S·H
A side-handle stoneware teapot with projected contour lines rests between ceramic tools and a quiet robot arm in a mountain atelier

04Digital prototype

Machine & Matter

Designing a teapot before making it.

01 / Teapot design

Designing
a teapot

A kyusu is a Japanese side-handle teapot. This project explores its shape, capacity, and handling in a digital model before a physical prototype is made.

02 / Concepts

Printing and robot handling

A ceramic extrusion printer laying a fresh clay coil around a side-handle teapot
01 / Clay printingBuilding the pot in layers
A six-axis collaborative robot arm rehearsing precise placement of an empty stoneware tea cup
02 / Robot handlingPlacing a tea cup

These videos are AI-generated illustrations, not footage of a working printer or robot.

03 / Development steps

From design to testing

  1. 01Define

    Capacity, wall thickness, handle position

  2. 02Model

    Shape, interior space, lid fit

  3. 03Simulate

    Printing path and robot movement

  4. 04Test in clay

    Firing, pouring, and comfort in the hand

04 / Current design

The digital model

Current S-220 kyusu CAD form rendered in warm white glaze
01Form
Transparent CAD inspection view showing the kyusu liquid cavity and handle relationship
02Interior
Top-oblique lid-off studio render of the current kyusu form
03Lid fit
238 ml
Capacity to the brim
2.4 mm
Base thickness at centre
151 g
Estimated dry mass
Digital
Model estimates, not fired measurements
Ceramic glaze specimen tiles, calipers, and a contour gauge on a potter's workbench

05 / Physical testing

Still to test in clay

A render cannot show how the pot will pour or feel in the hand. That needs a fired prototype.

06 / Progress

Digital designChecks passed
Ready to manufactureNot yet

Next step: make and test a fired prototype.