Firefly

Information

Firefly offers a set of comprehensive software tools dedicated to bridging the gap between Grasshopper, (a free plug-in for Rhino) the Arduino microcontroller and other input/output devices. It allows near real-time data flow between the digital and physical worlds – enabling the possibility to explore virtual and physical prototypes with unprecedented fluidity.

Website: http://www.fireflyexperiments.com/
Location: Cambridge, MA
Members: 316
Latest Activity: on Monday

Firefly Experiments

Firefly offers a set of comprehensive software tools dedicated to bridging the gap between Grasshopper (a free plug-in for Rhino) and the Arduino micro-controller. It allows near real-time data flow between the digital and physical worlds – enabling the possibility to explore virtual and physical prototypes with unprecedented fluidity.

As a generative modeling tool, Grasshopper offers a fluid visual interface for creating sophisticated parametric models, but by default, it lacks the ability to communicate with hardware devices such as programmable microcontrollers or haptic interfaces. Firefly fills this void. It is an extension to the Grasshopper’s parametric interface; combining a specialized set of components with a novel communication protocol (called the Firefly Firmata or Firmware) which together enable real-time communication between hardware devices and the parametric plug-in for Rhino.

A notable distinction for Firefly is that it is the first visual microcontroller programming environment designed specifically for a 3-D parametric CAD package (such as Rhino). This feature means that real-world data, acquired from various types of sensors or other input devices (video cameras, internet feeds, or mobile phone devices, etc.) can be used to explicitly define parametric relationships within a Grasshopper model. Firefly completes the communication feedback loop by allowing users the ability to send information from Grasshopper back to the microcontroller in order to incite specific actuations (ie. lights, motors, valves, etc). Ultimately, this workflow creates a new way to create interactive prototypes.

Discussion Forum

Remembering values with rotary switching 10 Replies

Hi Everyone.I am using a rotary switch with firefly that sends values to a stream gate. I want to remember the last set of data sent via the stream after switching. Can VB scripting do this? In the image below stream 1 is reading data but stream 2…Continue

Tags: gate, stream, switching, firefly

Started by Scott Mayson. Last reply by Andy Payne May 14.

Serial read problem in Firefly 6 Replies

Hi guys,I'm communicating with a 3D printer via Grasshopper / Firefly (and eventually) Silkworm.So far, I can quite happily send G-Code move commands to the printer - which is a Leapfrog Creatr, based on Arduino Mega / RAMPS electronics - via the…Continue

Tags: GCode, Read, Serial, Firefly

Started by fergal.coulter. Last reply by fergal.coulter May 10.

Possible to connect 12 micro servos to Arduino Uno board and control each one separately? 4 Replies

I am as much of a novice to Firefly and Arduino as one can get. I have 12 servos and an Arduino Uno board... is it possible to connect them all to a single board and control their rotation values in Firefly...? I'm investigating myself as of writing…Continue

Started by Adam Roark. Last reply by Andy Payne Apr 23.

Pleated Skin Actuation

Hi I'm trying to actuate the pleated skin shown in this model. I am planning on using servos to move the pleated skin in the form of a sin wave. I have a series of structural columns in the model that would be the base for the servos, but I was…Continue

Tags: pavilion, firefly, pleats

Started by Nicholas Murao Apr 9.

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News

Drag & Drop Programming

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.

Advanced Code Generation

Leveraging Grasshopper's visual programming interface, Firefly gives you the ability to quickly mock-up and prototype ideas for interactive objects and devices. It achieves this mostly by sending data back and forth over the serial port really quickly. But, what if you want your device to stand-alone... meaning you don't want to be tethered to your computer by a pesky USB cable. In order to do this, the microcontroller must be programmed, typically using some C++ or Arduino code.

Fortunately, Firefly has an advanced Code Generation feature which translate the spatial representation of your Grasshopper code directly into Arduino compatible code. And it does this all on the fly. Now, you don't need to worry about writing all of that code yourself. Simply, prototype your design as you normally would, and the Code Generator will work in the background writing all of the code necessary to make your design come to life!

Connect to Physical Devices in Real-Time

Firefly alleviates the hastle of interfacing with external hardware. The Firefly toolset has pre-built components that allow you to connect to many of the most popular hardware devices including data acquisition devices, mobile phones, cameras, game controllers (like the Wii Nunchuck and Microsoft Kinect) and audio interfaces to name but a few.

Computer Vision Tools

Firefly has an extensive suite of computer vision, analysis, and effects tools. Integrate video feeds (now with multiple camera support), load individual images (.jpg, .tif, .png, .bmp, etc.), play video files and more. Firefly also includes several filtering, graphic effects, and compositing tools to manipulate live image data. In addition, you can create your own custom filters using convolution kernels. You can also take advantage of computer vision algorithms such as optical flow, gradient vectors, contour vectors, and color analysis to make your next interactive project a visual success.

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Comment Wall

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Comment by shahriar akbari on March 19, 2013 at 12:27am: Hi Andy

Thanks to your quick answer and solution,now my firefly is up and running.

Comment by Andy Payne on March 18, 2013 at 2:59pm: Hi Shahriar,

Have you made sure you have successfully uploaded the Firefly Firmata on your board before running your GH definition? Also, is there a reason you changed the baud rate to 9600? The baud rate needs to be the same as what is set in the Arduino Sketch. For the Firmata it is 115200... unless you changed this specifically, then you should probably use the default value of 115200 in the Open Port component. This could be possibly what's causing your error.

Comment by shahriar akbari on March 18, 2013 at 2:55pm: hi guys!

I have followed the instructions to change the position of Servo motor with grasshopper/firefly, But it seems that my arduino is only following the sweeping example sketches from arduino sketch software and not in grasshopper, although the message in firefly says that now i am writing value to arduino but I see no results ,any help is appreciated about this situation.

thank you

Comment by Igor on February 17, 2013 at 3:08pm: Hi Andy!

Is there a way to get sound from stream video (Internet video,Skype...) and from Video Player not from microphone only?

At reading attempt from MusicXML file the error stands out. What is wrong?

Example of MusicXML : LVB_OP18_NO1_M1.xml

Comment by Yoshi Fukumori on February 9, 2013 at 10:05am: Hello Andy! it works for 64, but for 32 I still have the problem.

Comment by Andy Payne on February 9, 2013 at 9:22am: Hi Yoshi and Miguel,

Sorry to hear your having troubles. It seems like for whatever reason it's not recognizing the Firefly_X.gha (which contains all of those components). My hunch is that the installer is not overwriting the existing files (even though that is set in the installer settings). Can you both try to manually delete all the existing Firefly files and dependencies (including the C_sawapan_media.dll) and try to re-install. I think if the files are not there, then the installer will copy the new files and it should work (at least I hope). Can you try this and report back. Thanks.

Comment by Yoshi Fukumori on February 9, 2013 at 8:50am: hello Andy! I have the same problem, I have Rhino 5 in 32 and 64, after installing the latest version of firefly the audio tab, computer vision tab and conexion tab are missing.

I check the component folder and all the files are unblock.

thanks for your help and as always thanks for sharing

your knowledge! :)

Comment by Andy Payne on January 24, 2013 at 5:14pm: Are there other tabs missing (ie. Computer Vision)? What version of Rhino are you running?

Comment by Miguel Vidal on January 24, 2013 at 4:44pm: Exactly!

After installing the latest version of Firefly, the "Audio" Tab is not there.

Comment by Andy Payne on January 24, 2013 at 4:39pm: What do you mean, erase the functions for sound management? Are the audio components for Firefly not showing up?