Export PDF files with the ShapeDiver plugin

The latest version of the ShapeDiver plugin includes a set of components that will help you set up and export PDF files either locally or online via an online application built with ShapeDiver. The tools are divided into two categories:

• First, the ShapeDiver version of the Squid plugin was extended to let designers build PDFs like they can build bitmaps using Squid. Most instructions work the same way.

• Second, they have added some tools to the ShapeDiver plugin to split, merge, internalize, and export PDF files inside Grasshopper.

Best of all, you do not necessarily need a ShapeDiver account (though it is free) to benefit from these components as you can use them locally in your machine.

More information...

BricsCAD on 'What is generative design? - Grasshopper and BricsCAD'

BricsCAD has started a blog post series,  Grasshopper® – BricsCAD® connection. It intends to provide you with everything you need to know to get started with Grasshopper for BricsCAD BIM.

This series will cover the following topics:

• What is generative design?
• How does a Grasshopper script/workflow?
• How does Bricsys use McNeel’s Rhino.Inside technology to make the Grasshopper-BricsCAD connection?
• What are the advantages of generative design in BricsCAD BIM?
• How to create a parametric patio cover with the Grasshopper-BricsCAD.
• The endless possibilities of Grasshopper + BricsCAD.

The first post,  What is generative design? - Grasshopper and BricsCAD - P1...

First spine surgery with Rhino3DMedical in Brazil

A 33-year-old male suffering from recurrent lumbar disc herniation L4 /L5 was treated with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. 

Main Surgeon: Dr. Júlio Sampaio, neurosurgeon, Fundacao Bahiana de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia

Assistant: Dr. George Passos, neurosurgeon, Hospital Geral do Estado da Bahia

Diagnosis

The patient had been previously submitted to microsurgery (2017) to remove the fragment of the spinal disc that was causing pressure on the nerve. In May 2020, the patient’s condition deteriorated: sciatica and right side L5 dermatome developed, requiring the prescription of multiple painkillers, including fentanyl patches. Despite pain medications, no significant improvement was observed (visual analog scale 9/10). An MRI of the lumbar spine was performed, showing an extensive disc herniation at the L4-L5 level.

Surgical treatment

Due to the intractable pain, the medical team decided to proceed with an urgent surgical treatment: microdiscectomy with transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion. The procedure was planned with the help of a 3D printed spine model.

“Soon after the completion of the MRI, we proceeded with the segmentation and 3D rendering of the spine (L3–S1), using Rhino3DMedical. The software is very intuitive to use and allows us to post-process 3D models in a fast and accurate way,” explains Dr. Sampaio.

The physical model was printed with an Ultimaker 2+ desktop 3D printer, using PLA filament. The procedure had no cost implications to the patient or to the insurance company.

“In a 12-hour interval, we were able to perform the complete workflow, from image acquisition to obtaining the 3D printed version of the anatomical model.”

On the day of surgery, the 3D model was sterilized and taken to the operating room. The screws were inserted with the hands-free technique, reducing radiation exposure time to the surgical team and the patient.

Full recovery

The patient fully recovered from his symptoms. Post-surgical CT confirmed that all pedicle screws and the interbody cage are properly in place.

The role of 3D printing

“The model allowed us to have a better understanding of the patient’s anatomy that was already amended by prior surgery, giving a greater sense of confidence regarding the safety of the surgery. It was of great utility to perform all the crucial steps of the procedure, including the total facetectomy and insertion of the pedicle screws.”

Tutorial

Learn how to segment a CT scan to create a 3D-printable spine model with Rhino3DMedical here.

Ice Saver - a video game developed with Grasshopper and Unity3D

Ice Saver is a simple game of obstacle avoidance where a first player ice-cube must navigate to safety down a windy track while avoiding being melted by fire agents. It was developed using Grasshopper for Rhino and Unity 3D and is available on the iOS AppStore for both iPhones and iPads iOS 13.5 and above. 

Grasshopper was used for prototyping the geometry of the different level meshes, which is the element that changes as you advance through gameplay. Using Grasshopper meshing tools allowed for assigning gradient color values to level meshes and easily translating them into Unity meshes. The native navigation tools Unity provides out of the box allowed for a simple way to program agent behavior to the various agents involved during gameplay.

Download Ice Saver from the Apple App Store... 

Sunflower 8.2 for Rhino/Grasshopper released

Sunflower 8.2 is now available to download. This is a minor release that solves most of the critical issues by users and adds some new functions. Here is the list of changes:

1. Added options compatible with other solar software in China (Rhino platform and Grasshopper platform)
2. Added the function of exporting solar analysis results to AutoCAD (Rhino platform)
3. Added one-click export of indicator statistics results to Excel (Rhino platform) 
4. Improved the input mode of longitude and latitude (Rhino platform)
5. Sunflower solar analysis battery now saves other user-defined settings (Grasshopper platform)

More details...

Tech support...

Craftsmanship meets digital fabrication: Plant-based woven architecture program, August 19-29, Portugal

Passa Ao Futuro and Clara Lab

August 19-29, 2020

Alentejo, Portugal

Hands-on experience is crucial in the education of young designers. The Passa Ao Futuro and Clara Lab has organized this summer school program to strengthen the tradition of building and craftsmanship enhanced with the use of digital tools (Rhinoceros) and computer simulations (Grasshopper). 

The main goals of the workshop are:

• Learn the principles of regenerative and bioclimatic design 
• Learn how to acquire weather data and to use for environmental simulation 
• Learn to use Grasshopper for environmental studies
• Understand the principles of prototyping as a lean method for architectural design 
• Applied plant-based design for architecture through traditional craft 
• Learn how to weave with wicker and cane 

The expected outcome is two wooden frame structures covered by handwoven skins (local materials).

The workshop fee is €550,00 and includes accommodation, meals, and tuition.

Registration here...

VisualARQ News - Cloud Zoo support

VisualARQ 2.8 is a free service pack for existing users. It includes:

• Cloud Zoo support
• Overhead attributes (Watch video tutorial)
• Plan cut elevation to show objects above or below cut plane
• Bottom control arrow to extend walls and curtain walls

Complete details...

New book by Controlmad: Advanced 3D Printing with Grasshopper

This book connects the worlds of Grasshopper® and 3D printing, explaining how to transform a design into a series of curves and paths for a 3D printer to use. It teaches how to write and create G-code directly within Grasshopper, without using scripts or plugins, in an easy format for existing Grasshopper users to understand. Significant experience using the software is not required, but skilled users will be able to take full advantage of the content.

The book focuses mainly on clay 3D printing, but the same logic applies to thermo-filament 3D printing (FDM). The methods taught open up a wide range of new possibilities when 3D printing, like non-planar printing or non-conventional paths for the 3D printer.

Authors: Diego Garcia Cuevas & Gianluca Pugliese

Buy now...

EvolveLAB Generative Design Using Grasshopper and Revit: Free workshop

Evolve, Solve, and Jump The Rhino to Revit Chasm

June 4

1 pm EST

EvolveLAB is hosting free workshops this June. The first one is tomorrow, June 4th: Generative Design using Galapagos for Grasshopper paired with Rhino.Inside for Revit.

Sign up for this free workshop airing at 1 pm EST.

Sign up today!

Rhino Academic Testing Honor Roll 2019-2020

Robert McNeel & Associates would like to congratulate all the teachers and students in our North American Region for their outstanding work with Rhinoceros and the Rhinoceros Certified Academic Testing in their classrooms this past year.

Our top two teachers this year are:
Matthew Loun of the Hillsboro School District and Edward Kinnear of the Punahou School.

Together they have certified an impressive total of 70 students.
Here is our Rhino Academic Testing Honor Roll for the 2019-2020 Academic Year.

Have a wonderful summer.

Mary Ann Fugier

McNeel Technical Support and Training

Seattle, WA

LadyBug tools takes a step forward

 Ladybug has been working with the NREL OpenStudio team as part of the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2) to develop the Honeybee schema—a file format to represent combined energy and daylight models. This forms the cornerstone of the new Ladybug Tools plugins and Pollination Cloud.

Watch the final presentation...

New Grasshopper apps on food4Rhino

Developers added several new apps for Grasshopper on food4Rhino these last two weeks. Here are some of them:

• Pterodactyl. Open-source plugin to generate custom documents, reports, articles, etc. that can be updated in real time.
• Ground Coverage Ratio. A simple tool that calculates the ground coverage ratio of a given ground surface and buildings.
• SkyCiv-Grasshopper Link. Transfer your structural models from Grasshopper into SkyCiv, allowing you to complete your structural analysis, design, and optimization.
• DefaultPanel. A quick and dirty workflow to keep default values in your definitions.
• SkyView Factor. Computes an estimation of the sky view factor on each pixel on a ground surface.
• OctaTree. OctaTree voxelization algorithms to 1x1 cells, based on octree principle.
• Hermit Crab. Spatial analytics for social distancing.
• Chop-Chop. One-click disconnect the wire of a Grasshopper component.

See the latest apps for Grasshopper on food4Rhino...

Pangolin - Create complex steel structural model definitions

With Pangolin you can create complex steel structural model definitions that include details such as: 

• Beam haunches
• Highly configurable cold-formed sections with stiffeners
• Surface loads with load transfer surfaces distributing them onto beams
• Load combinations made up of loads in load cases

The created model then can be saved out as a file for later use or sent directly over to Consteel by the connection component for analysis with Consteel’s unique calculations.

Currently supported objects:

• Geometry: Lines, arcs, polygons
• Structural members: Beams, plates, supports, rigid bodies, diaphragms, link elements, haunches
• Sections: More than 7000 predefined from Consteel section bank, or custom defined by section macros, including cold-formed sections with stiffener definition support
• Custom structural attributes: Release stiffness model, support model, material properties
• Loads: Nodal, line, uniform and linearly changing surface loads
• Load configuration: Load combinations, load groups, load cases, load transfer surfaces
• Organization: Layers and structural groups
• I.O. : Load from file, load from Consteel, save to file or Consteel
• Integrated parameters: For unambiguous definitions, avoiding the use of nebulous generic parameters

Download and details on food4Rhino...