Industrial Designers, Jewelers Artist, and Architects, are some of the professions utilizing Grasshopper and Rhino in their projects.
My interest in Ceramics has expanded and opened new venues for me to explore. I wanted to overlap some of the knowledge I have in Architectural Ceramics and merge it with creating a 3D print. I can produce a unique object which I can make a mould from to create multiple copies.
As an Industrial Designer, I can produce my proposed structure to small markers and businesses. I can produce a unique tile and have the object printed with a Makerbot. If the client likes the initial prototype, I would have it manufactured at local 3D printing industries such as 3DPhacktory. Then I can produce and install them into the domestic space, the office space or the exterior space.Thus building personal relationships and connections with the consumers.
This business model is already apparent with businesses such as Hot Pop, Nervous System, Sculpteo, and Stratasys, Shapeways . Hot Pop has created a website that allows the clients to purchase 3-D printable and wearable goods. Nervous System has made an interface which allows the client to generate and create a unique piece of jewelry with their website. The general idea with these businesses is that they are targeting a niche market of clients who know how to use modeling programs such as Rhino and Grasshopper to create objects that are printable. However, that being said, it is up to us to judge the quality, the craft, and the function of the printed object.
The launch of the Makerbot was in 2009. It became available to the consumer marker. Designers and people alike can use this technology to create beautiful things or otherwise make ‘crapjects’ simply put by Greg Smith.
Without further a do, I present Currents, a business model that can offer clients the ability to be a part of the design process. This project was originally inspired by the growth of coral and how tiny polyp grow in a random fashion and structure effected by the currents of the water. I manipulated a structure in Rhino and used it as a basic shape to tile in Grasshopper. The configuration of the tiles can change based on what the client desires. Below is an experience of what the client would go through on the website:
Below are some of the options that can be created:
The Process Work of Currents
I created sets of tiles and forms in Rhino. I chose to develop set two and use the set of 20 tiles in the grasshopper definition.
The tiles are linked to this definition in Grasshopper:
1. In Grasshopper link the srf to Rhino by right-click and set one surface. The srf is divide into rows (u) and columns (v).
2. Now the surface is divided up into a grid. For each square on the grid like surface you will create an array of boxes that will fit in that space using sbox.
3. The surface is parametricized. The individual units are controlled by Bbox and morph. The chosen tile is manipulated to fit into the constrains of the divided surface.
Dispatchsrf creates a logical pattern for the tiles on the surface based on the number sliders for row and column.
The tiles can be updated live. Once a desired look is achieved, bake the objects by right-click on morph (tile 1) and morph (tile 2).
There are some of the programs that the exported Rhino .stl file goes through before becoming a .thing file, a printable file that is readable on Makerbot.
- Netfabb Studio Basic 4.9 – removes naked edges and corrects any complications with the object post printing
- Makerware – the Makerbot program that converts the .obj file to a .thing file. Plug the computer directly to the Makerbot printer or use a memory card to move the file to make a print.
Once the file is cleaned up, it is ready for print.
The Makerbot takes time to warm up the plastic which roughly takes between 2-5 minutes. Then it slowly brings up the bed and starts to print. Within the first 10 minutes of the print Greg and I watched to see if the plastic did not extrude well from the nozzle, or if there were defects in the print.
3 variations printed on the Makerbot
A special thanks goes out to Greg and Jesse! Greg, thank you for your support and expertise in Grasshopper. You demonstrated the complexity of just some of the challenges that Grasshopper can accomplish through your tutorials. I will continue to definitely explore Grasshopper after Graduation. Jesse, thank you for offering the Grasshopper course. This was an eye opener for me that made me re-think of the potential of what I can do with this tool. Have fun in sunny California!
&
Best of Luck to all of us because
we have knowledge to plug in new definitions, one day at a time!