A wonder of recycling, it will let you build true wonders

Apr 7, 2014 10:48 GMT  ·  By

3D printing technology can allow you to create all sorts of shapes, and it also opens a new possibility for recycling plastic. Students from the City Park High School, Utah, USA, have made the best of these assets by inventing the IKOS building block.

Toys are the sort of thing that you'd expect your kids, or your neighbor's kids, to spend their time fiddling with, or sorting out by taste, depending on their age.

However, some can be used in making building models, and others simply end up in the random hobby projects of various people.

LEGO is an example of this, with many different components and an unlimited number of shapes and contraptions that can be made from them.

Now, students from the City Park High School, Utah, USA, have invented a different type of LEGO, or building block.

Called IKOS, they aren't really blocks at all. Well, some of them are, but the 3D models and resulting pieces are very different from LEGO.

They aren't square, for one, and they aren't flat either. They are slightly curved and connect according to the puzzle principle.

They slide and interlock, allowing you to make desk organizers, light fixtures and various other sculptures. Even spheres are possible.

You need at least two pieces to form a basis, then the design can evolve and evolve until you run out of pieces. And when you run out, you can just build some more.

And the best part is that the whole project is green, as in environmentally friendly. The City Park High School students made the IKOS from 100% recycled high-density polyethylene (HDPE), coming from milk jugs and other such containers.

Plastic trash is among the best known pollutants in the world, so any chance to recycle it is welcome. And IKOS promises to take potential waste and turn it into toys.

Finally, the design of IKOS is scalable, which means that it can be used to make larger structures, like water storage tanks and emergency shelters.

It's not be the first time we see building parts that can quickly be snapped together after a disaster, but it is the first time someone suggests building an emergency shelter from milk jugs. Then again, larger structures and components will probably need a different, stronger material.

All that remains now is for the team to raise $15,000 / €10,900 for the manufacturing tool and $6,000 / €4,376 for the first IKOS round of production. Head on to Kickstarter if you want to contribute.