ours looks like). Anyway, you'll probably want to start with a Fader 1-way. I set mine up to go from 0 to 300 over the course of 6 seconds. Then I just wrote a very quick C# component to check the output of the Fader component and whether it met one of three conditions. Here's the code (very simple). Note: you'll need to use the input manager to remove one of the Y input and the output manager to add 2 more outputs (B & C).
if (x <= 100) { A = true; B = false; C = false; } if (x > 100 && x <= 200) { A = false; B = true; C = false; } if (x > 200) { A = false; B = false; C = true; }
Now, we know if at any given Fader value if it's in the first phase, second phase, or third phase. I output a boolean value which can also be considered a 0 or 1 if converted to an integer. So, if I multiply those boolean values by 255, then the one that is true will be 255, and the others will always be 0. Now, you should have your color scheme which switches depending on what phase its in. Simply connect that to the Uno Write component (with the Firefly Firmata sketch loaded on your board) and send the color values to the board as PWM values.
Some things I should note... You probably notice the Fader component looks a little different (it's missing the start input and I'm using the GH_Timer). I've decided (for good reason) to abandon the Form Timer I was using in a lot of the Firefly components in favor of the newly re-written GH_Timer component. So, in order to get the Fader component to update in the next version, you have to connect a Timer and turn it on (not that much different). But, it's significantly faster. Part of the reason is that the form timer just wasn't fast enough to get really smooth results... Now, it's blazing fast. I've incorporated this Timer scheme in a lot of the Firefly components and the results are roughly 10x faster. Since, you're only switching values (and not trying to quickly modulate the PWM values) the current version of Firefly should be just fine (just use the Start input to start the Fader component). But, when we release the next version (hopefully very soon), this may change a bit. Anyway, I hope that clarifies it a bit. I've attached a screenshot below. I didn't include the file because I've got a newer version of Firefly that would just crash on you (or not open properly)... but hopefully you can get how to do it.
…
component I just used different components and GH tools to do the same - and this become part of my short paper submission for SimAUD 2016). My solution compares the height of the same points of different solar envelope and then chose the lowest one. I read about the improvement you are working on and it is good but I think it is not yet what I need (or how the solar envelope tool could be more complete).
What I need is a solar envelope that would guarantee on different facades with different orientations (the example I sent you) a certain amount of direct sunlight, say 4h per day in a given period for example all the month of June at 60°N. So to guarantee the south facing facade I should chose the vectors from 10 to 14. But these are not ok for all the other facades because in this timeframe the East and West facing facades get only 2 hours and the North get 0 hours.
So the fist step would be have the possibility to chose different sun vectors for different facades. For the example I did (the 4 hours in June at 60°N) the south facing facade would need from 10 to 14, the East facing for example from 8 to 12, the West facing facade from 12 to 16 and the North facing facade from 6 to 8 and from 18 to 20.
If I would chose a single longer time frame that could get all these hours, from 8 to 20 then the resulting solar envelope would result probably smaller than the sum of the four solar envelopes.
But this is not complete yet. I mean the use of different sun vectors on different facades. The reason is that for example when I chose the sun vectors from 8 to 12 for the four hours on the East facing facade how do I know that the sun hit on the facade in that time frame or maybe it is obstructed by surrounding buildings? Since the sun at 60°N (where I live) in June rise at around 3.15 then maybe for that specific facade the sun hit from 4 to 8 and not from 8 to 12.
I did an extreme case talking about 60°N and that maybe the sun hit on a facade at 4 instead than 12, but it is just to make understand the logic. My suggestion for a more advanced solar envelope it should be integrated with the Sunlight Hours tool of ladybug. So the input should not be the sun vectors because I don't know when the sun hit on the facade but the input should be just the desired number of hours and the possibility to specify different number of hours for each facade. Then this last component that sum different solar envelope (I didn't use it yet but I understood what it does) should be integrated yes so the result would be one single solar envelope more likely using the lowest points (the highest I don't understand what for).
Let me know what you think!
…
, Engineer and Researcher from France with broad programming experience. He is the author of the City in 3D Rhinoceros plugin for creation of buildings according to geojson file and with real elevation. Guillaume already created a new component: "Address to Location". It enables getting latitude and longitude values for the given address:
2) Support of Bathymetry data: automatic creation of underwater (sea/river/lake floor) terrain. This feature is now available through new source_ input of the "Terrain generator" component. Here is an example of terrain of the Loihi underwater volcano, of the coast of Hawaii:
3) A new terrain source has been added: ALOS World 3D 30m. ALOS is a Japanese global terrain data. Gismo "Terrain Generator" component has been using SRTM 30m terrain data, which hasn't been global and was limited to -56 to +60 latitude range. With this addition, it is possible to switch between SRTM and ALOS World 3D 30m models with the use of source_ input.
4) 9 new components have been added:
"Address To Location" - finds latitude and longitude coordinates for the given address.
"XY To Location" - finds latitude and longitude coordinates for the given Rhino XY coordinates. "Location To XY" - vice versa from the previous component: finds Rhino XY coordinates for the given latitude longitude coordinates. "Z To Elevation" - finds elevation for particular Rhino point. "Rhino text to number" - convert numeric text from Rhino to grasshopper number. "Rhino unit to meters" - convert Rhino units to meters. "Deconstruct location" - deconstructs .epw location. "New Component Example" - this component explains how to make a new Gismo component, in case you are interested to make one. We welcome new developers, even if you contribute a single component to Gismo! "Support Gismo" - gives some suggestions on how to make Gismo better, how to improve it and support it.
5) Ladybug "Terrain Generator" component now supports all units, not only Meters. So any Gismo example file which uses this component, can now use Rhino units other than Meters as well. Thank you Antonello Di Nunzio for making this happen!!
Basically just forget about this yellow panel:
This panel is not valid anymore, so just use any unit you want.
6) A number of bugs have been fixed, reported in topics for the last couple of weeks. We would like to thank members in the community who invested their time in testing, finding these bugs and reporting them: Rafat Ahmed, Peter Zatko, Mathieu Venot, Abraham Yezioro, Rafael Alonso. Thank you guys!!! Apologies if we forgot to mention someone.
The version 0.0.2 can be downloaded from here:
https://github.com/stgeorges/gismo/zipball/master
And example files from here:
https://github.com/stgeorges/gismo/tree/master/examples
Any new suggestions, testing and bug reports are welcome!!…
Added by djordje to Gismo at 5:13pm on March 1, 2017
mers considering extreme sports reject mainstream retailers and like to check out small stores rather of at chains plus malls. Several smaller retailers discuss trends in sports shoe sales. http://skateszone.com/
Though athletic shoes and sports stores and from doorways retailers have reported somewhat uptick in footwear sales due to the increase in extreme sports, the particular beneficiaries inside the trend are independent surf and skate niche stores.
Some West Coast surf and skate shops stated teenagers and even more youthful Generation Xers are not only rejecting traditional sports, but they're also shunning mainstream retailers and malls meant for smaller niche shops transporting hard-to-come-by brands.
Eddie Miyoshi, district manager at Atomic Garage, a 3-store chain situated in Gardena, Calif., stated the soaring recognition of skateboard footwear has boosted the retailer's total footwear business 20-thirty percent this year, rather of '95.
Skate footwear presently represent 80-90 % of Atomic Garage's shoe sales, while couple of years back, Dr. Martens and Timberland drove the retailer's footwear business.
Like many retailers, Miyoshi pointed to Airwalk since the trend's catalyst.
However, if Airwalk broadened its distribution to larger chains, which are frequently located in malls, only a few skate shoe customers adopted. Rather, many youthful males have switched for your skate shops for additional elusive brands like Etnies, Duffs, and Electricity Footwear by Circus. By refusing to market bigger retailers or sports stores, these brands are increasing their cachet among youthful consumers.
"Kids don't want stuff which have been within the shops,In . Miyoshi added.
Searching ahead, Miyoshi forecasted skate shoe sales will remain strong through spring '97 provided "the [hot] vendors don't auction other [non-particularly shop] retailers."
"Skaters and non-skaters are rebelling against mainstream retailers so on to surf and skate shops for many looks," echoed Mark Richards, co-online sources Val Surf, a 3-store chain situated in North Hollywood, Calif. Soaring sales of skate footwear have driven total footwear receipts up 25 percent this year rather of '95.
"The quantity of that increase might be connected while using exposure of maximum games? I am unsure. [Skate footwear] may also be actually the think about the moment,In . Richards acknowledged. And in relation to getting this right look, youthful customers can be very picky.
"Skateboard footwear is a huge category for people, but we're not able to own the brands, Etnies, Duffs, Electricity and Nice, simply because they won't sell us," stated Mark Anderson, buyer at Chick's Sports, a six-store chain in Covina, Calif. "We have people coming every single day requesting them." Consequently, skate footwear have consistently ongoing to obtain about 5 % of Chick's overall footwear business. http://skateszone.com/the-top-8-best-skateboards-for-beginners-reviews-2017/
Nonetheless, some outdoors, niche sports and sports retailers are noting the growing recognition and coverage of maximum sports will receive a modest impact on footwear sales. Trailrunning footwear and approach/outdoors crosstrainers will be the two groups benefiting the very best inside the recognition. Like the skate shoe business, some retailers realize that styling instead of function frequently drives sales of individuals footwear.
"At this time the merchandise is a lot more visual than function," stated Chet James, gm of Super Jock 'N Jill, Dallas, speaking about trailrunning footwear. Still, James noted the current hype over adventure sports helps draw more customer traffic. "The marketing campaigns and media help bring growing figures of people in, nonetheless they frequently occasions day an issue that increases results on their own account,Inch he conceded.
John Wilkinson, executive vp inside the 85-store chain Track 'N Trail, Eldorado Hillsides, Calif., stated the shop has "seen some activity in approach footwear," but he requested the amount of consumers depend in it commercially sport. And, instead of accelerating total footwear business, Wilkinson speculated elevated sales of approach footwear and trailrunners are gnawing away at traditional hiking shoe and boot volume.
But Dan Bazinet, president of Overland Exchanging, a 34-store chain situated in Westford, Mass., believes the company-new looks have breathed existence for the wilting hiking boot category. "[Approach-type footwear] don't represent the lion's participate the hiking market, nonetheless they have elevated the hiking business and provided us extra sales," Bazinet stated.
He designated Timberland's Treeline Series and Rockport's Leadville line as strong performers. Unsurprisingly, he noted the company-new looks are attractive to youthful consumer base than traditional hikers.
For that month of June, sales of men's hikers were up 49 percent at Overland, rather of June '95, while sales of women's hikers were up 17 % for that month. Bazinet also attributed elevated sales that shops walked inside the hiking business, departing that business for that specialists.
Some retailers draw a good example concerning the hiking boom of two yrs ago combined with the current extreme sport phenomenon. "Plenty of bigger chains will get a specific percent in the industry while [extreme] sports remain a fad because they are selling cost-point type gear," described Steven Carre, assistant hard goods buyer at Adventure 16, a six-store chain situated in Hillcrest.
"However individuals [true enthusiasts] will say `we need real gear' and may shown up at us. That will help us after a while. What Size Skateboard good for an 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 year old
…
umbers behave differently from the reals, in that when they are squared they give a negative result. They are written as multiples of the imaginary unit i, which is defined so that:
i*i=-1
Complex numbers are numbers which have two parts (hence the name complex) - a real part and an imaginary part.
For example:
3+4i,
or more generally:
a+bi, where a and b are some real numbers.
Well that's a definition, but I guess you might be wondering what is the point of them - I've not said anything yet about why they are interesting and useful...
Solving cubic equations was one of their first uses, but I doubt that is what most of you are interested in.
Where they really get fun is when you start looking at them geometrically.
The Argand plane is a setting that allows us to treat complex numbers a bit like vectors.
Each complex number a+bi defines a point relative to an origin (0,0), much the same as a vector with an x and y component.
Like vectors we can add and subtract them to get a new point.
But when we multiply them, unlike vectors, we add the angles (measured anti-clockwise from the positive real axis, also called the argument) and multiply the lengths (or the modulus of each number).
This all follows naturally as a consequence of the definition of i as the square root of minus one.
........
That is just dipping a toe into the great depths.
Complex number math, and in particular complex Analysis (calculus with complex numbers) is a vast subject that I obviously can't cover much of here.
If you are interested in learning more :
The Math department at Cal State Fullerton has some very nice Complex Analysis pages.
Chapters 5 and 6 of the film Dimensions covers complex numbers very visually. You can watch it online here, or read the description here.
Complex numbers on Wikipedia
on MathWorld
Hans Lundmark's complex analysis pages
The book Indra's Pearls is about making certain types of fractals with complex numbers, and includes a good introduction, along with lots of pseudocode.
To really engage with some of the true depth and power of complex numbers I particularly recommend the beautiful Visual Complex Analysis. This was the book that made me love this subject.
I'm really looking forward to seeing more designers make use of complex numbers. I think it is a wonderful tool. It is an advanced branch of mathematics, requiring some serious study to understand, but because of its strong geometric connections, I think relatively accessible to those who tend to think more visually. Now that David has included them in Grasshopper, starting to explore them should be easier than ever.…
Added by Daniel Piker at 4:38am on November 25, 2009
xes as well.
If you want to jump straight in, you can download the latest build from the Firefly website or from Food4Rhino project page. Or, if you'd rather learn more about all the new features, keep reading!
Improved Arduino Support The Firefly Firmata (Arduino Sketch) has gone through a massive overhaul - making it much more compact, efficient, and extensible. The sketch is now just over 230 lines of code (compared to more than 500 in the previous version). But more importantly, the firmata is now more extensible; making it easier to add support for new Arduino boards... Like what you ask? Well, support for the new Arduino Due platform for example. The Arduino Due is an advanced board and while it may look similar to the Arduino Mega... it's actually quite different under the hood. It features an ARM Cortex-M3 CPU which means its really fast. It also features 12-bit analog resolution for reading and writing (which is pretty awesome). As I said, the Due is a more advanced board and it does require some caution when getting started. You can find out more about the Due platform at the Arduino Due Getting Started page.
One of the biggest changes with the revision of the Firmata was that it required some structural changes with how the data is sent/received from Grasshopper. So, if you are planning on using the latest version of the Firmata, you'll need to also have the latest Firefly components installed as well. This shouldn't be an issue because the installer will place the new Firefly Firmata in your sketchbook folder and install the new components as well... but it's worth noting so you don't try to mix and match the versions.
Kinect Version 2 Support Earlier this summer, Microsoft released a new and improved version of its popular Kinect motion tracking sensor. The sensor includes better body, hand, and joint orientation, 1080p color video (1920x1080), depth video (512x424), and a new active infrared video (512x424). The sensor now has the capability to track up to 6 people at once (compared to only two people with the previous version).
This build of Firefly now comes with three new components to work with this new sensor. The Video Stream can access the color, depth, and infrared video streams at different resolutions. Simply right-click on the video component to choose the video feed and resolution. Note: You may need to update your graphics card in order to get the infrared video stream to work properly (at least I did before it began working properly). The Skeleton Tracker is similar to the previous version, but can now track up to 6 people. And the Mesh Reconstruction component will build a fully colored 3D mesh using the color and depth data from the sensor. I plan to add more components to this section soon, but I wanted to go ahead and release this so more people could use it! [EDIT: I would like to thank Panagiotis Michalatos for his collaboration in the development of the Kinect V2 tools].
New Computer Vision Tools This release also includes a number of new computer vision tools. One component to note is the Bitmap Tracer, which can be seen in action here. The Bitmap Tracer component spawns a number of randomly generated particles which trace the edges of a bitmap using the nearest contouring vector. Another pair of components is the Bitmap Decompose/Recompose which can either decompose or reconstruct a bitmap using a list of values for its constituent channels. These two can be used together to swap channels in an image (think chroma keying). There's also a Bitmap Threshold component which uses the average dithering algorithm to find the color quantization of an image. Lastly, I've updated the Leap Motion Finger Tracking component to work with the latest release of the Leap v2.2.1 software release. The component now has improved finger tracking including joint and bone position/orientation.
In addition to these new features, there's also a number of bug fixes too (check out the readme if your interested). As always, I welcome any and all feedback on this build. Your support really helps, so please let me know what you think!…
xes as well.
If you want to jump straight in, you can download the latest build from the Firefly website or from Food4Rhino project page. Or, if you'd rather learn more about all the new features, keep reading!
Improved Arduino Support The Firefly Firmata (Arduino Sketch) has gone through a massive overhaul - making it much more compact, efficient, and extensible. The sketch is now just over 230 lines of code (compared to more than 500 in the previous version). But more importantly, the firmata is now more extensible; making it easier to add support for new Arduino boards... Like what you ask? Well, support for the new Arduino Due platform for example. The Arduino Due is an advanced board and while it may look similar to the Arduino Mega... it's actually quite different under the hood. It features an ARM Cortex-M3 CPU which means its really fast. It also features 12-bit analog resolution for reading and writing (which is pretty awesome). As I said, the Due is a more advanced board and it does require some caution when getting started. You can find out more about the Due platform at the Arduino Due Getting Started page.
One of the biggest changes with the revision of the Firmata was that it required some structural changes with how the data is sent/received from Grasshopper. So, if you are planning on using the latest version of the Firmata, you'll need to also have the latest Firefly components installed as well. This shouldn't be an issue because the installer will place the new Firefly Firmata in your sketchbook folder and install the new components as well... but it's worth noting so you don't try to mix and match the versions.
Kinect Version 2 Support Earlier this summer, Microsoft released a new and improved version of its popular Kinect motion tracking sensor. The sensor includes better body, hand, and joint orientation, 1080p color video (1920x1080), depth video (512x424), and a new active infrared video (512x424). The sensor now has the capability to track up to 6 people at once (compared to only two people with the previous version).
This build of Firefly now comes with three new components to work with this new sensor. The Video Stream can access the color, depth, and infrared video streams at different resolutions. Simply right-click on the video component to choose the video feed and resolution. Note: You may need to update your graphics card in order to get the infrared video stream to work properly (at least I did before it began working properly). The Skeleton Tracker is similar to the previous version, but can now track up to 6 people. And the Mesh Reconstruction component will build a fully colored 3D mesh using the color and depth data from the sensor. I plan to add more components to this section soon, but I wanted to go ahead and release this so more people could use it! [EDIT: I would like to thank Panagiotis Michalatos for his collaboration in the development of the Kinect V2 tools].
New Computer Vision Tools This release also includes a number of new computer vision tools. One component to note is the Bitmap Tracer, which can be seen in action here. The Bitmap Tracer component spawns a number of randomly generated particles which trace the edges of a bitmap using the nearest contouring vector. Another pair of components is the Bitmap Decompose/Recompose which can either decompose or reconstruct a bitmap using a list of values for its constituent channels. These two can be used together to swap channels in an image (think chroma keying). There's also a Bitmap Threshold component which uses the average dithering algorithm to find the color quantization of an image. Lastly, I've updated the Leap Motion Finger Tracking component to work with the latest release of the Leap v2.2.1 software release. The component now has improved finger tracking including joint and bone position/orientation.
In addition to these new features, there's also a number of bug fixes too (check out the readme if your interested). As always, I welcome any and all feedback on this build. Your support really helps, so please let me know what you think!
…
eration!
See an example work flow for designing, simulating and analysing a Photovoltaic system below.
Download a Grasshopper and Rhino example file:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/krbszlplj5i40dz/017_HBgeneration%20Rhino%20model.3dm?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lxneuzal3mipd2q/017_HBgeneration.gh?dl=0
See a quick introduction and tutorial videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLrx2KnyhaJ5YXo5hpk8Q9q4Vy99O5IegK
1. Select a building to mount a photovoltaic generator on (seen in Rhino in green).
2. Select a surface within that building to mount a photovoltaic generator on (seen in Rhino in green).
3. Create a Honeybee context surface from that surface.
4. Place a photovoltaic generator on that Honeybee context surface by using the Honeybee generation component. Honeybee_Generator_PV and connecting the context surface to it's input _HBSurfaces. Then you can specify both the performance and the financial data of the photovoltaic generator.
5. Create a Honeybee generation system which consists of the photovoltaic generator in 4. By using the component Honeybee_generationsystem and connecting 4 to its input PVHBSurfaces_. Then you can specify the annual maintenance cost of this system.
6. Run the simulation in Energy Plus by connecting 5. to the input HBGenerators_.
7. Read the results of the simulation:
- The electricity produced by the Honeybee generation system in 5.
- The net purchased electricity of the facility (the Honeybee zone) to which the Honeybee generation system is attached to. This is the electricity consumed by the facility less the electricity generated by the Honeybee generation system.
- The financial costs of the Honeybee generation system; capital, maintenance and replacement costs.
8. Calculate the net present cost of the Honeybee generation system in 5 assuming a 25 year lifetime.
9. Visualise the net present cost.
…
he field of digital design, fabrication, emerging technology and makers. the experts spend two weeks in bratislava, developing their research project and at the end of their residency we invite eager and interested people – fellows – to form a think-tank and take part in the pinnacle of the project.the event will be highly experimental and no specific result is guaranteed. the event will be accessible also to people who want to observe and learn, however the purpose of the gathering is not to teach, but rather to experiment, consult, make and network. the rese arch lab is not a tutorial workshop, it’s a platform for common development.
download a pdf
research project
the project questions the current condition of the large scale 3d printing capabilities. while small scale, desktop 3d printers emerge each day with better and better quality of the output, large scale printing is based mostly on low fidelity concrete printing, or in few cases not-so-high-quality metal printing.we will try to develop new solutions for large scale, rapid 3d printing by merging different technologies. those will constitute the main structure of the designed output, while the 3d printing will be seen only as the solidifying agent.we will utilize the kuka robot with an attached abs/pla extruder as the main production tool.
call for fellows
the fellows will join the last 4 days of the research, consult the current state, come up with new ideas and help verify and test the outputs. the fellows are being called for through a portfolio and cv selection process. the exceptional individuals who can both, benefit from and contribute to the project will be selected by mateusz zwierzycki and jan pernecky. no specific number of open positions are available and it is possible that no one will be chosen.
call for trainees
it will be possible to attend the rese arch lab to the people with no expertise or previous experience. they will take a role of observers or trainees. it has to be explicitly stated though, that the event is not meant to teach any specific software or skills and the experiments can fail in achieving an output.
application
to apply send an email at lab@rese-arch.org. the deadline for the submissions is monday, 6 april 2015 at noon 12pm.
costs
the participation fee is fixed 150€ for the fellows and 200€ for the trainees. this covers only the participation at the rese arch lab event. the traveling expenses and accommodation costs need to be covered by the participants themselves.
equipment
various equipment will be available – including 3d printers, 3d scanners, milling machines, laser cutters, vinyl cutters.most of all, rese arch and partners have to their full disposal a robotic arm kuka kr15/2.
the requirements
if you find yourself proficient in: parametric design (viewed as aesthetics), 3d printing, robotics, scripting, architectural geometry, cam technologies or woodworking then the event will be surely interesting for you. at the same time we seek for people with exceptional sense for aesthetics, as the final output will be designed together (not just by the project leader).on the hardware/software side, we need you to bring your own laptop. we will work mainly with rhino/grasshopper.…
oftware connections built from the initial seed of the project. As always you can download the new release from Food4Rhino. Make sure to remove the older version of Ladybug and Honeybee and update your scripts.
This release is also special since today it is just about 3 years (3 years and 2 weeks) from the first release of Ladybug. As with any release, there have been a number of bug fixes and improvements but we also have some major news this time. In no specific order and to ensure that the biggest developments do not get lost in the extensive list of updates, here are the major ones:
Mostapha is re-writing Ladybug!
Ladybug for DynamoBIM is finally available.
Chris made bakeIt really useful by incorporating an export pathway to PDFs and vector-based programs.
Honeybee is now connected to THERM and the LBNL suite thanks to Chris Mackey.
Sarith has addressed a much-desired wish for Honeybee (Hi Theodore!) by adding components to model electric lighting with Radiance.
Djordje is on his way to making renewable energy deeply integrated with Ladybug by releasing components for modeling solar hot water.
There is new bug. Check the bottom of the post for Dragonfly!
Last but definitely not least (in case you’re not still convinced that this release is a major one) Miguel has started a new project that brings some of Ladybug’s features directly to Rhino. We mean Rhino Rhino - A Rhino plugin! Say hi to Icarus! #surprise
Before we forget! Ladybug and Honeybee now have official stickers. Yes! We know about T-Shirts and mugs and they will be next. For now, you can deck-out your laptops and powerhouse simulation machines with the symbology of our collaborative software ecosystem.
Now go grab a cup of tea/coffee and read the details below:
Rewriting Ladybug!
Perhaps the most far-reaching development of the last 4 months is an effort on the part of Mostapha to initiate a well structured, well documented, flexible, and extendable version of the Ladybug libraries. While such code is something that few community members will interact with directly, a well-documented library is critical for maintaining the project, adding new features, and for porting Ladybug to other software platforms.
The new Ladybug libraries are still under development across a number of new repositories and they separate a ladybug-core, which includes epw parsing and all non-geometric functions, from interface-specific geometry libraries. This allows us to easily extend Ladybug to other platforms with a different geometry library for each platform (ie. ladybug-grasshopper, ladybug-dynamo, ladybug-web, etc) all of which are developed on top of the ladybug-core.
Without getting too technical, here is an example of a useful outcome of this development. If you want to know the number of hours that relative humidity is more than 90% for a given epw, all that you have to code (in any python interface) is the following:
import ladybug as lb
_epwFile = r"C:\EnergyPlusV7-2-0\WeatherData\USA_CO_Golden-NREL.724666_TMY3.epw"
epwfile = lb.epw.EPW(_epwFile)
filteredData = epwfile.relativeHumidity.filterByConditionalStatement('x>90')
print "Number of hours with Humidity more than 90 is %d "%len(filteredData.timeStamps)
Compare that to the 500 + lines that you would have had to write previously for this operation, which were usually tied to a single interface! Now let’s see what will happen if you want to use the geometry-specific libraries. Let’s draw a sunpath in Grasshopper:
import ladybuggrasshopper.epw as epw
import ladybuggrasshopper.sunpath as sunpath
# get location data form epw file
location = epw.EPW(_epwFile).location
# initiate sunpath based on location
sp = sunpath.Sunpath.fromLocation(location, northAngle = 0, daylightSavingPeriod = None, basePoint =cenPt, scale = scale, sunScale = sunScale)
# draw sunpath geometry
sp.drawAnnualSunpath()
# assign geometries to outputs
...
Finally we ask, how would this code will look if we wanted to make a sunpath for dynamo? Well, it will be exactly the same! Just change ladybuggrasshopper in the second line to ladybugdynamo! Here is the code which is creating the sunpath below.
With this ease of scripting, we hope to involve more of our community members in our development and make it easy for others to use ladybug in their various preferred applications. By the next release, we will produce an API documentation (documentation of all the ladybug classes, methods and properties that you can script with) and begin making tutorials for those interested in getting deeper into Ladybug development.
LADYBUG
1 - Initial Release of Ladybug for Dynamo:
As is evident from the post above, we are happy to announce the first release of Ladybug for Dynamo! You can download the ladybug package from Dynamo package manager. Make sure to download version 0.0.6 which is actually 0.0.1! It took a number of trial and errors to get it up there. Once you have the file downloaded you can watch these videos to get started:
The source code can be find under ladybug-dynamo repository and (as you can already guess) it is using the new code base. It includes a very small toolkit of essential Ladybug components/nodes but it has enough to get you started. You can import weather files, draw sunpaths and run sunlighthours or radiation analyses.
There are two known issues in this release but neither of them is critical. You need to have Dynamo 0.9.1 or higher installed which you can download from here (http://dynamobuilds.com/). It is recommended that you run the scripts with ‘Manual’ run (as opposed to ‘Automatic’) since the more intense calculations can make Dynamo crash in automatic mode.
To put things in perspective, here is how we would map Ladybug for Dynamo vs Ladybug and Honeybee for Grasshopper on the classic ‘Hype graph’. The good news is that what we learned a lot from the last three years, making development of the Dynamo version easier and getting us to the plateau of productivity faster.
We should also note that the current development of the Dynamo interface is behind that of the Ladybug-Core, which means there are a number of features that are developed in the code but haven’t made their way to the nodes yet. They will be added gradually over the next month or two.
If you’re interested to get involved in the development process or have ideas for the development, follow ladybug on Facebook, Twitter and Github. We will only post major release news here. Facebook, github and twitter will be the main channels for posting the development process. There will also be a release of a new ladybug for Grasshopper soon that will use the came Ladybug-Core libraries as the Dynamo interface [Trying hard not to name it as Ladybug 2].
2 - New Project “Icarus” Provides Ladybug Capabilities Directly in Rhino
Speaking of expanded cross-platform capabilities, the talented Miguel Rus has produced a standalone Rhino Plugin off of the original Ladybug code that has been included in this release. After writing his own core C# libraries, Miguel’s plugin enables users to produce sunpath and run sunlight hours analyses in the Rhino scene without need of opening Grasshopper or engaging the (sometimes daunting) act of visual scripting.
This release includes his initial RHP plugin file. It is hoped that Miguel’s efforts will extend some of the capabilities of environmental design to individuals who are unfamiliar with visual scripting, casting the network of our community into new territory. We need your help spreading the word about Icarus since the people who will benefit the most from it have probably not read this far into the release notes. Also, as the project is in the early stages, your feedback can make a great difference. You can download the current release from this link.
Once you download the zip file. Right click and unblock it. Then extract the files under C:\Program Files\Rhinoceros 5 (64-bit)\Plug-ins\ folder. Drag and drop the RHP file into Rhino and you should be ready to go. You can either type Icarus in the command line or open it via the panels. Here is a short video that shows how to run a sunlighhours analysis study in Rhino.
3 - BakeIt Input Now Supports a Pathway to PDF +Vector Programs
As promised in the previous release, the BakeIt_ option available on Ladybug’s visual components has been enhanced to provide a full pathway to vector-based programs (like Illustrator and Inkscape) and eases the export to vector formats like PDFs.
This means that the BakeIt_ operation now places all text in the Rhino scene as actual editable text (not meshes) and any colored meshes are output as groups of colored hatches (so that they appear as color-filled polygons in vector-based programs). There is still an option to bake the colored geometries as light meshes (which requires smaller amounts of memory and computation time) but the new hatched capability should make it easier to incorporate Ladybug graphics in architectural drawings and documents like this vector psychrometric chart.
4 - Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET) Now Available
Thanks to the efforts of Djordje Spasic, it is now possible to compute the common outdoor comfort metric ‘Physiological Equivalent Temperature’ (PET) with Ladybug. The capability has been included with this release of “Thermal Comfort Indices” component and is supported by a “Body Characteristics” component in the Extra tab. PET is particularly helpful for evaluating outdoor comfort at a high spatial resolution and so the next Honeybee release will include an option for PET with the microclimate map workflow.
5 - Solar Hot Water Components Available in WIP
Chengchu Yan and Djordje Spasic have built a set of components that perform detailed estimates of solar hot water. The components are currently undergoing final stages of testing and are available in the WIP tab of this release. You can read the full release notes for the components here.
6 - New Ladybug Graphic Standards
With the parallel efforts or so many developers, we have made an effort in this release to standardize the means by which you interact with the components. This includes warnings for missing inputs and the ability to make either icons or text appear on the components as you wish (Hi Andres!). A full list of all graphic standards can be found here. If you have any thoughts or comments on the new standards, feel free to voice them here.
7 - Wet Bulb Temperature Now Available
Thanks to Antonello Di Nunzio - the newest member of the Ladybug development team, it is now possible to calculate wet bulb temperature with Ladybug. Antonello’s component can be found under the WIP tab and takes inputs of dry bulb temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure.
8 - New View Analysis Types
The view analysis component now allows for several different view studies in addition to the previous ‘view to test points.’ These include, skyview (which is helpful for studies of outdoor micro-climate), as well as spherical view and ‘cone of vision’ view, which are helpful for indoor studies evaluating the overall visual connection to the outdoors.
HONEYBEE
1 - Connection to THERM and LBNL Programs
With this release, many of you will notice that a new tab has been added to Honeybee. The tab “11 | THERM” includes 7 new components that enable you to export ready-to-simulate Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) THERM files from Rhino/Grasshopper. THERM is a 2D finite element heat flow engine that is used to evaluate the performance of wall/window construction details by simulating thermal bridging behavior. The new Honeybee tab represents the first ever CAD plugin interface for THERM, which has been in demand since the first release of LBNL THERM several years ago. The export workflow involves the drawing of window/wall construction details in Rhino and the assigning of materials and boundary conditions in Grasshopper to produce ready-to-simulate THERM files that allow you to bypass the limited drawing interface of THERM completely. Additional components in the “11 | THERM” tab allow you to import the results of THERM simulations back into Grasshopper and assist with incorporating THERM results into Honeybee EnergyPlus simulations. Finally, two components assist with a connection to LBNL WINDOW for advanced modeling of Glazing constructions. Example files illustrating many of the capabilities of the new components can be found in there links.
THERM_Export_Workflow, THERM_Comparison_of_Stud_Wall_Constructions
Analyze_THERM_Results, Thermal_Bridging_with_THERM_and_EnergyPlus
Import_Glazing_System_from_LBNL_WINDOW, Import_LBNL_WINDOW_Glazing_Assembly_for_EnergyPlus
It is recommended that those who are using these THERM components for the first time begin by exploring this example file.
Tutorial videos on how to use the components will be posted soon. A great deal of thanks is due to the LBNL team that was responsive to questions at the start of the development and special thanks goes to Payette Architects, which allowed Chris Mackey (the author of the components) a significant amount of paid time to develop them.
2 - Electrical Lighting Components with Enhanced Capabilities for Importing and Manipulating IES Files
Thanks to the efforts of Sarith Subramaniam, it is now much easier and more flexible to include electric lighting in Honeybee Radiance simulations. A series of very exciting images and videos can be found in his release post.
You can find the components under WIP tab. Sarith is looking for feedback and wishes. Please give them a try and let him know your thoughts. Several example files showing how to use the components can be found here. 1, 2, 3.
3- Expanded Dynamic Shade Capabilities
After great demand, it is now possible to assign several different types of control strategies for interior blinds and shades for EnergyPlus simulations. Control thresholds range from zone temperature, to zone cooling load, to radiation on windows, to many combinations of these variables. The new component also features the ability to run EnergyPlus simulations with electrochromic glazing. An example file showing many of the new capabilities can be found here.
Dragonfly Beta
In order to link the capabilities of Ladybug + Honeybee to a wider range of climatic data sets and analytical tools, a new insect has been initiated under the name of Dragonfly. While the Dragonfly components are not included with the download of this release, the most recent version can be downloaded here. An example file showing how to use Dragonfly to warp EPW data to account for urban heat island effect can also be found here. By the next release, the capabilities of Dragonfly should be robust enough for it to fly on its own. Additional features that will be implemented in the next few months include importing thermal satellite image data to Rhino/GH as well as the ability to warp EPW files to account for climate change projections. Anyone interested in testing out the new insect should feel free to contact Chris Mackey.
And finally, it is with great pleasure that we welcome Sarith and Antonello to the team. As mentioned in the above release notes, Sarith has added a robust implementation for electric light modeling with Honeybee and Antonello has added a component to calculate wet bulb temperature while providing stellar support to a number of people here on the GH forum.
As always let us know your comments and suggestions.
Enjoy!
Ladybug+Honeybee development team
PS: Special thanks to Chris for writing most of the release notes!…