.
Things have been working swimmingly in many areas of the plugin, but one particular problem has been tough to solve. I have two components that are trying to read/write to the same memory at the same time, causing Rhino exceptions and crashes.
The conflicts appear to be happening between two components -- one is a "Layer Events Listener" that reports essentially what type of layer event just happened. The other is a "Set Layer Visibility" component that toggles the visibility of a list of layers.
The code:
public class LayerTools_LayerEventsListener : GH_Component { /// <summary> /// Initializes a new instance of the LayerTools_LayerListener class. /// </summary> public LayerTools_LayerEventsListener() : base("Layer Events Listener", "Layer Listener", "Get granular information about the layer events happening in the Rhino document.", "Squirrel", "Layer Tools") { }
/// <summary> /// Registers all the input parameters for this component. /// </summary> protected override void RegisterInputParams(GH_Component.GH_InputParamManager pManager) { pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Active", "A", "Set to true to listen to layer events in the Rhino document.", GH_ParamAccess.item, false); pManager.AddTextParameter("Exclusions", "E", "Provide a list of exclusions to stop reading specific events (Added, Deleted, Moved, Renamed, Locked, Visibility, Color, Active).", GH_ParamAccess.list); pManager[1].Optional = true; }
/// <summary> /// Registers all the output parameters for this component. /// </summary> protected override void RegisterOutputParams(GH_Component.GH_OutputParamManager pManager) { pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Initialized", "I", "Whether the listener changed from passive to active.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddTextParameter("Document Name", "doc", "Name of the Rhino document that is changing.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddTextParameter("Layer Path", "path", "Path of the modifed layer.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddIntegerParameter("Layer Index", "ID", "Index of the modified layer.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddIntegerParameter("Sort Index", "SID", "Sort index of the modified layer.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddTextParameter("Event Type", "T", "Type of the modification.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Added", "A", "If the layer has been added.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Deleted", "D", "If the layer has been deleted.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Moved", "M", "If the layer has been moved.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Renamed", "R", "If the layer has been renamed.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Locked", "L", "If the layer locked setting has changed.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Visibility", "V", "If the layer's visibility has changed.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Color", "C", "If the layer's color has changed.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Active", "Act", "If the active layer has changed.", GH_ParamAccess.item); }
/// <summary> /// This is the method that actually does the work. /// </summary> /// <param name="DA">The DA object is used to retrieve from inputs and store in outputs.</param> protected override void SolveInstance(IGH_DataAccess DA) { bool active = false; List<string> exclusions = new List<string>();
DA.GetData(0, ref active); DA.GetDataList(1, exclusions);
RhinoDoc thisDoc = null;
bool initialize = false;
string dName = null; string activePath = null; int layerIndex = -1; int sortIndex = -1; string eventType = null; bool added = false; bool deleted = false; bool moved = false; bool renamed = false; bool locked = false; bool visibility = false; bool color = false; bool current = false;
if (active) { thisDoc = RhinoDoc.ActiveDoc;
initialize = (!previouslyActive) ? true : false;
RhinoDoc.LayerTableEvent -= RhinoDoc_LayerTableEvent; RhinoDoc.LayerTableEvent += RhinoDoc_LayerTableEvent; previouslyActive = true;
} else {
RhinoDoc.LayerTableEvent -= RhinoDoc_LayerTableEvent; previouslyActive = false; }
if (ev != null) { dName = ev.Document.Name; layerIndex = ev.LayerIndex; eventType = ev.EventType.ToString();
if (!exclusions.Contains("Active")) { if (ev.EventType.ToString() == "Current") { // active layer has just been changed current = true; }
}
if (!exclusions.Contains("Moved")) { if (ev.EventType.ToString() == "Sorted") { // active layer has just been changed moved = true; }
}
if (!exclusions.Contains("Added")) { if (ev.EventType.ToString() == "Added") { // layer has just been added activePath = ev.NewState.FullPath; added = true; }
}
if (!exclusions.Contains("Active")) { if (ev.EventType.ToString() == "Deleted") { // layer has just been added
deleted = true; } }
if (ev.EventType.ToString() == "Modified") { // layer has been modified activePath = ev.NewState.FullPath;
//skip sortindex eventType = ev.EventType.ToString();
if (ev.OldState != null && ev.NewState != null) { if (!exclusions.Contains("Locked")) { if (ev.OldState.IsLocked != ev.NewState.IsLocked) locked = true;
} if (!exclusions.Contains("Visibility")) { if (ev.OldState.IsVisible != ev.NewState.IsVisible) visibility = true; }
if (!exclusions.Contains("Moved")) { if (ev.OldState.ParentLayerId != ev.NewState.ParentLayerId) moved = true; }
//if (ev.OldState.SortIndex != ev.NewState.SortIndex) moved = true; if (!exclusions.Contains("Renamed")) { if (ev.OldState.Name != ev.NewState.Name) renamed = true; }
if (!exclusions.Contains("Color")) { if (ev.OldState.Color != ev.NewState.Color) color = true; } }
} }
DA.SetData(0, initialize); DA.SetData(1, dName); DA.SetData(2, activePath); DA.SetData(3, layerIndex); DA.SetData(4, sortIndex); DA.SetData(5, eventType); DA.SetData(6, added); DA.SetData(7, deleted); DA.SetData(8, moved); DA.SetData(9, renamed); DA.SetData(10, locked); DA.SetData(11, visibility); DA.SetData(12, color); DA.SetData(13, current);
}
static bool previouslyActive = false; Rhino.DocObjects.Tables.LayerTableEventArgs ev = null;
void RhinoDoc_LayerTableEvent(object sender, Rhino.DocObjects.Tables.LayerTableEventArgs e) { ev = e;this.ExpireSolution(true); }
And for the layer visibility component:
public LayerTools_SetActiveLayer() : base("Set Active Layer", "SetActiveLayer", "Set the active layer in the Rhino document.", "Squirrel", "Layer Tools") { }
/// <summary> /// Registers all the input parameters for this component. /// </summary> protected override void RegisterInputParams(GH_Component.GH_InputParamManager pManager) { pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Active", "A", "Set to true to change the active layer in Rhino.", GH_ParamAccess.item, false); pManager.AddTextParameter("Path", "P", "Full path of the layer to be activated.", GH_ParamAccess.item); }
/// <summary> /// Registers all the output parameters for this component. /// </summary> protected override void RegisterOutputParams(GH_Component.GH_OutputParamManager pManager) { pManager.AddIntegerParameter("Layer ID", "ID", "Index of layer that has been activated.", GH_ParamAccess.item); pManager.AddBooleanParameter("Status", "St", "True when the layer has been activated.", GH_ParamAccess.item); }
/// <summary> /// This is the method that actually does the work. /// </summary> /// <param name="DA">The DA object is used to retrieve from inputs and store in outputs.</param> protected override void SolveInstance(IGH_DataAccess DA) { bool active = false; string path = "";
if (!DA.GetData(0, ref active)) return; if (!DA.GetData(1, ref path)) return;
int layer_index = -1; bool status = false;
if (path != null) {
Rhino.RhinoDoc doc = Rhino.RhinoDoc.ActiveDoc; Rhino.DocObjects.Tables.LayerTable layertable = doc.Layers;
layer_index = layertable.FindByFullPath(path, true);
if (layer_index > 0) { // if exists RhinoDoc.ActiveDoc.Layers.SetCurrentLayerIndex(layer_index, true); status = true; } }
DA.SetData(0, layer_index); DA.SetData(1, status); }
Now originally I was getting exceptions when changing multiple layers' visibility properties, which would cause the Event Listener to fire and try to read the Visibility property before the memory has been released by the Set Layer Visibility component. That led me to add an "Exceptions" input, that would allow me to disable the reading of Visibility events at the source in the Layer Events listener. That helped me manage about 95% of the crashes I was getting, but I still get strange crashes in other event properties, even when that property shouldn't be affected. For instance, I am getting a crash here on the Name property in the event from the delegate function, even though I am only changing Visibility at any one time:
I have a few ideas but they all seem pretty hacky. One is to try to set a flag that is readable by any component in the plugin -- so that the event listener can see if a "set" component is currently running and abort before causing an exception. The other is creating a delay in the event listener, somthing like 200ms, to allow any set components to finish what they are doing before reading the event. Neither seems super ideal.
Any ideas?
Thanks,
Marc
…
t. This was a reasonably effective workflow for the purposes of solving the initial problem. (in reviewing this post, it seems a bit lengthy, but hopefully it's of use to others).
Link to Illustrator Script example:https://forums.adobe.com/thread/508138
Portion I used: This applies to entire illustrator document. I am using Illustrator CC 64 bit and this worked okay. Tested a few times and it failed once, but a restart of Illustrator fixed it.
var v_selection = app.activeDocument.pathItems;SwapFillStroke(v_selection); function SwapFillStroke(objSel) { for(k = 0; k < objSel.length; k++){ var subSel = objSel[k]; var c_fill = subSel.fillColor; var c_stroke = subSel.strokeColor; subSel.fillColor = c_stroke; if(!subSel.stroked) subSel.stroked = true; subSel.strokeColor = c_fill; }} redraw();
My goal was to export colored geometry, (analysis meshes for example), from Rhino and get it into illustrator with solid fills.
If you want to know how meshes are colored in rhino...there are many explanations here on the forum, a quick search will get you more detailed information.
Short version: export your lines from rhino to illustrator and run the script listed above to make the stroke color the fill color. (in illustrator, shift+X will swap the fill and stroke colors on individual objects, but does not work on multiple objects..hence the need for the script).
Detailed Version:
In my case, I had 2 case studies I was working with.1 - wind rose meshes generated from Ladybug/honeybee2 - A mesh terrain that was colored by pre-set slope values.
NOTE: There are a few plugins to bake objects with color. I used Human tools, (Bake Geometry and JustifiedText3D).http://www.grasshopper3d.com/group/human (lots of other great stuff in there too!)
I had two types of geometry. (2 different definitions)
1- An analysis mesh, (HoneyBee/LadyBug),
2 - Lines generated from mesh faces. (mesh terrain/slope values).
Export results as a DXF, and choose "do not explode". (these were my settings)
DXF seemed to produce the most consistent results.
(you could export/save as an AI file and just open them in illustrator, but that seemed to give inconsistent results with the script).
Open DXF in Illustrator:
Apply Script in illustrator:
In the terrain example, there are only 5 colors, so selection in illustrator, by color, is very easy. In the results from honeybee/ladybug, (or any analysis process I imagine), the default colors are created with a much wider range of values. I presume the legend is then created by an average of those values within a range. My point is that, with the analysis results, selecting objects by color in Illustrator is probably not a very effective workflow.
I only tested this on my instance of rhino and Illustrator. mileage may vary.
In summation, at this point, it seems that the best way to get colored mesh faces, into illustrator, is to export the meshes, (which really ends up being the mesh face edges...curves), and bringing them into illustrator and running a quick script to swap the colors. Once that is complete, you can then select ALL the objects, and change the stroke color/weight at once.…
ion of both Ladybug and Honeybee. Notable among the new components are 51 new Honeybee components for setting up and running energy simulations and 15 new Ladybug components for running detailed comfort analyses. We are also happy to announce the start of comprehensive tutorial series on how to use the components and the first one on getting started with Ladybug can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLruLh1AdY-Sj_XGz3kzHUoWmpWDXNep1O
A second one on how to use the new Ladybug comfort components can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLruLh1AdY-Sho45_D4BV1HKcIz7oVmZ8v
Here is a short list highlighting some of the capabilities of this current Honeybee release:
1) Run EnergyPlus and OpenStudio Simulations - A couple of components to export your HBZones into IDF or OSM files and run energy simulations right from the grasshopper window! Also included are several components for adjusting the parameters of the simulations and requesting a wide range of possible outputs.
2) Assign EnergyPlus Constructions - A set of components that allow you to assign constructions from the OpenStudio library to your Honeybee objects. This also includes components for searching through the OpenStudio construction/material library and components to create your own constructions and materials.
3) Assign EnergyPlus Schedules and Loads - A set of components for assigning schedules and Loads from the Openstudio library to your Honeybee zones. This includes the ability to auto-assign these based on your program or to tweak individual values. You can even create your own schedules from a stream of 8760 values with the new “Create CSV Schedule” component. Lastly, there is a component for converting any E+ schedule to 8760 values, which you can then visualize with the standard Ladybug components
4) Assign HVAC Systems - A set of components for assigning some basic ASHRAE HVAC systems that can be run with the Export to OpenStudio component. You can even adjust the parameters of these systems right in Grasshopper.
Note: The ASHRAE systems are only available for OpenStudio and can’t be used with Honeybee’s EnergyPlus component. Also, only ideal air, VAV and PTHP systems are currently available but more will be on their way soon!
5) Import And Visualize EnergyPlus Results - A set of components to import numerical EnergyPlus simulation results back into grasshopper such that they can be visualized with any of the standard Ladybug components (ie. the 3D chart or Psychrometric chart). Importers are made for zone-level results as well as surface results and surfaces results can be easily separated based on surface type. This also means that E+ results can be analyzed with the new Ladybug comfort calculator components and used in shade or natural ventilation studies. Lastly, there are a set of components for coloring zone/surface geometry with EnergyPlus results and for coloring the shades around zones with shade desirability.
6) Increased Radiance and Daysim Capabilities - Several updates have also been made to the existing Radiance and Daysim components including parallel Radiance Image-based analysis.
7) Visualize HBObject Attributes - A few components have been added to assist with setting up honeybee objects and ensuing the the correct properties have been assigned. These include components to separate surfaces based on boundary condition and components to label surfaces and zones with virtually any of their EnergyPlus or Radiance attributes.
8) WIP Grizzly Bear gbxml Exporter - Lastly, the release includes an WIP version of the Grizzly Bear gbXML exporter, which will continue to be developed over the next few months.
And here’s a list of the new Ladybug capabilities:
1) Comfort Models - Three comfort models that have been translated to python for your use in GH: PMV, Adaptive, and Outdoor (UTCI). Each of these models has a “Comfort Calculator” component for which you can input parameters like temperature and wind speed to get out comfort metrics. These can be used in conjunction with EPW data or EnergyPlus results to calculate comfort for every hour of the year.
2) Ladybug Psychrometric Chart - A new interactive psychrometric chart that was made possible thanks to the releasing of the Berkely Center for the Built Environment Comfort Tool Code (https://github.com/CenterForTheBuiltEnvironment/comfort-tool). The new psychrometric chart allows you to move the comfort polygon around based on PMV comfort metrics, plot EPW or EnergyPlus results on the psych chart, and see how many hours are made comfortable in each case. The component also allows you to plot polygons representing passive building strategies (like internal heat gain or evaporative cooling), which will adjust dynamically with the comfort polygon and are based on the strategies included in Climate Consultant.
3) Solar Adjusted MRT and Outdoor Shade Evaluator - A component has been added to allow you to account for shortwave solar radiation in comfort studies by adjusting Mean Radiant Temperature. This adjusted MRT can then be factored into outdoor comfort studies and used with an new Ladybug Comfort Shade Benefit Evaluator to design outdoor shades and awnings.
4) Wind Speed - Two new components for visualizing wind profile curves and calculating wind speed at particular heights. These allow users to translate EPW wind speed from the meteorological station to the terrain type and height above ground for their site. They will also help inform the CFD simulations that will be coming in later releases.
5) Sky Color Visualizer - A component has been added that allows you to visualize a clear sky for any hour of the year in order to get a sense of the sky qualities and understand light conditions in periods before or after sunset.
Ready to Start?
Here is what you will need to do:
Download Honeybee and Ladybug from the same link here. Make sure that you remove any old version of Ladybug and Honeybee if you have one, as mentioned on the Ladybug group page.
You will also need to install RADIANCE, DAYSIM and ENERGYPLUS on your system. We already sent a video about how to get RADIANCE and Daysim installed (link). You can download EnergyPlus 8.1 for Windows from the DOE website (http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/energyplus/?utm_source=EnergyPlus&utm_medium=redirect&utm_campaign=EnergyPlus%2Bredirect%2B1).
“EnergyPlus is a whole building energy simulation program that engineers, architects, and researchers use to model energy and water use in buildings.”
“OpenStudio is a cross-platform (Windows, Mac, and Linux) collection of software tools to support whole building energy modeling using EnergyPlus and advanced daylight analysis using Radiance.”
Make sure that you install ENERGYPLUS in a folder with no spaces in the file path (e.g. “C:\Program Files” has a space between “Program” and “Files”). A good option for each is C:\EnergyPlusV8-1-0, which is usually the default locations when you run the downloaded installer.
New Example Files!
We have put together a large number of new updated example files and you should use these to get yourself started. You can download them from the link on the group page.
New Developers:
Since the last release, we have had several new members join the Ladybug + Honeybee developer team:
Chien Si Harriman - Chien Si has contributed a large amount of code and new components in the OpenStudio workflow including components to add ASHRAE HVAC systems into your energy models and adjust their parameters. He is also the author of the Grizzly Bear gbxml exporter and will be continuing work on this in the following months.
Trygve Wastvedt - Trygve has contributed a core set of functions that were used to make the new Ladybug Colored Sky Visualizer and have also helped sync the Ladybug Sunpath to give sun positions for the current year of 2014
Abraham Yezioro - Abraham has contributed an awesome new bioclimatic chart for comfort analyses, which, despite its presence in the WIP tab, is nearly complete!
Djordje Spasic - Djordje has contributed a number of core functions that were used to make the new Ladybug Wind Speed Calculator and Wind Profile Visualizer components and will be assisting with workflows to process CFD results in the future. He also has some more outdoor comfort metrics in the works.
Andrew Heumann - Andrew contributed an endlessly useful list item selector, which can adjust based on the input list, and has multiple applications throughout Ladybug and Honeybee. One of the best is for selecting zone-level programs after selecting an overall building program.
Alex Jacobson - Alex also assisted with the coding of the wind speed components.
And, as always, a special thanks goes to all of our awesome users who tested the new components through their several iterations. Special thanks goes to Daniel, Michal, Francisco, and Agus for their continuous support. Thanks again for all the support, great suggestions and comments. We really cannot thank you enough.
Enjoy!,
Ladybug + Honeybee Development Team
PS: If you want to be updated about the news about Ladybug and Honeybee like Ladybug’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/LadyBugforGrasshopper) or follow ladybug’s twitter account (@ladybug_tool).
…
could represent at least three immaterial substances: his subconscious, the negative mass surrounding the sculpture and a parallel world where material is forbidden.
Has Architects' engagement with virtual space meant a vanishing sensitivity towards material and other immaterial realms?
The AA Rome Visiting School 10 day workshop encourages the observation of material elements and their use in the design of architecture featuring subconscious experiences, spatial voids and virtual communities. Students will investigate modern materials and their digital fabrication by direct experience. They will work with algorithms and sensors able to recognise and respond to human feelings and attitudes. Students will feed novel expressions of void spaces into the Roman tradition featuring examples like the ancient catacombs and the Nolli map. Through augmented reality design the projects will open a window into an digital virtual world.
By the end of the workshop students will unveil their interpretation of the material/immaterial form hidden in the real matter.
Applications
1) You can make an application by completing the online application found under ‘Links and Downloads’ on the AA Visiting School page. If you are not able to make an online application, email visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk for instructions to pay by bank transfer.
2) Once you complete the online application and make a full payment, you are registered to the programme. A CV or a portfolio is not required.
All participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing any visa required, and are advised to contact their home embassy early. After payment of fees, the AA School can provide a letter confirming participation in the workshop.
Fees
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £695 per participant, which includes a £60 Visiting membership fee.
Fees do not include flights or accommodation, but accommodation options can be advised. Students need to bring their own laptops, digital equipment and model making tools. Please ensure this equipment is covered by your own insurance as the AA takes no responsibility for items lost or stolen at the workshop.
Eligibility
The workshop is open to current architecture and design students, phd candidates and young professionals. Software Requirements: basic knowledge of Rhinoceros or other 3D modeling software.
Venue of workshop: Galleria “Come Se”, via dei Bruzi 4, 00185 Roma, Italy
…
Visiting School Rio de Janeiro will collaborate with the Centro Carioca de Design with the support of Columbia University Studio X to investigate new possibilities for the urban infrastructure surrounding World Cup Stadiums. Nation-wide, there has been significant investment to build and renovate stadiums for the 2014 World Cup in order to meet the required standard FIFA regulations (‘Padrão FIFA’). At the same time, there has been a large public demand for equal investment into transport systems, public space, and public programs such as hospitals and schools. The Visiting School will tap into the momentum of this movement, and promote a series of interventions within and around the World Cup structures, proposing new public programs and standards for their legacy. Students can choose to focus directly on the Maracanã stadium in Rio de Janeiro, the venue for the Final match of the World Cup. The intense ten-day workshop will employ computational design and digital fabrication to introduce a design methodology that creatively automates and promotes transformation, mutation and complexity for these infrastructure interventions.
Prominent Features of the workshop
Teaching teamThe teaching team will include a mix of tutors from the Architectural Association, including Theodore Sarantoglou Lalis e Dora Sweijd (lassa-architects.com) of Diploma 17, and locally-based architects, urban-designers and experts, mediated by locally-based Visiting School directors, to promote cutting-edge innovative strategies informed by local political, economic and construction issues.
Computational skillsThe workshop will teach advanced digital modeling and parametric design skills, no previous experience is needed. A group of specialist computation tutors will conduct an initial skills workshop and continue to assist throughout the workshop to develop the individual projects of the participants.
Digital FabricationA series of physical models will be built using digital fabrication techniques that will be taught during the workshop, no previous experience is needed.
Applications
1) You can make an application by completing the online application found under ‘Links and Downloads’ on the AA Visiting School page. If you are not able to make an online application, email visitingschool@aaschool.ac.uk for instructions to pay by bank transfer.
2) Once you complete the online application and make a full payment, you are registered to the programme. A CV or a portfolio is not required.
The deadline for applications is 11thApril 2014.
All participants travelling from abroad are responsible for securing any visa required, and are advised to contact their home embassy early. After payment of fees, the AA School can provide a letter confirming participation in the workshop.
Fees
The AA Visiting School requires a fee of £695 per participant, which includes a £60 Visiting membership fee.
Fees do not include flights or accommodation, but accommodation options can be advised. Students need to bring their own laptops, digital equipment and model making tools. Please ensure this equipment is covered by your own insurance as the AA takes no responsibility for items lost or stolen at the workshop.
Eligibility
The workshop is open to current architecture and design students, phd candidates and young professionals.
…
cess informing the user the network is incomplete.
I've been thinking for a while about reading in these blobs of incomprehensible data in an attempt to maintain them through an open/save cycle, but I'll never be able to get this process watertight.
2) When you release components, you should try and make sure that they are backwards compatible previous releases. For example, if you decide to change the number of inputs/outputs or the type of inputs/outputs, this might well break file IO. What you should do in those cases is:
- Copy-paste the old component source code and change the ComponentGuid property. In essence, you make a different component which will have the changes.
- Change the Exposure property on the old component to be GH_Exposure.hidden. This will hide the component from the interface.
This basically means that when people open a file that uses the old style component, they'll get the old-style component. If people instantiate the component anew, they'll get the new component.
Grasshopper and it's default gha assemblies feature dozens upon dozens of these hidden components, sometimes there's as many as 4 old-style components out there.
3) If you want to store additional data in the ghx file for a specific component, you'll need to override the Read() and Write() methods. Something like this:
Public Overrides Function Write(ByVal writer As GH_IO.Serialization.GH_IWriter) As Boolean
writer.SetBoolean("MySpecialBooleanValue", m_myBoolean)
writer.SetString("MySpecialStringData", m_myString)
Return MyBase.Write(writer)
End Function
and
Public Overrides Function Read(ByVal reader As GH_IO.Serialization.GH_IReader) As Boolean
m_myBoolean = False 'Default state
m_myString = String.Empty 'Default state
reader.TryGetBoolean("MySpecialBooleanValue", m_myBoolean)
reader.TryGetString("MySpecialStringData", m_myString)
Return MyBase.Read(reader)
End Function
It is usually possible to make the Reading process smart enough to handle backwards compatibility. You can ask the reader object whether or not a certain value exists and you can then decide whether you can safely use old or new reading logic. So any changes to this part probably don't require you to create a duplicate component and hide the old one.
--
David Rutten
david@mcneel.com
Poprad, Slovakia…
Added by David Rutten at 2:34am on February 26, 2011
we're actually using PET sheets for our flexures. We try to design so that the flexures don't go through more than +/- 30 degrees of deflection. If the angular deflection is kept small, the lifetime can definitely be on the order of 1000000 cycles.
As for the design process (item 2), ideally the designer would be able to use a simple 3D CAD tool to design a model of a robot, and the geometry would be represented by dimensioning the individual parts in the model. Maybe there should be some parametric primitive kinematic building blocks like four bar linkages, box frames, etc. that a user could build up a robot from. But, the key functionality the tool needs to provide is for the designer to be able to visualize how the robot will move when it's fabricated. This could mean observing (or plotting) the motion of a leg, a wing, or a series of body segments. Ideally, then, the tool would generate an unfolding of the design. How this would work is still very vague - maybe the user would assist in the unfolding, maybe there would be an optimization routine that computes optimal unfoldings based on criteria like minimal waste, or fewest pieces (I would *not* constrain the problem to construction from a single monolithic piece as in origami). The biggest problem we have right now, is that our design process is totally divorced from fabrication. Even if we went through the trouble of extruding individual thin plates in Solidworks and creating an assembly for visualizing the kinematics of a mechanism, that particular representation doesn't transfer easily to the fabrication process because it's essentially monolithic.
Item 3: The 2D drawing is simple a drawing done manually in Solidworks. There are different layers for flexure cuts, outline cuts, and potentially any cuts to be made in the plastic flexure layer. Depending on the robot, there may be many separate pieces for different parts and linkages in a single robot. For example, the drawing for a robot containing a fourbar linkage may have the linkage laid out as a physically separate piece consisting of five rigid links connected by four flexure hinges. During assembly, the designer would then fold up that linkage and insert it into the robot wherever it's supposed to go. If you're curious you can see some sample 2D drawings for older designs here: http://robotics.eecs.berkeley.edu/~ronf/Prototype/ under the "Example Structures" heading.
I noticed Kangaroo seems to be a popular choice for physical simulations. I don't really even need to include forces like bending resistance - I'm happy to allow the design tool to approximate flexures as pin joint-type hinges. Once the design is unfolded, the details of how to cut the flexures could be worked out in a post-processing step. I wouldn't expect the tool to be able to realistically simulate the bending of the hinges.
I'm going to have to dig a lot deeper into understanding Grasshopper and Kangaroo. I only just got started with Grasshopper today by following the folding plate tutorial on wa11ace.com.au today. …
now.
This V4 can sense if you feed it with your points and uses these instead of the p1,p2,p3 (it's a prelude for V5 that uses DataTrees of points making any surface subdivision a reality). Do the following: sample a triad of your points (NOT internalized) and feed the C# . Then ... start dragging these Rhino points around (the C# responds accordingly). See any difference?
The topology:
Well, the whole fractal logic (in this case) is to have 3 pts on hand (call them p1,p2,p3 : red, green, blue) and then project the "right" one, say, p3 to the Line (p1,p2) > do this > do that ... blah blah.
But ... what p3? that's the 1M question: Here for instance the right p3 (blue) is (by accident) the 3rd point entered (it's obvious the "projection" recursive logic):
but if you drag around a bit the points : p3 is now different (C# does this by sorting synchronously the triangle angles per point VS points) Numbers are used to indicate that "swift" : (0 for the new p1, 1 for the new p2, 2 for the new p3... etc). Compare with the initial points (red = ex p1, green = ex p2 , blue = ex p3).
and again different:
The 1M question:
In fractal thinking the big thing is when to stop: I could obviously control that by a counter ... but here the requirement is the tile min size (within unpredictable amount of recursions) : this is what the stop logic used does.
The 1B question:
So ... implementing fractal logic (against DataTrees of points) to a parametric environment ... requires a lot of questions: because each time the size of the start triad varies ... whilst the stop condition is constant: meaning that with a little bit of "good" luck you can reach incredible high amount of tiles (computer out of memory > Adios Amigos).
Obviously I'm taking having all possibilities in mind and especially big projects > big facades > millions (or zillions) of tiles > Armageddon > ....
more soon
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