Kangaroo SpringsFromLine and Anne Hamilton

hello!

i was impressed by the Ann Hamilton installation at the Park Avenue Armory

http://www.armoryonpark.org/programs_events/detail/ann_hamilton

and i thought "how would i reproduce that with Kangaroo components in the Grasshopper environment?"

well, the attached file is my result so far. unblock the timers to set the swings going; activate the KangarooPhysics component to set the curtain....well, moving.

as you will see the curtain "snaps" as the swings pass the vertical point in their movement. not exactly Ann Hamilton-esque.

i wonder if anyone would have any interest in helping me troubleshoot this definition to achieve a more satisfying flow on the curtain? i have also tried using the Kangaroo Wind component, but it does not seem to add anything to the results.

if you have any success, please share!

thanks,

Michael

Attachments:

hamilton_recreation_8.gh, 62 KB

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Daniel Piker on December 17, 2012 at 12:28pm

Hi Michael,

That looks like a nice installation!

I'm taking a look at your definition and can see some issues that are slowing it down and causing problems - mostly related to the use of the additional timer and that little 'buffer' script.

It is possible to use time varying inputs to Kangaroo, such as moving anchor points, and to automate these movements using the gh timer object.

However - once you have a timer upstream of Kangaroo, there is no need to also connect another timer to the main Kangaroo component - because the timer triggers an update of everything downstream of it.

This is also where your problem occurs, because with every iteration of that timer, a large portion of your definition re-runs, including the part which generates the mesh. This slows things down a lot, and also sudden changes in the mesh topology are occurring, resulting in the jumps you see in the simulation.

What you want is to have only the parts which actually change over time connected to (or dependent on) that timer.

Also - by using WeaverBird's 'Join Meshes and Weld' component, you can get rid of a huge number of duplicate edges and vertices, which also speeds up the simulation.

Permalink Reply by Michael Bardin on December 17, 2012 at 12:50pm

Hi, Daniel,

Thanks so much for your feedback about how the timer works, and the tip about the WeaverBird component: I'll take another crack at the definition with your suggestions in mind.

And yes, Ann Hamilton's installation is very cool!

Michael

Permalink Reply by Daniel Piker on December 17, 2012 at 12:59pm

Here is an altered definition

I think you'll agree it runs much more smoothly!

I've used a DataDam component to prevent unnecessary refreshing of some parts of the definition. You'll need to Toggle Reset to True, press play on the DataDam, Toggle Reset to False, then start the timer. (I realize this is rather convoluted, but usually it wouldn't be necessary, if you avoid connecting too much downstream of the timer)

I also used the Kangaroo 'Wave' component to give a smoother swinging motion than the modulo operator you were using.

Attachments:

hamilton_recreation_8_alterations.gh, 65 KB

Permalink Reply by Michael Bardin on December 17, 2012 at 1:28pm

Um, wow. A LOT better.

I'll have to study how this is all coming together....

Thanks so much for the (most) highly expert advice.

I'm thinking of animating it and sending the result as a Christmas card. You and Kangaroo get the credits!

An thanks for creating such awesome components,

Michael

Permalink Reply by Michael Bardin on December 17, 2012 at 2:40pm

an updated version, adding a jittered phase shift to the Wave component Daniel added, to resemble the public randomly activating Ann Hamilton's installation.

Thanks, again, Daniel.

Attachments: