Attractor Point with Range

I received a request recently about using an attractor point in DP.  This was a famous early Grasshopper example so I figured I could do a simple version using DP.  The tutorial also includes a powercopied rule to set the range of the attractor point allowing for greater or lesser impact of the point on the circle radii.

Here is the text for a rule that gets powercopied with the geometry:

if buildgeo\radius_inner > radius_max 

{buildgeo\radius_float = radius_max }
else if buildgeo\radius_inner < radius_min 

{buildgeo\radius_float = radius_min }

else {buildgeo\radius_float = buildgeo\radius_inner }

Here is the file if anyone wants to work through the example (file here).  Click on the image below to start the video.

Radical Botanical by David Sokol

The Shadow Pavilion was published in the January issue of Interior Design Magazine.

FAB Lab at Michigan officially opens

Short article in the local paper about the FAB Lab open house.  (I hope the robot doesn't crash into the foam mold, obviously placed for the photo!)

The FAB Lab opening was also the topic of a recent local radio interview on the Lucy Ann Lance Business Insider – 1290 WLBY, Ann Arbor, MI.  Click here to listen to the January 20th interview.

Rules & Powercopies

Here is a DP tutorial that includes powercopies and rules.  Instead of creating a range of powercopies with a uniform variation, I model it as lumber with specific sizes.  The rule then allows for specific shapes to be placed depending on the context of the framework.  The rule is also dynamic so as the context changes the rule is able to update the geometry.

Here is the simple text required to make the rule.  Both "depth" and "joist_length" are linked parameters.


if joist_length <= 110in
{depth=5.5in}

else if
joist_length >110in and joist_length<145in
{depth=7.25in}

else if
joist_length >145in and joist_length<185in
{depth=9.25in}

else if
joist_length >185in and joist_length<225in
{depth=11.25in}

else if
joist_length >=225in
{depth=.75in}

Blogs, RSS Feeds, and Pipes

Short video that covers the creation of blogs, the role of RSS feeds, and the aggregation of RSS feeds.  For the past year I have been requiring my students to document their work and use a personal blog site to comment on their work and synthesize different types of peripheral studio information.  As our studio format has moved to two days a week, the blog gives me a chance to see what my students are up to in the days between studios and gives me an easy ways to comment.  The RSS feed keeps me up to date by notifying me when something is added to one of their blogs.

Click the RSS icon to start the streaming 13 minute video.

ParaMod Seminar - Tutorial001

This semester the ParaMod seminar will be addressing the role of precedent and our ability to build on and manipulate existing rules and work.  Tutorial001 asks the students to model the plan of an existing project, uncover the rules, and produce 5 variations.

The student work blogs will be aggregated in the widget in the bottom right.

The following tutorial gives my quick approach to such a problem.  The tutorial models Borromini's San Carlo and UN Studio's Ponte Parodi project.  Click the image to start the streaming video.

Research Through Making Exhibit

Sorry for the holiday delay in posting.  Once reviews were done I needed a break.  We have been working on the exhibit of the first group of Research Through Making projects.  The exhibit will be on display starting on January 15th.  I have been working with Chris Johnson to animate a few of the material studies that were developed at the beginning of the project.  In all there should be 5 interactive prototypes.  Still working on the drawings and repairing some of the models.  I'll post some images once the exhibit is installed.

The interactive pieces are an array of LEDs with a PIR motion sensor controlled by Arduino boards.  We tried various code options but in the end recycled the code developed by John Marshall on the FIRE project.  The laser cut paper models are investigations of various aggregation strategies for a structural system.


Shadow Pavilion paper studies from Karl Daubmann on Vimeo.

Shadow Pavilion prototype from Karl Daubmann on Vimeo.