlight how the Printegrated Circuits process fits into existing design and prototyping workflows as well as informs future research agendas. |
| title | Printegrated Circuits: Personal Fabrication of 3D Printed Devices with Embedded PCBs |
| topic | Human-Computer Interaction |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.08459 |