Hi Ben, I had another thought of how you could create your struts so that they are always normal to the surface... and this method wouldn't necessarily use lofting. I was thinking that you could get the intersection curve on the surface, similar to my original waffle script... but then instead of extruding that in the Z-direction, you would use the Sweep 1 rail component, and change the orientation of the section curve as it does the sweep. I think you could generate a number of points on your line, and then analyze the tangent of the surface at that point. Then you could just orient your section profile according to the tangent points of the surface. There is a tutorial on the wiki which goes through how to create a twisting frame which is close to what I'm talking about. Here's a link: http://en.wiki.mcneel.com/default.aspx/McNeel/ExplicitHistoryExamples.html Scroll down to the example called Twisting Frame. I think this could be one method to try out if your stuck. I hope this helps. Best, Andy
On Nov 4, 10:35 pm, Rchitekt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ben, > This is a little bit off topic from Ben's original question, but I > have been working on a modified version of my original waffle script > which would work on a polysurface (Brep) instead of just a single > surface. With the first version, each strut always had a uniform > depth because it was linked to a slider that was driving the extrusion > in the Z-direction. With a definition that works on a polysurface, > each rib would have non-uniform depth, depending on the cross-section > of the solid object you are using for the script. (Here's a > screenshot:http://grasshopper3d.googlegroups.com/web/Waffle_Strut_polysurface.jp... > ) The definition has to take a different approach from my original > definition, because the notches now vary in depth according the cross- > section of the polysurface. I have a working definition that creates > the notches and creates the boundary curves, and my thought was to use > the new Trim command to trim out the small notch area on the boundary > curve. However, the trim command doesn't seem to work the way you > would think that it should. I have an extruded Brep list that > represents the extruded "notch". When I use this Brep list and the > boundary curves, it doesn't seem to trim out the inside of the line > within the Brep. I also tried a second method, where I used the new > split command. I then used the Length component to measure the length > of each individual segment. By using a 2 variable function, I could > check if the segment lengths were short enough to be close to the > notch width and thus giving me a boolean list with true values for > lengths that were long enough... essentially, the segments I want to > keep. By feeding that boolean list to a dispatch component, I could > essentially cull the short segments. However, this doesn't seem to > work either, and this method gives me the same result as the Trim > method. Here's a screenshot of the > definition:http://grasshopper3d.googlegroups.com/web/Waffle_Strut_polysurface_de... > I don't know if the Trim and Split commands are still "in progress" or > if my methods are wrong. If anyone has any feedback to these issues, I > would greatly appreciate it. > Thanks, > Andy > > On Nov 4, 10:14 pm, Rchitekt <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > Hi Ben, > > I downloaded your file (I had trouble with your .3dm file, but I just > > used my own surface) and see some of the things going on with your > > definition. I think until there is a Join Surfaces component (which I > > think would be really helpful) then I think the method you are using > > will be very difficult. I went back to my original script, to see if > > there was a way that I could extrude the intersection wire according > > to the normal of the surface, instead of just the Z-axis vector... but > > I had issues too. I have installed the new version of grasshopper > > (today's release) and I'm getting a really strange error when I hover > > over the Extrude component in my original definition. Basically, I > > had just solved the intersection between a plane and the surface to > > give me a wire along the surface. I then just extruded the curves in > > the Z-direction, only when I hover over the component I get a message > > that says the extrusion has an invalid topology (here's a screen shot > > of the > > componenthttp://grasshopper3d.googlegroups.com/web/Invalid+Topology.jpg?hl=en&;... > > ) This didn't happen in the previous version of grasshopper. When I > > go to the next component, it does seem to pass on the information and > > continues working, however, if I try to turn on the "Preview" for the > > extrude component, my Rhino scene crashes. I replicated the crash a > > few times, and it always happens every time I turn the preview on for > > the extrude component. I was wondering if this is a bug with the new > > release. I will continue to try to come up with a solution for how to > > get the struts to be extruded according to the normal of the surface. > > -Andy
