Name: Aidan Leitch
Home: Westchester, New York
Day Job: High School Student
How did you get started making?
Iโve always enjoyed building things in one way or another, which when I was younger meant Legos. About 6 years ago, though, I started learning to create 3D games with Unity engine. I was much more drawn to the 3D modeling side of game design than the programming, and in an effort to learn more about 3D and CAD, I came across both of the 3D printing and maker communities. 3D printers immediately struck my interest, and I obtained my own printer not long after. Since then, itโs mostly been the amazing feeling of making your ideas into reality that has me hooked on making.
What type of maker would you classify yourself as?
Iโd say Iโm mostly a robotics/3D printing maker. Robots have always fascinated me and 3D printing is a wildly versatile and flexible tool for making. When you combine these two things together, really interesting new doors open up. For example, soft robotics is a relatively young field that Iโve done a lot of work in. Itโs focussed on making robots out of soft materials. Typically thereโs lots of crazy geometries involved that I donโt think would be possible without 3D printing.
Whatโs your favorite thing youโve made?
One of my favorite projects is my 3D printed gripper. Itโs an experiment to see how much of a robotic hand I could make as a single 3D printed part.
The spiritual successor to that project has been the 3D printed crawler, a walking robot that is also mostly printed as one part.
Whatโs something youโd like to make next?
Iโve been thinking a lot lately about making a large inflatable robot arm out of heat-sealed fabric. It would be very different from some of the other inflatable robots Iโve made. Plus it would be really big.
Any advice for people reading this?
Donโt dismiss your own ideas because you think they wonโt work, just make it! In the end, you donโt know until you try. When I first thought of making my 3D printed crawler, I thought, โNah, no way that could actually walk,โ but look at it now!
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