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Pictures of Final

CNC Model Reflection

Process and Inspiration

This project was inspired by replicating mathematical formulas in a 3 dimensional world. The initial inspiration was fractals, and slowly turned its way to the inverted circle formula, which created a type of tessellation that seemed interesting enough to make 3 dimensional. 

Some of my research was towards tessellations and fractals. This resulted in interesting discoveries and influenced my design greatly. Some research was less fruitful, this was my research in plug ins for rhino that would create 3 dimensional shapes from inputed formulas. I found that doing the math myself and creating the shapes was not only more rewarding but I had greater control over the shapes I had in mind.

Formally, I wanted an elegant skeletal system to be the structural integrity that held the lacy pattern of the inverted circle tessellation. 

The goal originally was to create a type of light box. That the light source would be at the center, and five panels would be placed around it. The trellis like quality of the design would filter the light in interesting ways. Originally it was intended to create this box out of wood, so different studies were done out of poplar and cherry. To add some some further magic, it was decided to mill the piece out of UHMW, which is a ultra high density plastic that is marginally transparent. The hope was then that fantastic shadows would be created with the variation in plastic thicknesses. 

It became apparent, that a box was out of the question, because of the difficulty of attaching the odd sides together in a mitered fashion. So the project is meant to be imagined as a tile that would be placed in a hotel lobby. This tile would be repeatable. Lights could be placed behind the tile, and fantastic hotel lobby could be achieved. 

Complications

UHMW does not lend its self to milling fine details. The trellis like features of the model did not mill well at all. The UHMW will begin to flake, but stay attached. The model became very hairy. These hairy pieces are then rather difficult to remove. A few hours of exacto work finally did the trick. 

Successes

The obvious success of the class is learning Rhino CAM, and achieving several models that have great character them. The wood studies were fantastic. There was a great richness to the contrast of the circular patterns and the smooth elegance of the skeletal system. Interesting shadows were created just by using wood. The smoothness in the UHMW was also rather pleasing, and the gradient of light that with the variation of thicknesses became apparent when a light source was placed behind it. 

Resources that were helpful were, any sites that explained about tessellation's.

Lessons Learned

Be very careful with the amount of detail you expect the CNC Milling machine to route. It has difficulty with tight corners, and will typically round them off.

pics

So the goal is to create a reproducible tile. This tile will become the interior finish of a lobby space for a hotel. Thus, the following are some images of how this would work.

The following are various process photos working in rhino

..if I made two

If I made two, I could glue them together and it would be rather neat.

or, I could just buy a piece of wood that was twice as thick...

Keeping it Simple

For my first model that I am going to Mill, I chose to keep it rather simple. I want to get comfortable with the process of milling before I make this model too complicated.

This model that I created it is simple sloping arcs that erode away to cascading cylinders. I wanted a piece that would have some dynamic motion to it, and hopefully this captures that.

Here are some images of the rhino model I have created.


I may still play with the smooth curved x surface and add some depth to it some how. Although what ever I do add should not be too aggregated and should contrast the sharp stepping down of the cylinders.

I have not gotten too far into creating mathematical formulas that would create computational geometries, as I previously said I would. Instead I chose to use simple geometric shapes to create elegant forms. I have looked into Script writing, and it seems rather exciting. Although I don't find myself having enough time to write my own script, using scripts that other people have created is fun, and saves time. I would like to find a script that can create different types of tesselations. I have found a neat website that creates them using a java script Tiling Transformer. I believe it would take some time to understand that math behind it and then write a script for it in Rhino, so i have not begun to write my own script.

But I would like to use some sort of tesselation applied to a dynamic surface of some sort, layering waves, or cascading ellipses.

Summer Independent Study

This is the beginning of an Independent Study Course. I will go through the learning process of using the CNC Milling machine. My goal is to study complex geometric shapes. I will use these studies of geometric shapes to propel me through the milling process. This should be a great opportunity to build ideas and geometric principles into concrete tangible 3 dimensional forms.

I hope to gain a lot out of this study. First I will gain experience using the CNC router which will be valuable in not only my own studies, but in the 2nd hand knowledge I will undoubtedly pass on to others. Secondly I will develop on my basic Rhino 3d skills, this will be a great tool to further understand mathematical geometric shapes that could be very difficult to comprehend without the aid of the computer. Last but not least, I will hopefully develop a better understanding of geometric organic shapes and forms. While understanding basic principles of geometric form is great, it is inevitably my goal, as a designer, to find the beauty in these shapes, and create beautiful, elegant shapes.

Inspiration:
- I find a lot of inspiration in the work of Richard Sweeney. Richard Sweeney deals mostly with paper construction, but uses computers to help understand the shapes he eventually create. I will study his process of design and his end product to find inspiration in the forms I will create.
- Another place I hope to find inspiration is in Mathmateical Geometry. This site The Geometric Junkyard has fantastic information about computational geometry. Most of the information I don't understand at all, but I hope to find some kernels of information that I can dissect and use in my own studies of 3 dimensional geometric shaping, which I will call DGS. Here I have found some fantastic concepts that hold a lot of potential for study, including: Fractal Broccoli and something more simple, but with possibilities for further investigation, Spiraling the Golden Ratio.