Grasshopper

algorithmic modeling for Rhino

Information

gHowl

gHowl is a set of components which extend Grasshopper's ability to communicate and exchange information with other applications and physical devices.

Website: http://www.grasshopper3d.com/group/ghowl
Location: In Between
Members: 976
Latest Activity: Feb 5

Download the latest set of gHowl components:

gHowl_r50 and example files

 

Check out the gHowl videos page where you can see how people have been using gHowl.

Our users have connected Rhino and Grasshopper to various protocols, platforms, and softwares including:

Processing

Excel

Open Office

RSS

Arduino

Kinect

Reactivision

openFrameworks

Google Earth

Resolume

VVVV

Pure Data

max/msp

Maya

Kangaroo

TouchOSC

iPhone

Android

 

Components:

UDP:

UDP Components now have the ability to send and receive to a Multicast group.  To send or receive to a Multicast group, make sure you use the IP Range of 224.0.0.0 - 239.255.255.255.

OSC functionality is provided by the Bespoke OSC Library by Paul Varcholik.



Network Source
- Tests the connection of your machine to a network.

UDP Send - Allows the sending of UDP messages over the network.  Also allows the sending of OSC messages to OSC enabled software and hardware devices. (Deleting this component in 0.7.0057 crashes GH / Rhino)

UDP Receive - Allows the sending and receiving of UDP messages.  Also allows the reception of OSC messages and bundles (from Reactivision for example).(Deleting this component in 0.7.0057 crashes GH / Rhino)

OSC Channel - This component allows the storage of a single OSC Channel.  Change the component's nickname to store that address' data.

OSC Dispatch - This component allows the storage of data from multiple OSC addresses.

Spreadsheet:
The spreadsheet components leverage the OpenXML engine.  You must have OpenXMLSDKV2.msi installed in order for these components to work.  These components read and write *.xlsx files.  Supports numerical values and strings.

Spreadsheet Reader - Retrieves spreadsheet data from a file stored on your computer.

Spreadsheet Writer - Allows you to write a spreadsheet file.

XML:
These components retrieve xml data from local and web sources (such as RSS feeds).

Pachube - Retrieves data from a Pachube feed.  Must have a valid Pachube API. (Deleting this component after making a connection in 0.7.0057 crashes GH / Rhino)

Pachube Update - Allows you to update a Pachube Feed.  The component has variable inputs to enable streaming to various datastreams.  Must have a valid Pachube API.

XML Parser - This component parses an XML file stored on your computer or on the web.

XML Writer - Writes out XML

 

 

GEO:

These components aid in the mapping and conversion of coordinates from GPS enabled devices to XYZ coordinates.

Format GEO - Takes NMEA formatted GPS coordinates and converts them to Decimal Degrees.

XYZ -> GEO - Maps XYZ coordinates in Rhino/Grasshopper to Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude.

GPS -> GEO - Maps Longitude, Latitude, and Altitude coordinates to XYZ

Elevation Service - This component returns the elevation at the coordinates you supply as inputs.  It queries the Google Elevations API to do this.  There are some limitations on usage, so be warned.

 

KML:

KML Exporter - Exports points, curves, and meshes to a KML File.  Breps should be meshed before exporting.  Brep support will be added soon.  Object attributes such as color, transparency, line width, line color, etc will be added soon.

KML Attributes - Adds Fill Color, Line Color, and Line Width to Exported KML Objects.

Discussion Forum

Android OSCmessage to GHowl. Error Message. 7 Replies

Hello all,I am writing an android interface to communicate with grasshopper.  It's the same idea as some of the OSC apps in the app store, but they aren't open source and I need to be able to have…Continue

Tags: java, osc, udp, ghowl, android

Started by Jon Blout. Last reply by Konstantin Markin Aug 8, 2022.

Ghowl xml import /export 10 Replies

Hey againHow does it work if you want to import and export the same .xml file, when the ghowl xml import has 4 output parameters, and the ghowl export has 2 input parameteres ?RegardsContinue

Tags: export, xml, Ghowl

Started by Jesper Hildebrandt Andersen. Last reply by Hannah Stevens Apr 14, 2021.

external real time data/ parse xml 5 Replies

hello, i am trying this for the first time and hoping someone can point me in the right direction. i am trying to use grasshopper + ghowl to read real time data from a weather site's API.  i have a…Continue

Started by pwdarden. Last reply by Denis Cox Oct 26, 2020.

problem about UDP receiver

Hi, I am using UDP receiver in gHowl. It works well until I packaged everything into a cluster, and the UDP receiver keeps sayting "AddressAlreadyInUse: you might have opened this socket on another…Continue

Started by vapeur Jul 5, 2020.

Comment Wall

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Comment by Jeremy Bamberger on January 18, 2012 at 2:34pm

Hey Luis,

I've been away, but I wanted to follow up from my post in November about large xls files being read into GH via gHowl. The relevant files (I'm importing GIS data using Ben Golder's python script) are 16.8MB, so if you could pass along your email I'd be happy to forward them to you.

I have parcel data for all of San Francisco, and the xls sheet include property value information for each parcel (~ 180,000 columns). Using gHowl as it stands freezes my computer. I've had success importing at most 10,000 columns, but parsing out the data would be too tiresome. I have property value data for the preceeding 10 years.

You'll need the python plugin for GH. You will also have to update the pathname for the files (its setup to read from the desktop, just update the user). If you have a chance I would be grateful for any ideas. Thanks!

jbamberger@cca.edu

Comment by larry lopez on January 18, 2012 at 2:00pm

hi, sorry for asking a this, I know that here is probably not the best place to do so, since my question has to do more with how can I split and re-asign a set of coordinates to an array of objects in processing. I asked there (forum.processing.org) with no luck so far. 

Right now I just have a bunch of 3d points, not more than 20, plug to gHowls dpu sender and a simple sketch in processing just to understend how to use this info.

Any ideas on how to do so? I have attached both the sketch and definition just in case it helps, it needs gHowl and the dpu lib for processing; but if you have or know of an example I can look at will be enough.

thanks!

nodes_not_working.pde

nodes_send_notworking.gh

Comment by Peter Liebsch on December 19, 2011 at 8:37pm

Hi Andy,

Did the setup as discribed but no data comes through. So I assume it's our firewall or network in general as I do that in our office. I will try it at home and see if that resolves this issue.

Thx

Peter

Comment by Andy Payne on December 19, 2011 at 8:03pm

Hi Peter,

Yes, the setup is basically the same as with the GHowl components.  You just need to specify the UDP port you're listening to. You'll also need to connect a GH_Timer component so that it expires the component quickly (trying to get the latest message sent from the TouchOSC app).  

On you're TouchOSC app, you'll need to specify the IP address of the computer you're trying to send it to.   GHowl has an excellent tool for pinging your IP address called Network Source.  Just enter the IP address of your computer into the app, and pick an outgoing Port number you want to send the message (note: you're Grasshopper component should also use this same port number).  

The only other thing I could think of that might possibly be causing you trouble is whether your network is blocking your UDP message.  Could you describe your network setup.  Are you trying this at home (on a personal router) or at school/work?  Sometimes, different networks block UDP messages (this often happens if I try to connect on an institutional network, like at school).  In this instance, it could be a good idea to try to create an ad hoc network on your computer.  Here are instructions on how to do this: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Set-up-a-computer-to-co...  Once you've created an ad hoc network, make sure both your phone and computer are connected to this same network.  It may take a while to regenerate your IP address (on your computer), but once it does... enter this new number in your phone app.  The port number can stay the same.  Ideally, this should solve your problem.  Let me know if you still have problems.

-Andy

Comment by Peter Liebsch on December 19, 2011 at 5:14pm

@Luis

I'm using a OSC Dispatch. It collects the information but struggles as soon as the timer on the FireFly is on. Funny enough it only struggles with the toggle data, the slider data gets through fine.

@Andy

Thanks for your video link and explanation. I tried to hook up my OSC app via the FireFly OSC Listener but it reports no data... I assume the port is the same for gHowl UDP Reciver and FireFly OSC Listener, right? My setup looks the same as yours in the video... any idea?

Comment by Andy Payne on December 19, 2011 at 7:03am

It sounds like this problem might be because of a threading issue.  As Luis said, one of the great things about the OSC listener in GHowl is that it does not need timers.  It has (I think) it's own threading model which allows it to be very fast.  On the other hand, it's possible that there could be some inconsistencies in the data transfer if the threading isn't sync'd up with the Grasshopper UI threading model (especially if the data is being sent very quickly).  

One thought could be to try the OSC listener in Firefly.  It works similarly to the GHowl version with a couple exceptions... the first is that it requires the use of the GH_Timer to automatically update.  I've found that you can still get pretty good speed using the GH_Timer (I've been able to get up to around 60 fps) but the fact that you're using the GH_Timer means that the solution will always be recomputed in sync with the UI threading.  And since you're already using the GH_Timer for the Firefly component, you should be able to use this same timer to recompute both components.  I've been able to use TouchOSC and the Arduino components without having these issues, so I definitely think it's possible.  Here's one example: http://vimeo.com/26073521.  Anyway, I hope this helps.

Comment by Luis Fraguada on December 19, 2011 at 2:17am

gHowl is designed to not need / use timers.  Each time a timer fires, the solution is recomputed and this can significantly slow things down depending on what you are doing. 

How are you storing the toggle values?  Which OSC components are you using?  If you store the toggle in the OSC channel component, what happens, do you still loose the information?  Does the component return a null value or does it go to 0? 

Comment by Peter Liebsch on December 18, 2011 at 9:20pm

 

Hi Luis,

Great tool. Thanks for making it accessible!

I just have a question. I run a GH file where I get data from OSC iPad app in via gHowl as well as sensor data from an Arduino via FireFly.

The OSC are just simple horizontal sliders.

The problem I'm facing is that additional toggle items in OSC, which write only 0 or 1, don't get through properly. They do without problems as long as the timer on the FireFly is off. I also can write to the OSC app via gHowl to turn LEDs on or off.

As soon the FireFly timer is back on the toggle get lost in 8 of 10 attempts. The sliders still get through correct.

Any idea if this is because of a timing problem between gHowl and FireFly? I played around with different GH timer settings but that didn’t change much.

Cheers,

Peter

Comment by Luis Fraguada on November 22, 2011 at 12:02pm

Hello Jeremy,

I have not tried with such a large file.  I would need to have a file like that in order to debug and come up with a better way to parse the data.

Best,

Luis

Comment by Jeremy Bamberger on November 19, 2011 at 2:08pm

Hi Luis et al,

 

I am working with Ben Golder's Python script to read in shapefiles from GIS. I have the entire land use map (by parcel, ~150,000 polygons) of San Francisco and coordinated with the SF Assessor/Recorder's office to getting 10 years worth of property valuations (excel docs, again ~150,000 rows of data).

 

I've been trying to get gHowl to read in this large excel file. I've been dividing the data in half until GH stops freezing and landed at around 5,000 rows of data. Can gHowl do better?

 

I can probably script a method to parse the existing excel files then merge them back in GH, but that would be less than ideal (10 years x 40 separate files = 400 excel docs!).

 

Any ideas? Is there a more efficient manner to perhaps grab a csv file?

 

Thanks!

 

Jeremy Bamberger

jbamberger@cca.edu

 

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