assignment.0? | Process

Posted by gesose on April 29, 2011 · Leave a Comment 

I thought I would post a few images of what I have been working on lately so that those of you who do not frequent my desk can be up-to-date.
I am working on getting the form of my luminary to a point where I can begin doing larger tests and begin working on the kinetic portion of the project. I have been looking at expanding upon my last spherical luminary I brought to class on Monday, but removing all mechanical fasteners (including glue). It has been a difficult exercise in joinery for me and I have gone through several iterations before even beginning to try them in the physical world. I have found a joint system that works thus far, but am beginning to explore alternate connections to the top and bottom of the sphere.

I have been using Grasshopper as a tool to help me panelize a sphere into a specific number of quadrants based on lines of longitude and lines of latitude. Using Grasshopper allows me to make changes at any step along the way and have it automatically update, this is the benefit of using a parametric and generative design tool. The Grasshopper definition thus far is quite simple, as I am using it to test variations of panel or shape types and other parameters I have included. A screenshot of the Grasshopper definition is below. The next step in this definition will be to morph all of the geometry, unroll these surfaces to a format that will be able to be fabricated and number the system to ease installation and assembly. I have successfully done each of these various tasks within Grasshopper before, so it will only be an exercise of making everything work together. Also in the images below you can see the shapes I am using to morph onto the sphere as well as one segment of the sphere after morphing.

update | .

So I have been working on my Grasshopper definition a bit more and made it a bit more functional.  Input consist of a profile curve of the desired luminaire, a center of rotation and the shapes that are to be morphed.  Everything else is a parameter within Grasshopper, allowing for a more customized luminaire.  Below you can see the updated definition and the resulting geometry in Rhino.  I still need to work on the top and bottom joint before I output the file for a prototype.

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