Assignment 6B: The Final Frontier
Time to tie it all together.
You have conquered your fears about Grasshopper. (Especially you, Nate!) And, hopefully, by now you understand that it can be extended to model everything from sound to light, to water flow... in relationship to your geometry.
You also understand, recalling assignment 5, that sound control involves just a few key factors. Here are ONE, TWO refreshers if you've forgotten.
Using this knowledge, plus Grasshopper and SONIC, you will produce a model of an acoustic tile, panel, diffuser - an ACOUSTIC FEATURE - for 3D printing. Preferably with the zCorp machine in dFab. Tutorial HERE. Policy and Procedure HERE.
Most importantly this means making "air tight" solid geometry. That is, as the name suggests, no leaky seams. The command to examine those seams in Rhino is 'show edges'. This brings up a small window that allows you to choose what type of edges you'd like to see.
For example, all edges:
And, naked edges:
There are fairly simple ways to make polygon surfaces into solids using the methods reviewed in 6A. Pay particular attention to the "Solid" components in GH. (SInt, SDiff, & SUnion on the right)
Deliverables
A-team:
Assignment 6A:
UPDATE!!! New instructions for using SONIC [posted April 8th]
There is a workaround for our limited access to SONIC.
The SONIC plug-in files can be found HERE. Extract the zipped folder by right-clicking and choose, "Extract All..."
You'll have a folder called SonicMosquitoe0.3. FIRST, save a copy to your USB stick. Then, double-click it.
Inside that are two sub-folders, "Examples" and "Install all of these in components folder". Double-click "Install...blablabla".
The window will now show 21 files. Move that window aside for a moment...
Open Rhino 5 (64-bit). Open The Grasshopper by typing....you got it.
In the GH browser navigate like so: File > Special Folders > Components Folder...
You should now see a window that either has a few files in it, or is totally empty. Bring up the window with the contents of "Install...blablabla". Select everything in "Install...blablabla" and drag it into the Grasshopper components folder. Hopefully you get no call for authentication.
Close the 'Components' folder window. Close Grasshopper. Close Rhino.
Restart Rhino. Open Grasshopper. In the menu line you should now see "Sonic".
***This may get wiped out every time you log off of the computer. That's okay. You saved the Sonic folders on your thumb drive. Now in addition to the 3 examples described below (mandatory), you have access to the other stuff like "Flow Examples".
It's a wonky work around, yes, but it will allow you to access the Sonic tools on most any Arch machine.
Update 2: You will not be penalized for turning in assignment 6A by Wednesday 4/16. However, 6B will drop 4/14 as planned with no less work to be done. Happy Carnival };{>
END UPDATE__________________________________________
If you fit the following criteria, first click below:
Part 1
Assignment 5: Acoustics Research
Due 3/28 to the blog:
Assignment 1:
Due (race scheduled for) ???
Time to tie it all together.
You have conquered your fears about Grasshopper. (Especially you, Nate!) And, hopefully, by now you understand that it can be extended to model everything from sound to light, to water flow... in relationship to your geometry.
You also understand, recalling assignment 5, that sound control involves just a few key factors. Here are ONE, TWO refreshers if you've forgotten.
Using this knowledge, plus Grasshopper and SONIC, you will produce a model of an acoustic tile, panel, diffuser - an ACOUSTIC FEATURE - for 3D printing. Preferably with the zCorp machine in dFab. Tutorial HERE. Policy and Procedure HERE.
Most importantly this means making "air tight" solid geometry. That is, as the name suggests, no leaky seams. The command to examine those seams in Rhino is 'show edges'. This brings up a small window that allows you to choose what type of edges you'd like to see.
For example, all edges:
 |
| Fuchsia...nice. |
Notice in this image there are no edges shown. This indicates that there are no 'naked' edges. No holes. No gaps. Ready to 3D print. In the event you find a gap, you can normally fix it using the "Join Edges" command in Rhino....
There are fairly simple ways to make polygon surfaces into solids using the methods reviewed in 6A. Pay particular attention to the "Solid" components in GH. (SInt, SDiff, & SUnion on the right)
You may find it useful, and simpler, to show the acoustic modeling of your object by isolating the faces of a solid that will receive direct sound. Like so...
A-team:
- An acoustic feature that is integrated into the design of your architecture and is appropriately informative to your final review. (Didn't you see this coming?)
- Details of your acoustic feature that show how it is "attached" to a building surface.
- (A+ team) Using the material reflectivity modeling in SONIC to decide what your part would be made of ultimately. (Screen shot required)
- Plus everything below...
B-team:
- 3D print of your acoustic feature (Because scale may vary widely, it should fit in the hand. Remember, 3D printers have minimum-volume limits based on materials. I wonder where could you learn about those?)
- Screen shots of that model, or a portion of it, performing in SONIC.
- A brief (50-100 words) written explanation of how your geometry - and material... - perform according to the phenomena you examined in assignment 5.
- Plus everything below...
C,D-team:
- A blog post called, 'Name': Best final assignment ever.
- Little else.
Absolute due date: TBD
Late work drops one letter grade per day.
We will meet to discuss any questions you might have on the assignment.
Work fast, the 3D printer can't make your part the night before the review.
Assignment 6A:
UPDATE!!! New instructions for using SONIC [posted April 8th]
There is a workaround for our limited access to SONIC.
The SONIC plug-in files can be found HERE. Extract the zipped folder by right-clicking and choose, "Extract All..."
You'll have a folder called SonicMosquitoe0.3. FIRST, save a copy to your USB stick. Then, double-click it.
Inside that are two sub-folders, "Examples" and "Install all of these in components folder". Double-click "Install...blablabla".
The window will now show 21 files. Move that window aside for a moment...
Open Rhino 5 (64-bit). Open The Grasshopper by typing....you got it.
In the GH browser navigate like so: File > Special Folders > Components Folder...
You should now see a window that either has a few files in it, or is totally empty. Bring up the window with the contents of "Install...blablabla". Select everything in "Install...blablabla" and drag it into the Grasshopper components folder. Hopefully you get no call for authentication.
Close the 'Components' folder window. Close Grasshopper. Close Rhino.
Restart Rhino. Open Grasshopper. In the menu line you should now see "Sonic".
***This may get wiped out every time you log off of the computer. That's okay. You saved the Sonic folders on your thumb drive. Now in addition to the 3 examples described below (mandatory), you have access to the other stuff like "Flow Examples".
It's a wonky work around, yes, but it will allow you to access the Sonic tools on most any Arch machine.
Update 2: You will not be penalized for turning in assignment 6A by Wednesday 4/16. However, 6B will drop 4/14 as planned with no less work to be done. Happy Carnival };{>
END UPDATE__________________________________________
If you fit the following criteria, first click below:
- I have a laptop running Windows (64-bit) [including Mac partitions]
- I have Rhino 5 installed on that laptop
Both of those are true, click HERE.
Everyone do the following:
Part 1
Follow through both of these tutorials by Professor Nick Senske of UNC Charlotte, using Rhino and Grasshopper.
2: Dividing, Arranging and Orienting Geometry
Both are reasonably clear, easy to follow, and make use of subtractive and additive components. They are the basics of what you'll need to complete assignment 6.
SONIC:
Example Files
Both are reasonably clear, easy to follow, and make use of subtractive and additive components. They are the basics of what you'll need to complete assignment 6.
SONIC:
Example Files
Sonic is a plug-in for Grasshopper that allows us to simulate basic acoustic phenomena on geometry you create in Rhino including reflection, refraction and diffusion, as you so adequately noted in your Assignment 5 posts. Well done.
Sonic will be available to you on 6-7 machines including the desktop machines in dFab and up to 3 more machines the I.T. department will be setting up for you, if you cannot install it on your personal machines. (If that seems weird, and it should, I'll explain later).
If it is installed on a machine you will see the word…wait for it…"Sonic" in the menu bar of the GH browser, like so:
From the Examples Folder, please open the Rhino and GH files for Surface Ray Simple, Surface Ray Multi Surface and SurfaceRayComplexSurf.
Try out each of these. Play with them! Change them! They're easy, and pretty interesting.
Part 2
Create a new surface in Rhino. Reassign it to the Grasshopper files, grab a screen shot and post as Assignment 6A: Your name.
Due date: April 14th!
Assignment 5: Acoustics Research
Due 3/28 to the blog:
- Write about the factors related to acoustics that effect the design of a space.
- Take into consideration, materials, geometry, and the relationship between the source of a sound and the listener.
- What physics are involved that are relevant to a theatre or music hall? Talk nerdy to me.
- How do architects deal with acoustics? What are the tools of the trade?
- Post images of an acoustical project and explain, briefly, how the above considerations are illustrated by the design.
Assignment 1:
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| ...and then what happened? |
Using the methods we've covered in Rhino tutorials and our discussion on materials and geometry, you will design and assemble a zip-line racer for a common RAW chicken egg. This zip-line ends at a solid wall. Your job is to get the egg down the line as fast as possible, and survive the inevitable crash at the end.
Winners will be determined by whether the egg survives intact. Surviving eggs will be ranked by speed X weight. That is, if your speed in seconds multiplied by weight in ounces is lower than another survivor, you win.
The criteria for construction are strict. Anyone deviating from these are automatically disqualified.
- Parts of the racer may be laser cut and/or 3D printed. Remember, 3D printing is time consuming but can make very efficient, highly functional parts. You may not 3D print or laser cut the entire racer. You MUST 3D print at least one part of the racer.
- Absolutely, positively, unequivocally NO GLUE! Make parts that fit together and you won't need it. Make parts that are forced together (or intentionally break...) when they impact the wall.
- You may include an existing piece of hardware as the slide. This is the part that hooks onto the cable or allows the cable to pass through. Think about friction (a mechanical property) and how car brakes intentionally create friction.
- You may not encase your racer in a soft material such as cotton balls, foam or styrofoam, or air bags. Dissipating the energy of impact must be a function of rigid materials and geometry.
- You may use other materials to create the egg-saving super fast racers.
Please review dFab policies and procedures for 3D printing. If you are going to print parts you should communicate with fellow classmates so multiple racer's parts can be situated into one build. This will decrease congestion significantly!
Remember, weight counts.
Remember, weight counts.
Deliverables:
- design sketches of overall parts and details (not optional)
- process and final photos (phone cameras are fine for this one) Final photos must include before and after your race.
- Assembly diagram. I want to be able to assemble your racer from parts.
- Assembled objects complete and ready to race 9.25. There is no consolation race for late entries.
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| Slide Hardware Minimum Size |
PS...If it looks cool, it is.
Assignment 2 and 3:
2 due 1/29
Learn as much as you can about the culture (or cultures...) of the Highland Center and Crawford Notch. Know the difference between names on the lodge guest list and "trail names". Write on the blog (50-100 words) how your cultural observations could potentially inform the design of details and aesthetics of the bath house. Extra credit will be given for active observations. (Don't be afraid to go off campus...) Document your findings as you go. Post images to illustrate your text.3 ongoing as an element of "Looking Out".
Learn as much as you can about the culture of material wood, woodworking, its fabrication traditions and its relationship (historically, anecdotally, sustainably…) to design and architecture. Extra credit will be given for active observations. Document your findings as you go. Include these findings in your "Looking Out" posts. Use this as a tool to teach each other.
Assignment 4: due 2/19
"The devil's in the details". This expression come's from the fact that in thoroughness we find hidden challenges and often outright contradictions in what we've assumed.
My favorite devil is found in the word "attach" and the demons in his choir, "join" and "connect".
How many of you, for example, found it as easy as you assumed to bolt two acrylic boxes together beautifully? What you experienced was the reality of the word.
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| Left: GC Trade…Right: No One Remembers :( |
Where the word "attach", unresolved, is speculation you will move on to an object of evalueation by creating a "connection detail".
What to do: Post by 3/3
Using the CNC router and plywood of your choice, design a connecting module that incorporates GEOMETRY and/or EXTERNAL HARDWARE as part of your. Studio project 1b: "MATERIAL GESTALT". This is full scale demonstration of how that project "attaches" to either it's own elements or it's surroundings. This connection is not part of the construction material, per se. Think of it as a separate element that organizes the relationships of the construction material.
Parameters:
- Work in groups of two, same as your studio pairings
- Scale 1:1
- You must incorporate 3-axis routing techniques [RhinoCam tutorials on dFab, HERE, demo in class 1/31]
- Produce at least two modules.
- Demonstrate what materials the modules connect
- No "half lap" or "halved" joints where there is module-to-module connection (think waffle construction = too simple)
- You must justify your specific choice of plywood
- You will maximize strength to weight ratio.
- You will produce a finished, well crafted pair of modules.
- You will explain in your blog post how this was informed by your Ethnographic work.
Example: If I was building a leg that needed 3 degrees of freedom from a body, I might make this:
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| QUIT THINKING LITERALLY! USE YOU IMAGINATION! |
Key Concepts:
- Multiples
- Modularity
- Reconfiguration
Key Opportunities:
You have a chance to produce work that not only informs your studio work, but is informed by it.
If done well this is a tool for explaining your concept at the studio review.
Discuss this design with me, AND your studio instructor.
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