Echape Stool by Stephan Seifert

We are very happy to share that Stephan Seifert (Designer and former Rhino Training Specialist at McNeel Europe) won recently the A'Design Award and Competition with his Echape Stool:

Read more about the project here...

Scan&Solve use for Fimbulvetr snowshoes

Pivot set out to create higher performing, more durable, and ergonomic snowshoes. They used Rhino and Grasshopper for modeling with FEA by Scan&Solve for Rhino to create the Fimbulvetr snowshoes.

See how Pivot used Scan&Solve for Rhino...

Platypus for Grasshopper alpha available

Thornton Tomasetti’s CORE studio has released an alpha
version of Platypus for Grasshopper plugin.

Platypus allows Grasshopper authors to stream geometry 
to the web in real time. It works like a chatroom for parametric geometry and allows for on-the-fly 3D model mashups in the web browser. Multiple Grasshopper authors can stream geometry into a shared 3D environment on the web—a Platypus Session—and multiple viewers can join that session on 3dplatyp.us to interact with the 3D model. Platypus can be used to present parametric 3D models to a remote audience, to collaborate with other Grasshopper users, or both.

Download Platypus and leave comments...

Orca3D training in Antibes, France

Orca3D basic/intermediate training course @ NDAR

Antibes (France)

May 20-21, 2014

NDAR / Design Systems & Technologies™ has organized a 2-day Orca3D training for beginner and intermediate users.

Program:

• Hull assistant
• Foundations of modeling and fairing techniques
• Hydrostatic calculations
• Real-time hydrostatics
• Lines plan
• Stability with criteria verification
• Manage heeling moments
• Longitudinal strength
• Speed/ power prediction
• Weight and cost
• If time allows, topics suggested by participants towards the end of Day 2

Instructor: Stéphane Dardel, NA.
  
Language: English (French and Italian will be also supported)

Cost: 595€ / day, lunch will be provided

Requirements: Own laptop with Rhino 5 SR8 or higher and Orca3D latest Release (v1.3) or WIP. If needed, we can arrange a Rhino and/or an Orca3D license for the duration of the course, free of charge. Please contact ndar@ndar.com at 5 days before the class starts.

More info and registration: ndar@ndar.com

VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre

Perkins + Will Canada photo

A/N Blog photo

What happens when you want your architectural project based on an organic shape?  If you are Busby Perkins + Will, in Vancouver, BC, you combine Rhino and Grasshopper and come up the VanDusen Botanical Garden Visitor Centre. The organic forms and natural systems of a native orchid were the inspiration for the uniquely shaped rooftop of the Centre. Following this theme, the building's undulating green roof petals float above curving earth and concrete walls.

To fabricate this, StructureCraft sliced the building shape into 71 long, curved roofing panels. For more information on this see the A/N The Architect's Newspaper blog.

Another nice presentation is a Perkins + Will video. It's a delightful collection of information with topics such as design concept, software, energy management, sustainability, structural design for complex shapes. Then—this is the point we like—at 2:30 minutes,  Harley Grusko, the Project Designer explains, "Rhino, as a design tool, was probably the most influential in the project. It's used to design forms that are free form or more organic and it does so in a precise way." And he goes on in more detail . . .

The video is nine minutes long and it's a beautiful portrait of the project. It's worth watching the whole thing.

Watch the video ....

TT Toolbox 1.5 now available

TT Toolbox 1.5 Grasshopper plugin is a tool collection that the Core Studio at Thornton Tomasetti uses on a regular basis.

Some of the tools included in TT Toolbox are:

• A lightning-fast Excel Writer with many options such as file creation, worksheet creation, conditional formatting that matches Grasshopper coloring and more.

• An Excel reader/ Listener that keeps a live link to an Excel spreadsheet and automatically detects changes.

• A Section Sweeper (inspired by Jon Mirtschin's StructDrawRhino plugin) that sweeps BRep of structural shape sections around guide curves. It also outputs 2D section curves to sweep/loft yourself.

• A Safe-Delete component that lets you safely delete user-selected Rhino geometry that is not currently referenced in Grasshopper.

• A CAD exporter that [batch-] creates dwg files from Grasshopper.

• A Galapagos Listener Component that records all gene/fitness configurations, as Galapagos or our Brute Force Solver runs.

• Google Spreadsheets Components: Components to read and write data from Google Sheets.

• A Brute Force Solver Component that enables design space enumeration.  The component will generate all possible slider combinations (and solve the definition for each combination), allowing a user to test all of their design options.  Works well with the Galapagos Listener. Solve everything with brute force, then sort by fitness.

• Dashboard Data Visualization components to draw legends, charts, and graphic keys on top of Grasshopper and Rhino.

• Unfold BRep component. Unfolds/unrolls developable BReps.

Leave comments and download TT Toolbox...

AA Summer DLAB :: White - London, UK

AA Summer DLAB ::White

Architectural Association (AA) School of Architecture

London / Hooke Park, United Kingdom

July 21 – August 8, 2014

Summer DLAB experiments with the integration of algorithmic / generative design methodologies and large scale digital fabrication tools. Continuing its color based agenda, Summer DLAB immerses in ‘white’ for its 2014 cycle. 'White' is the starting point to investigating natural formation processes and interpreting them as innovative architectonic spaces. ‘White’ becomes the means of looking into extreme natural conditions which it is associated with. Concepts of emergence, differentiation, and complexity shape the theoretical framework of this investigation. We will observe natural structures of differing scales, which are then abstracted and interpreted into elaborate design proposals. The computational process of Summer DLAB is based on generative design algorithms, as seen in natural growth patterns such as the Lindenmayer system and fractal theory. These concepts are carefully interwoven with interaction and participatory design to create full-scale working prototypes.

One of the major objectives of Summer DLAB is to demonstrate the workflow between computational software and digital assembly procedures leading to physical fabrication. In this respect, the programme is a two-phase process. During the initial phase participants benefit from the unique atmosphere and facilities of AA’s London home. The second phase shifts to AA Hooke Park campus where we fabricate and assemble a full-scale architectural intervention. Here we unify the design goals of Summer DLAB.

Complete info and registration...

RhinoPolyhedra update available

The RhinoPolyhedra plugin for Rhino 5 lets you create and visualize a variety of polyhedral shapes—over 400 different shapes.

RhinoPolyhedra supports both 32-bit and 64-bit Rhino 5.

The RhinoPolyhedra plug-in has three commands:

• Polyhedron. Creates a variety of polyhedra.
• PolarZonohedron. Creates a polar zonohedron.
• SelPlanarSrf. Selects planar surfaces.

RhinoPolyhedra is free!

Version 1.0.14108.445 adds 16 additional prisms & antiprisms and dipyramids & trapezohedra shapes.

Download...

Extra Fabrica Workshop 2014

Dezact announces the launch of a workshop series, commencing with Extra Fabrica Workshop in June/July 2014 in Taipei, Taiwan. 

Extra Fabrica, as part of Dezact’s exploration, aims to develop and test interactive design and fabrication scenarios in neglected or problematic urban interstices and ecologies, to adapt to existing constructs for new use and identity, to catalyze socio-cultural activities, and to engage behavior parallax between physical and virtual environments.

Visit the web site for more details: www.dezact.org

Scan&Solve 2014 Beta - Free until June 18, 2014

Scan&Solve 2014 Beta is free to all Rhino 5 users until June 18, 2014. During this period, you can upgrade your current 1.x license at 40% off, or you can purchase a new license at 20% off the regular price.

Scan&Solve 2014 Beta expands the power and simplicity of structural simulation to any solid geometry within Rhino 5. It offers many powerful features, including faster solvers, higher resolutions, and automation through RhinoScript.

Download Scan&Solve 2014 Beta...

Purchase Scan&Solve 2014...

RhinoGold presentation in Amsterdam

RhinoGold team visits Amsterdam
May 7, 2014

TDM Solutions and Dutch Innovision Group will hold a practical presentation in which attendees will not only be able to see how RhinoGold 4.0, 3D printing and 3D scanning can work together to create different pieces of jewelry, but also how RhinoGold Jewelry Builders, Clayoo and RhinoEmboss can help.

Time: 19:00 – 22:30
Location: Duivendrechtsekade 82, 1096 AJ Amsterdam

Seats are limited. To register, send an email or call +31 (0)10 30 20 880.

Complete details (in Dutch)...

Shop class isn't what it used to be

Kent Winship modeling an Orca skull (KCAW photo/Robert Woolsey)

"This is not your grandfather's shop class." And John Neibergall, from Sherwood High School in Oregon, is out help others with that. Last month over spring break shop teachers convened in Sitka, Alaska, for a professional development class. Neibergall explained, "I'm helping some teachers and students get into digital design and fabrication."

So they spend three days drawing, scanning, printing, and just exploring the state-of-the-art technical tools in the shop lab.

Here at McNeel & Associates, we are particularly proud that we helped one of the teachers, Kent Winship of the UAF Bristol Bay / Dillingham campus. Self-taught in Rhino and struggling, he signed up with Bob Koll's online teacher training last November. Now Winship is a poster child of a top notch fab-lab.

KCAW, the Sitka public radio station, highlighted the class in their news.

Listen to or read the KCAW article... 

DigitArchi.com - New tutorial web site in Korean

Three architecture students from Hongik University in Korea launched DigitArchi.com, a tutorial web site for digital design tools including Rhino and Grasshopper.

In DigitArchi.com, you can find free video tutorials in Korean, tips, and examples of Grasshopper definitions to help those who are interested in architecture and industrial design.

More tutorials and experimental projects will be published in the web site.

Visit DigitArchi.com...

Kadou coffee table and spiral mirror - Milan, Italy

Kadou coffee tables

Bonaldo will show their new products at the Salone del Mobile Milano 2014. Included are the Kadou coffee table and spiral mirror by the Japanese designer Ryosuke Fukusada.

The furniture, designed in Rhino, is named Kadou after the art of flower arrangement. Kadou's leg shapes mimic branches and are a take-off of original Kadou coat stand.

Salone del Mobile Milano 2014 will be April 8-13th in Milan, Italy.

Ryosuke will also exhibit at Ventura Lambrate in  'Another Perspective 2'.

Bonaldo details . . . 

Tech Workshops at facades+

Facades+ returns to New York City
April 24 - Conference
April 25 - Tech Workshops

Facades+ is the premiere conference on high-end building enclosures. Take advantage of your time there and sign up for one of the Tech Workshops. Get hands-on instruction from leading software developers and designers.

Register today!

Grasshopper workshops include:

Advanced Facade Panelization and Optimization Techniques
Matthew Naugle, Thornton TomasettiRhino, Grasshopper, Galapagos & Kangaroo

Parametric Dashboards
Daniel Davis & Tim Dumatrait, CASE, Inc.
Rhino & Grasshopper

Details and registration... 

 

A smartwatch that looks like a watch

Motorola is coming out with a smartwatch. The innovative design part is that it looks a fashionable watch, but happens to be a touch screen. It's not a rectangular wrist gadget that happens to to show the time and date.

The press may be all excited and throwing out theories on the details of Motorola's new smartwatch. But what we are really excited about is that Rhino is used in its design. You can see it in this video.

Motorola expects the watch to go on sale in limited quantities this summer. It will be compatible with Android devices running 4.3 and higher.

AEC Technology Symposium in NYC

AEC Technology Symposium
The Cooper Union, New York City
May 16 - Symposium / May 17-18 - Hackathon

Register now for the second Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Technology Symposium to hear noted speakers on the topics of Computational Design and Big Data.

Speakers include:

• Shane Burger, Woods Bagot, Keynote
• Scott Crawford & Erick Katzenstein, LMNts
• Jeff Vaglio, Enclos
• Daniel Segraves & Mostapha Roudsari, CORE studio Thornton Tomasetti
• Daniel Davis, CASE
• Randy Deutsch, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 
• Andrew Heumann, NBBJ
• Jonatan Schumacher & Ben Howes, CORE studio Thornton Tomasetti

The first half of the symposium will highlight recent advances in data-intensive computational design, analysis, construction, and fabrication. The second half of the symposium will concentrate on how web-based applications can enhance these processes in the future.

The symposium will be followed by a weekend-long hackathon aimed to generate new ideas and processes for the AEC community through data-driven design and web-based applications.

To learn more about this event's schedule, symposium speakers, and hackathon leaders, please visit the CORE studio web site or email AEC Conference.

Details...

SimAUD 2014 in Tampa, April 13-16

Join architecture and simulation researchers at the symposium on Simulation for Architecture and Urban Design (SimAUD). The symposium will be held April 13-16 in Tampa, Florida.

SimAUD Talks will take place April 14-16. Check out these Rhino and Grasshopper related talks:

• Visual Robot Programming - Linking Design, Simulation & Fabrication
• Design-Friendly Strategies for Computational Form Finding of Curved-Folded Geometries

About SimAUD 2014...

Buildings are the largest consumers of energy responsible for 48% of all Green House Gas emissions. Due to the complexity and multidisciplinary aspects of architecture design and construction, and urban design and society, modeling and simulation become valuable techniques to understand and optimize this enormous challenge. Scientists, engineers, managers, educators, and business professionals who develop or use simulation tools are invited to participate and present original papers.

Register...

3D PRINT exhibition - Lyon (France)

3D PRINT exhibition
Lyon (France)
June 17-20, 2014

Equipment in operation, advanced thematic conferences, presentations of innovative projects: 3D PRINT gives you an overall view of the latest technological advances in additive manufacturing.

Come visit authorized Rhino reseller CADLINK (together with Vanessa Steeg from McNeel Europe) to learn more about 3D modeling, analysis, and optimization for rapid prototyping.

Robotic Infiltrations workshop, Die Angewandte, Fall 2013

The Robotic Infiltrations workshop was a collaboration between the University of Innsbruck's REXILAB and the Institute of Architecture at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. The workshop represented a continuation of research that explores the potential of additive digital production through roboti­cally controlled placement of phase-change polymers in producing full-scale structures.

The Architecture Challenge program is an international design workshop series in collaboration with international experts and institutions. It is for architecture students interested in exploring integrated digital design and fabrication while simultaneously desig­ning a full-scale built project within the teaching environment of the Institute of Architecture at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. Architectural Design at "Die Angewandte" is taught as an integrated, multidisciplinary process. 

The design process in the workshop was enriched with robotic design strategies, combining Grasshopper plug-ins such as the HAL and Karamba platforms. Specialists from Bollinger + Grohmann Engineers and invited guest experts Georg Grasser, Kadri Tamre, and Thibault Schwartz from Techni­cal University Innsbruck co-tutored the workshop. Virtual simulation methods and full-scale structural engineering using robotic manufacturing were the primary focus of the workshop. Three ABB industrial robots from REXILAB were used for on-site fabri­cation.

Structural performance
Structural testing of PU foam mockups revealed a strong tension ability of the expanded material. Supporting points on the floor and suspension point on a movable rack were defined locally, taking into account the architectural site context. Possible connection lines bet­ween these points were optimized for internal bending moments using the structural plug-in Karamba in combination with the genetic algorithm Galapagos.

Intrinsic material qualities
The geometrically accurately defined design strategy reacts with loosely defined material behavior. The precise abilities of the robots corre­late with the very uncertain geometrical condition entailing from the foam expansion process. This intuitive material behavior enriches the digital precision, resulting in artifacts of one-time unique aesthetic design results. Experimental and final production of the structure merge in one single fabrication process.

Fabrication process
A Grasshopper Definition was developed to extract 4-point nodes and 2-point connections from the final design network. HAL was used to compute specific tool paths for the three robots. A specific material mixture (PU foam, gypsum, water and hardener) developed at TU Inns­bruck combined with precise time management was required to produce the structural nodes.

Tutors 
Andrei Gheorghe, Georg Grasser, Kadri Tamre, Thibault Schwartz. 

Participating students

Lu Jiaxing, Rhina Portillo, Matthias Urschler, Maria Valente, Yi Lin Vincent, Matea Ban

See the complete workshop results here...

The team of University of Innsbruck together with Harvard GSD (Georg Grasser, Nathan King, Kadri Tamre, Allison Weiler, Marjan Colletti) is holding a Explorations in Robotic Forming of Thermoplastic Materials workshop at Rob|Arch 2014.

Digital Jewelry Symposium - Madrid (Spain)

Symposium de Joyería Digital

Madrid, Spain

24-25 May 2014

TDM Solutions and MR Tools, in collaboration of Solidscape Inc., invite you to a 2-day symposium on Digital Jewelry Design and Fabrication. The symposium includes several workshops: RhinoGold, OrganicModeling with Clayoo, RhinoEmboss, Rendering, 3D Printing and Milling.

Complete details (in Spanish)...

Interactive Prototypes - FireFly at Rhino-DAY - Guadalajara, Mexico

Date: April 3, 2014
Time: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Cost: US $95

Course description:
Drag and Drop programing 

Using Grasshopper's visual programming interface, Firefly gives you the ability to create interactive programs and devices by manipulating elements graphically rather than by specifying them textually. It attempts to bridge the gap between the digital and physical worlds by simplifying the prototyping process for interactive objects. It combines a specialized set of components with a novel communication protocol (called the Firefly Firmata, or Firmware) which together enable real-time feedback between hardware devices such as the well-known Arduino microcontroller and the Rhino / Grasshopper modeling environment. All this happens instantly - so there's no compiling. Your program runs as you build it, making development and prototyping an extremely rapid process.

Optional: Arduino/FireFLY electronics kit: [Price 129 US$] 

Also join us for the 2-day Master Lectures April 4-5
Please go to: http://mcneelmiami.com/rhino_day_2014
Details...

Location:
Rhino-DAY - Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara (map)
Av. General Ramon Corona # 2514 - Zapopan
Guadalajara, 45201
Mexico

To register:
Email: Jackie Nasser
Phone: +(305) 513 4445
http://www.mcneelmiami.com/inc/sdetail/1730

RhinoCAM 2 1/2 y 3 axis at Rhino-DAY - Guadalajara, Mexico

Date: April 2, 2014
Time: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Cost: US $95

** Bring your own Laptop with Rhino 5 and RhinoCAM installed ** 

Course description:
First part: RhinoCam 2 1/2 ejes

1.- Material de trabajo
2.- Orientacion del modelo
3.- Creacion de herramientas y parametros de maquinado
4.- Maquinado de perfiles
5.- Maquinado de cajas

Second part: RhinoCam 3 ejes

1.- Maquinado de desbaste
2.- Maquinado de acabado

No te pierdas tambien de participar de las Conferencias Magistrales Abril 4-5
Por favor visita: http://mcneelmiami.com/rhino_day_2014

Location:
Rhino-DAY - Tec de Monterrey, Campus Guadalajara (map)
Av. General Ramon Corona # 2514 - Zapopan
Guadalajara, 45201
Mexico

To Register:
e-mail: Jackie Nasser
phone: +(305) 513 4445
http://mcneelmiami.com/inc/sdetail/1706