[ pointbdesign ] Amorphous Mesh Generation

For the design of a webnet mesh system, we developed a RhinoScript that applies a webnet of any dimension to a surface of any geometry. The script outputs cable count and dimensions to excel for quantity and costing, as well as drawing and labeling each cable flat for fabrication.

We are currently in the process of building our own .5 x .5 axis CNC machine to measure, mark, and cut the cables for ease of fabrication.

An interior view of the amorphous mesh geometry in the gallery.

 The cable webnet parameters computed by the script and output to excel for fabrication.

One surface variation upon which the script generates a mesh.

The mesh once it has populated the surface, highlighting individual cables.

We also wrote a second variation of the script that generates a diagrid-like self supporting structure to be fabricated of pencil-rod steel, CNC bent and welded.

Once the mesh is generated on the surface, the script unrolls each of the cables, then labels and marks where adjacent cables are crimped together.

A close up of the unrolled cables.

The spreadsheet containing geometric information of each cable is broken down into 6′ bays. Here is a view of bay 9, cataloging the distance between each crimp point on a range of cables.

Using the values from the excel spreadsheet, we tested the accuracy of the script by building a scale model. Here the form of the cable webnet generated modeled from the excel spreadsheet is tested on a laser cut cardboard form - it fits.

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