Fab Lab Barcelona SuperNode /Fab Lab Sevilla /Jose Perez de Lama
[week 02 / 30.01.2013]
[assignment]
Test CAD software; 3D model final project
Relevant concepts 3D modelling ::
Constructive Solid Geometry, hierarchy, parametric, procedural
Math engines; geometry representation: b-rep, f-rep
GUIs, scripting, hardware description languages
Link to class syllabus:
http://academy.cba.mit.edu/classes/computer_design/index.html
[assignment development]
3D model of final project ::
Taking into account the considerations presented in the first class on time management i started 3D modelling the ideas i have right now for my final project. I used Rhinoceros, a tool i am familar with and i used a mix of 2D and 3D trying to advance future potential fabrication issues.
This is a view of the 3D model, as it is righ now, "postproduced" with Gimp and Inkscape [wireframe images at the end of the post].
Tool testing ::
I tried to test the tools that i considered most different to what i had seen / used before.
I started by installing Fab Modules. This went quite well. I actually had done it some days ago. I installed it on an Ubuntu 10.04 OS and on an Ubuntu 12.10. The only tricky thing was compiling, but once i found out there was no problem.
I tested various processes with Fab Modules, using the available examples. And then i was trying to understand basic examples of .cad. I managed to produce a collection of variations on one of the examples, the compass.rose, which i reproduce here, with the modified code.
from koko.lib.shapes import *
C = circle(0, 0, 0.4)
C = move(C, 0, 1)
B = rectangle (-0.1, 0.1, -0.1, 0.1)
B = rotate (B, 45)
B = scale_y(B, 0, 8)
B = move (B, 0, 1)
B = rotate(B, 360/16)
pattern = 0
for i in range(8):
pattern += rotate(C, i*360/8)
for i in range(8):
pattern += rotate(B, i*360/8)
pattern -= circle(0, 0, 0.7)
pattern += circle(0, 0, 0.2)
cad.function = pattern
cad.xmin = -2
cad.xmax = 2
cad.ymin = -2
cad.ymax = 2
cad.mm_per_unit = 25.4 # inch units
Then i tried to install and test fabserver. Installing or rather accessing to it, i managed to do with help of Francisco Sanchez, one of the students in the Barcelona SuperNode. The connection with Fab Modules seems to work ok. However, i haven't been able to go beyond creating one element, and haven't found out yet how to connect two nodes...
Image of the section of the class 02 [lesson 3] presenting fabserver. Mins. 36.00-52.20
Thirdly i installed OpenSCAD and was checking examples and having a look at the code. Didn't have time yet to go deeper.
Other tasks::
Besides the week assignment, i continued working with Mercurial, installing it on another Ubuntu machine and with cygwin on a Windows machine.
We have been testing Ekiga again. Hopefully we will not have a noisy connection next week. Apparently the problem last Wednesday was due to interferences of the microphone and web cam with other hardware which were to close. We will set them wide apart for the next class. We will not abandon Linphone. And i hope it will install on the Ubuntu 12 we set up last friday in the lab. We will try the STUN server as well.
Then, i have been doing research and shopping for the materials needed in the coming excercises. I have been doing it together with Heloisa Neves, from Fab Lab Brasil. We were trying to find local suppliers in Spain/Europe and Brasil, but it hasn't been easy. By now, we tried to go for secure alternatives, but we will go on with this research for local suppliers - more ecological. We ordered things from the US, Italy and the UK, and i believe we should be set now for the next classes.
I redesigned the web a little bit. I still prefer simple old school html. And planned how to organize the archive of the courses separating images and html files and numbering it in a way that will be easy to track back.
[tutorials & links]
http://htca.us.es/blogs/fabacademy2013/tutorials/fabserver/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_solid_geometry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_representation
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return home /perezdelama.jose
3D model Rhinoceros screenshots:
