FeltingReel is a soft fabrication system that allows users to create a 3D non-woven textile with various structural strengths. Our system coils wool yarn onto a central reel to form a basic shape and uses actuated barbed needles to refine it. By controlling the coiling tension and the felting times, our system varies the density of the workpiece in a target area to achieve various structural strengths. Specifically, our system controls the tilt of coiling and felting using a Stewart platform around a motorized rotating reel. Our system also allows different basic shapes with hollow internal structures to be formed by changing the detachable reel core. We investigate the effects of different felting needles, frequencies, and coiling directions that influence the density, structural strength, and fabrication time of a workpiece. We propose three methods to combine felting and reeling. We evaluate their performances and final products by producing two example workpieces using our system. We demonstrate several objects made by our working system and discuss its capabilities and limitations.

翻译：FeltingReel是一种软体制造系统，允许用户创建具有多种结构强度的3D无纺织物。我们的系统将羊毛纱线卷绕到中心卷轴上以形成基本形状，并使用驱动式刺针进行精加工。通过控制卷绕张力和毡化次数，系统可在目标区域改变工件密度，从而实现不同的结构强度。具体而言，系统利用围绕电动旋转卷轴的斯特瓦特平台控制卷绕与毡化角度。通过更换可拆卸卷轴芯，系统还可形成具有中空内部结构的不同基本形状。我们研究了不同毡化针头、频率及卷绕方向对工件密度、结构强度和制造时间的影响，并提出三种将毡化与卷绕相结合的方法。通过使用该系统制作两个示例工件，评估了其性能与最终产品。最后展示了系统制作的若干物体，并讨论了其能力与局限性。