3D Printing Opportunities In Toy Design

A new development in loudspeaker design raises a number of possible 3D Printing Opportunities in the design of toys. We're all familiar with toys that talk or make other sounds. We also know that there is a speaker embedded inside that produces the sound. Because the speaker is inside the toy, the sound produced is muffled.

Disney Research has found a way to make the entire toy itself a loudspeaker through the use of 3D printing. They can also make selected parts of the toy the speaker such as its mouth. This makes the toy sound as if it is talking at you. With a large toy, different parts of it can be independent speakers.

The qualitative sound difference between Disney's design and the conventional embedded speaker is very striking. The fact that this new type of speaker can assume any shape, introduces a number of interesting possibilities in the design of toys.

There are many interesting studies to be made about how the shape of a speaker affects the qualities of its sound. While a cone shape produces directional sound and a sphere produces Omani directional sound, what about the infinity of possible shapes between the two? How does one exploit this new technology in the design of phones and musical instruments?

The principle behind the speaker is through electrostatics. There is an electrode inside the toy that doesn't vibrate and the vibrating speaker part that is the outside (or a part of the outside) surface of the toy. The electrode and the vibrating surface are separated by a small gap. A voltage signal applied to the electrode causes the outside speaker surface to vibrate which produces sound. This is distinctly different from ordinary loudspeakers that use electromagnets. The use of electrostatics in speaker design was first explored in the 1930s.

The toy and the vibrating part of it are 3D printed. A nickel-based paint is then sprayed onto the surfaces that will produce the sound. Currently, there is some sub assembly required but they are working on a design that will enable the 3D printing of the entire toy in one go.

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