umbrella of Urban Heat Island (UHI) and I am going to try to separate them out in order to give you a sense of the current capabilities in LB+HB.
1) UHI as defined as a recorded elevated air temperature in an urban area:
If you have access to epw files for both an urban area and a rural area, you can use Ladybug to visualize and deeply explore the differences between the two weather files. Ladybug is primarily a tool for weather file visualization and analysis and it can be very helpful for understanding the consequences of UHI on strategies for buildings or on comfort. This said, if you do not have both rural and urban recorded weather data or you want to generate your own weather files based on criteria about urban areas (as it sounds like you want to do), this definition might not be so helpful.
2) UHI defined by air elevated air temperature but viewed as a computer model-able phenomenon resulting primarily from urban canyon geometry, building materials, and (to a lesser degree) anthropogenic heat:
This definition seems to fit more with they type of thing that you are looking for but it is unfortunately very difficult and computationally intensive such that we do not currently have anything within Ladybug to do this right now. I can say that the state-of-the art for this type of modeling is an application called Town Energy Budget (TEB) and this is what all of the advanced UHI researches that I know use (http://www.cnrm.meteo.fr/surfex/spip.php?article7). Unfortunately for those trying to use it in professional practice, it can take a while to get comfortable with it and it currently runs exclusively on Linux (this does mean that it is open source, though, and that you can really get deep into the assumptions of the model). A couple years ago, a peer of mine translated almost all of TEB into Matlab language making it possible to run it on Windows if you have Matlab. He wrapped everything together into a tool called the Urban Weather Generator (UWG), which can take an epw file of a rural area and warp it to an urban area based on inputs that you give of building height, materials, vegetation, anthropogenic heat, etc. I would recommend looking into this for your project, although, bear in mind that is it not open source like the original TEB tool and that you may need to get a (very expensive) copy of MATLAB (http://urbanmicroclimate.scripts.mit.edu/uwg.php).
3) UHI as defined by a thermal satellite image of an urban area depicting an elevated average radiant environment that reaches a maximum a the city center and changes by land use:
This is the definition of UHI that I am most familiar with and was the basis of much of my past research. I feel that it is also a definition of UHI that is a bit more in line with where a lot of contemporary UHI research is headed, which is away from the notion of UHI as a macro-scale meteorological phenomena that is averaged as an air temperature over a huge area towards one that accepts that different land uses have different microclimates and (importantly) different radiant environments. While the air temperature difference between urban and rural areas usually does not change more than 1-4 C, the radiant environment can be very different (on the order of 10-15 C differences). The best way to understand UHI in this context is with Thermal satellite images, for which there is ha huge database of publicly available data on NASA's glovis website (http://glovis.usgs.gov/) or their ECHO website (http://reverb.echo.nasa.gov/reverb/#utf8=%E2%9C%93&spatial_map=satellite&spatial_type=rectangle). I tend to use thermal data from LANDSAT 5-8 and ASTER satellites in my research. Unfortunately, there is a lot f bad data with a lot of cloud cover mixed in with the really good stuff and it can take some time to find good images. Also, there aren't too many programs that read the GeoTiff file format that you download the data as. I know that ArcGIS will read it, a program called ENVI will read it (I think that the open source QGIS can also red it). I have plans to write a set of components to bring this type of data into Rhino and GH (I may get to it a few months down the line).
4) UHI as a computer model-able notion of "Urban Microclimate" with consideration of local differences and the local radiant environment:
This is where a lot of my research has lead and, thankfully, is an area that Honeybee can help you out a lot with. EnergyPlus simulations can output information on outside building surface temperatures and these can be very helpful in helping get a sense of the radiant environment around individual buildings. Right now, I am focusing just on using this data to fully model the indoor environments of buildings as you see in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNylb42FPIc&list=UUc6HWbF4UtdKdjbZ2tvwiCQ
I have plans to move this methodology to the outdoors once I complete this initial application to the indoors. For now, you can use the "Surface result reader" and the "color surfaces based on EP result" components to get a sense of variation in the outside temperature of your buildings.
I hope that this helped,
-Chris
…
ey eventually recover and you can continue to working normally. This however is not very practical...
(Additional information: We have a virtualized Windows SPS environment, might this be the problem? Locally - on my hard drive - it works fine.)
Futhermore we've discovered the following bug/feature:
We export a cluster and reference it back into our .gh file, then copy the .ghcluster file to a different location and rename the copy (without opening or changing it), then also reference the copied version back into the .gh file. Now Grasshopper shows two clusters with two different file paths, but claims that they both are the same ("this cluster occurs twice in this document"). If I double click one of them, make a change and save, both clusters get changed, even though they are separate .ghcluster files.
This would follow the logic that David laid out in this entry (http://www.grasshopper3d.com/page/clusters09), that GH identifies a cluster not by its file name or location but by its internal ID.
An addition we would very much appreciate for the next GH update, would be the option to right click a referenced cluster and then not only be able to "update" it but to also to "relink" it to a new or different source.
Right now you have to rename or delete the .ghcluster file in order to relink a cluster via the update option. You can also overwrite the old cluster und update. However, sometimes we want to keep the old version or disentangle one of a clusters many instances and relink just one, with out loosing its various inputs and outputs by referencing the new version and reconnecting it.
Thanks, BB.…
he concept, moving on to decision making and continuing with digital and generative design tools TO GET THE BEST SOLUTION for each problem.
WHY? The world is complex and ever-changing and we need to be able to handle the volume of information we receive and, of course, to find and choose the best solution. Therefore, we direct our ATTENTION TO THE CAUSE, and not only on the effects/solutions.
We will learn from NATURE, the only “company” that has not gone bankrupt in over 4000M years, and it’s GENERATIVE SOLUTIONS.
> OBJECTIVES <
The participants will work in multidisciplinary groups (ex. architect + designer + business manager + constructor + communication specialist etc.) applying knowledge management tools, different approaches and nature-based optimization methods.
Listed objectives:
1. Improving the generative way of TURNING AN IDEA INTO A PROJECT through problem-solving thinking
2. Discovering nature’s ways of shaping evolutionary solutions
3. Getting out from our comfort zone and working together with other professionals in groups in order to achieve better solutions: Multidisciplinary Design Optimization
4. Learning to use technology to manage information in the decision making process
& surviving the whole week
> ATTENDANCE & COSTS <
> Early bird – until 17th March 2013
Lecture – 15 euro (includes presentations, food& drinks)
Workshop – 100 euro (includes lecture, food& drinks)
> Late bird – until 6th April 2013
Lecture – 25 euro (includes presentations, food& drinks)
Workshop – 120 euro (includes lecture, food& drinks)
…
Introduction to Grasshopper Videos by David Rutten.
Wondering how to get started with Grasshopper? Look no further. Spend an some time with the creator of Grasshopper, David Rutten, to learn the
nd linear/planar tectonics. Within this new field of investigation, the Stuttgart VS will be researching into novel techniques of material mixtures and grading, associative design and double curvature surface generation.
For the second cycle of this exploration we will be based at the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) at the University of Stuttgart. Drawing from the Institute’s long history of experimentation and research on tensile structures instigated by Frei Otto in the 1960s and conducted at present by Werner Sobek, this year we will be focusing on the design and fabrication of materially graded membranes, as well as the application of UHPC and FGC on fabric formworks. The workflow followed will be divided into two stages:
1. Computing Membranes: Computational form finding methods will be taught by professional engineers and architects from ILEK and str.ucture GmbH. The aim will be to utilise the latest software technologies to form find membranes for textile structures, or fabric formworks for complex concrete structures. The results will be evaluated against criteria such as internal air pressure, as well as asymmetric and wind loading. The outcome of this research will inform the material grading procedures (i.e. changing the stiffness, thickness or porosity of the membranes themselves, or the consistency of the concrete poured into the formworks) that will follow in stage two.
2. Fabricated Grading: The digitally computed membranes or formworks will eventually be fabricated physically, utilising the workshop and robotic fabrication facilities at ILEK. The objective will be to rethink conventional research on tensile and concrete structures as isotropic constructs, by customising attributes such as materiality, reinforcement, rigidity, translucency, patterning, and porosity among others. The final, graded prototypes will be made up of mixtures of materials, all accurately engineered to respond to variable environmental, structural and aesthetic criteria, in essence forming multi-material structures that have finally caught up with the latest material developments.
Prominent Features of the workshop/ skills developed:
Teaching team consisting of AA diploma tutors and ILEK and str.ucture GmbH engineers.
Access to the Institute of Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK), the Materials Testing Institute and Concrete Spraying Robotic facilities at the University of Stuttgart, as well as to the office of str.ucture GmbH Structural Design Engineering.
Computational skills tuition on Grasshopper, Rhino Membrane, and Karamba.
Lectures series by leading academics and practitioners in architecture and engineering.
Fabrication of functionally graded membrane and/or concrete structures.
Eligibility
The workshop is open to current architecture and design students, PhD candidates and young professionals. Software Requirements: Rhino (SR7 or later) and Grasshopper.
Fees
The AA Visiting School requires a student fee of £595 and a young professional fee of £895 per participant, which includes a £60 Visiting membership fee.
The deadline for applications is 10 July 2017.
For more information, please visit:
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For inquiries, please contact:
mixedmatters@aaschool.ac.uk…
mplex the models are. If we are running multi-room E+ studies, that will take far longer to calculate.
Rhino/Grasshopper = <1%
Generating Radiance .ill files = 88%
Processing .ill files into DA, etc. = ~2%
E+ = 10%
Parallelizing Grasshopper:
My first instinct is to avoid this problem by running GH on one computer only. Creating the batch files is very fast. The trick will be sending the radiance and E+ batch files to multiple computers. Perhaps a “round-robin” approach could send each iteration to another node on the network until all iterations are assigned. I have no idea how to do that but hope that it is something that can be executed within grasshopper, perhaps a custom code module. I think GH can set a directory for Radiance and E+ to save all final files to. We can set this to a local server location so all runs output to the same location. It will likely run slower than it would on the C:drive, but those losses are acceptable if we can get parallelization to work.
I’m concerned about post-processing of the Radiance/E+ runs. For starters, Honeybee calculates DA after it runs the .ill files. This doesn’t take very long, but it is a separate process that is not included in the original Radiance batch file. Any other data manipulation we intend to automatically run in GH will be left out of the batch file as well. Consolidating the results into a format that Design Explorer or Pollination can read also takes a bit of post-processing. So, it seems to me that we may want to split up the GH automation as follows:
Initiate
Parametrically generate geometry
Assign input values, material, etc.
Generate radiance/ E+ batch files for all iterations
Calculate
Calc separate runs of Radiance/E+ in parallel via network clusters. Each run will be a unique iteration.
Save all temp files to single server location on server
Post Processing
Run a GH script from a single computer. Translate .ill files or .idf files into custom metrics or graphics (DA, ASE, %shade down, net solar gain, etc.)
Collect final data in single location (excel document) to be read by Design Explorer or Pollination.
The above workflow avoids having to parallelize GH. The consequence is that we can’t parallelize any post-processing routines. This may be easier to implement in the short term, but long term we should try to parallelize everything.
Parallelizing EnergyPlus/Radiance:
I agree that the best way to enable large numbers of iterations is to set up multiple unique runs of radiance and E+ on separate computers. I don’t see the incentive to split individual runs between multiple processors because the modular nature of the iterative parametric models does this for us. Multiple unique runs will simplify the post-processing as well.
It seems that the advantages of optimizing matrix based calculations (3-5 phase methods) are most beneficial when iterations are run in series. Is it possible for multiple iterations running on different CPUs to reference the same matrices stored in a common location? Will that enable parallel computation to also benefit from reusing pre-calculated information?
Clustering computers and GPU based calculations:
Clustering unused computers seems like a natural next step for us. Our IT guru told me that we need come kind of software to make this happen, but that he didn’t know what that would be. Do you know what Penn State uses? You mentioned it is a text-only Linux based system. Can you please elaborate so I can explain to our IT department?
Accelerad is a very exciting development, especially for rpict and annual glare analysis. I’m concerned that the high quality GPU’s required might limit our ability to implement it on a large scale within our office. Does it still work well on standard GPU’s? The computer cluster method can tap into resources we already have, which is a big advantage. Our current workflow uses image-based calcs sparingly, because grid-based simulations gather the critical information much faster. The major exception is glare. Accelerad would enable luminance-based glare metrics, especially annual glare metrics, to be more feasible within fast-paced projects. All of that is a good thing.
So, both clusters and GPU-based calcs are great steps forward. Combining both methods would be amazing, especially if it is further optimized by the computational methods you are working on.
Moving forward, I think I need to explore if/how GH can send iterations across a cluster network of some kind and see what it will take to implement Accelerad. I assume some custom scripting will be necessary.…
even (0, 2, 4) then that means the point either never hit it, or went in and out again, meaning it's outside. If it hits an odd number of times, then it must have come from within originally.
The method implements this approach using the mesh bounding box, and then striking a polyline from your test point along a vector that is defined by the upper right corner of the bounding box + a vector of (100,100,100). In the case of your failing points, this is a result of their striking an edge very precisely, which gets counted as 2 hits instead of 1 (as it should be getting captured) and passing false:
Your best bet is probably to roll your own implementation, that tests for multiple vectors:
private void RunScript(List<Point3d> P, Mesh M, ref object A, ref object B, ref object C) {
BoundingBox bb = M.GetBoundingBox(false);
List<bool> inside = new List<bool>();
for (int i = 0; i < P.Count; i++) {
Polyline a = new Polyline(); Polyline b = new Polyline();
a.Add(P[i]); b.Add(P[i]);
a.Add(bb.Max + new Vector3d(100, 100, 100)); b.Add(bb.Max + new Vector3d(100, 150, 150));
int[] fa; int[] fb;
Point3d[] xa = Rhino.Geometry.Intersect.Intersection.MeshPolyline(M, new PolylineCurve(a), out fa); Point3d[] xb = Rhino.Geometry.Intersect.Intersection.MeshPolyline(M, new PolylineCurve(b), out fb);
inside.Add(xa.Length % 2 == 1 || xb.Length % 2 == 1);
checkA.AddRange(xa, new GH_Path(i)); checkB.AddRange(xb, new GH_Path(i));
}
A = inside;
}
…
Added by David Stasiuk at 10:20am on October 10, 2017
Horticulture and Landscape in same time.
The most common plastic materials used as agricultural films are the low density polyethylene (LDPE, with a density less than 0.93 kg m−3), the copolymer of ethylene and vinyl-acetate (EVA)
Also here you can find the characteristics of the flexible materials for greenhouse covers (adapted from CPA, 1992 and Tesi, 2001) as much as i get.
UV-PE Film ( UV-PE~ polyethylene Long life or UV)
Thickness (mm) = 0.18
Direct PAR transmissivity (%) = 90
Diffuse PAR transmissivity (%)= 86
Long-wave IR transmissivity (%)= 65
EVA Film ( EVA~Ethylene vinyl-acetate copolymer)
Thickness (mm) = 0.18
Direct PAR transmissivity (%) = 90
Diffuse PAR transmissivity (%)= 76
Long-wave IR transmissivity (%)= 27
and here you will find the global heat transfer coefficient’ (K in W m−2 °C−1) for the above greenhouse covering materials, measured under normalized conditions (temperatures: exterior: −10°C, interior: +20°C, wind: 4 m s−1). (Source: Nisen and Deltour, 1986.)
Cover Clear sky Overcast Sky
Single PE 8.8-9.0 7.1- 7.2
Single EVA 7.8 6.6
Note : the PAR radiation (photosynthetically active or photoactive radiation and its the amounts to 45–50% of the global radiation; Berninger, 1989)
The name PAR is used to designate the radiation with wavelengths useful for plant photosynthesis. It is accepted that the PAR radiation ranges from 400 to 700 nm (McCree, 1972), although some authors consider the PAR from 350 to 850 nm.
The composition of the radiation changes with time, as a function of the Sun’s elevation and the cloudiness. When the Sun is low over the horizon, the short wavelengths are reduced (less UV and more red). The clouds reduce the amount of energy, greatly decreasing the NIR.
The PAR proportion in relation to the global radiation increases with scattering (diffusion). It is lower with clear sky and in the summer (45–48%).
kind regards
rafat …
Grasshopper. So, I once made an attempt to bind ms sqlServer in order to get frozen definitions at some states, to avoid managing baked objects in Rhino and also be able to retain whole results without using the GH state manager that rebuilds everything.
But at that time GH's VB.Net component didn't properly read referenced dlls and I forgot it since then.
At first, I was surprised by Slingshot's extensive interface : I was still having in mind my own old project, a tool that would have acted at the Rhino's geometry object level, and auto creating the needed tables.
The bd would have consisted of a main table, owning the objects ID and name, and related tables containing the necessary information relative to the main objects.
For example, a Brep is made of so and so underlying objects, passed to respective tables, according to GH objects definition layout (just the way they are written in the xml schema).
Then, on a db, query an object by name, and retrieve the whole object or underlying objects (e.g. at the bounding curves level, or points level for a Brep).
With Slingshot, I made a few attempts to cheat GH with BLOB data fields, but no way to get a whole object. It seems that GH simply provides an object.toString ... and GH is definitely not conceived to produce persistence outside of Rhino. If I have some spare time, I will try to extract
About points and colors, I am now simply using a single field with CHAR(asLargeAsNeeded...), as GH parses String to every Point (or Vector or Color) entry of any component.
I do so because it need less to display on the canvas...
Whatever I wrote before, I really like your conception, as opened to relational interactions between ...whatever you need or dream of !
One last thing : GH can't open the definition file "Genome_DB_Template.gh" that I've downloaded from your site : http://slingshot-dev.wikidot.com/database-genome. I was expecting to learn a lot from your very smart stuff ! (I am running GH 08.00.13 and Slingshot 0.7.2.0)
Slingshot is running great, opened to any use...Thanks again.
Best,
Stan
…
a pain to use sometimes. I recently found this great post:
http://www.grasshopper3d.com/forum/topics/formatting-numbers-in-grasshopper
which points to the msdn .net framework standard numeric format strings:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dwhawy9k.aspx
and the custom ones too:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/0c899ak8.aspx
Sooo... today I was trying to make a 2D array generator for RGB values to use with a RGB LED and an Arduino. For instance, declaring a 2D array in Arduino:
int color[3][3]={{255,0,0},{0,255,0},{0,0,255}};
I'm using the blend color component to spit out transitions between two colors. I want the list in the panel to be in the format above, so I used both the expression component and the string format component (are they the same under the hood?). In any case, if I have R, G and B values coming into the component, I want to format them so the come out looking like {R,G,B}, so I can just copy the output in a panel and paste it into the Arduino IDE. But what about {curly braces}. If the expression/format component uses them in it's syntax, for instance:
Format ("{R:0},{G:0},{B:0}",R,G,B)
how do I get them into the formatting string? I tried escaping them like:
Format ("\{{R:0},{G:0},{B:0}\}",R,G,B)
but that just makes the component angry
Escaping characters is explained in the formatting references above. Is it implemented in this component? Should I be looking at a different approach?
I've included a sample file below.
Thanks!
~BB~
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