The final molds are done!
There are four panels, thus four combined molds, A, B, C and D.
We followed the elephant logo for naming, From left to right and top to bottom. A – B forms the top part, C -D forms the bottom part.
The molds can be found here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/fhc6txh6m3n6zod/au8y99ix3g
The created molds have arrows for the milling direction and names:
Group 4 presents the Celtic Knot, an iconic structure that can fit everywhere and will function as a meeting spot as well as providing shade.
It is based, just like the celtic knot, on three repeating patterns, which makes it easy to produce. The design is a combination of a bench and an arch, which connects to the second bench and arch.
The arch and bench itself can be cut into four parts, which each have an inner and outer panel, so only eight molds are needed for the total design, which all will be reused three times.
The complete presentation can be found here.
For creating the molds, it is very useful to find the minimum bounding box for each surface. Grasshopper can use iterative evolutionary models to find the best fitness for a group of parameters (genes). This method is called Galapagos.
So instead of trying to find a good bounding box, we input the bounding box pivot points axes as genes and use the resulting volume as a minimum fitness.
In the end you can automatically calculate the mold area you’re using or check the max height requirements.
TODO: Work on extruding to make the actual mold, instead of only the bounding box.
The result with one our of models:
For more information on Galapagos see:
http://www.grasshopper3d.com/profiles/blogs/evolutionary-principles
Inspiration from Celtic knots and similar forms. Their point symmetry helps with multiple panels from one mold.
Though the model is a bit bland, the group decided to use at least some point symmetry for a support structure and then use the rest of the mold for a free form surrounding it. This is just my interpretation of it.
The next step is to check the possibilities of actually making molds for our model using bounding boxes in Grasshopper. The idea of using the same molds multiple times/same panels:
Tomorrow we choose our group design and improve it further.
Could we make two slender panels next to each other in one big mold? #spacesparingmoldtechniques