Parametric Wood

Final Grasshopper Definition Review

-The definition can accept any member profile you specify. It could easily be modified and expanded to work for steel structures as well.
-The thickness and depth of the splines are numeric parameters you can set.
-It can specify different connections depending on how many members are intersecting at one point. Currently, it is defined to make joints for anything other than a T or hanger connection but could be expanded to specify different connections for 2 members connecting vs 5 members connecting for example.
-For laser cut sheets, the structure diagram (member centerlines) must be in the same plane and without any completely vertical members (probably relatively easy to fix).
-The splines can be boolean unioned together and subtracted from the timber members to get non-intersecting 3d geometry, though sometimes this fails for whatever reason

The next steps would be to find a way to trim the timber members so that they fit together nicely and get the steel to union together consistently and fillet to the corner. For connections where the structure isn’t in the same plane, I think an all purpose joint ready for anything to be thrown at it isn’t the best option but instead maybe a few different joints designed for different structural situations that are variable within reason. e.g. I found this recently and thought it was a good flexible approach without trying to be a swiss-army-knife-esque joint: http://www.dreamationworks.com/?p=268

Laser Cutter Friendly Plate Connectors

Two updates from last week:

-The node joint finding definition from a while ago is integrated into the definition so that it doesn’t try to create T connections. Those could be added on later.

-Considering how much time we had left, we decided to use a simpler structure within a single plane so that our plate connectors could transition easily to a laser cutter. The plates are laid out on a grid and once baked, usually need a corner to be filleted.