Modeling Dynamical Systems for 3D Printing

Stephen Lucas, Evelyn Sander, and Laura Taalman
Notices of the American Mathematical Society, Vol. 67, No. 11, p. 1692-1705, 2020
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Abstract: In many cases, it is possible to use a black box differential equations solver to create printable models of dynamical systems such as chaotic attractors. However, sometimes a black box method is inadequate. We have therefore developed a mixed curvature method to make 3D printing possible in these cases. This mixed curvature methoduses a combination of Matlab and the cost-free software OpenSCAD, designed specifically for 3D mesh export. We mostly restrict our discussion to solutions of differential equations, but we end with an extention to the context of more general dynamical structures for iterated maps and ordinary and partial differential equations.