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ChocALM Project Development |
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Written by James Bulleid
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Friday, 29 February 2008 |
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The current ChocALM project team aim to produce a fully working prototype by the end of their time at Exeter University. However, due to the broad scope of the project, the University envisage that it will be worked on by students for a further three years.
During this time developments will be made to the professionally
made prototype, in particular this will include improvements to the
resolution and accuracy of the chocolate objects that are produced. In
addition to this, extensive research into the rheology of chocolate
will help to improve the speed and reliability of the build process.
Future work at the university is also expected to include development
of the software which could evolve into an easy to use, drag and drop
user interface, for producing custom made chocolates.
Beyond the University, the possibilities are endless. Imagine
walking into a high street shop with an object, scanning it and then
sitting down and watching it grow in front of you from chocolate. Or
what about the possibilities for the chocolate manufacturer, they could
use the machine to test chocolate designs and moulds before mass
production. With already substantial interest and support from major
companies, the ChocALM machine has got some very exciting years ahead
of it and the scope for future development is huge, the chocolate
making industry could be about to be transformed by one machine,
ChocALM.
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