Open Classes, Term 3, 2014

Grasshopper (speeding Up Production)

Instructor: Vicente Soler
The Bartlett - UCL

This course will introduce students to the world of generative design using the powerful tool of
Grasshopper, a plug-in for Rhinoceros 3D. Students will learn to design algorithms and operate with data
and geometry intuitively, without the need to learn a programming language.
Since Term 3 is mainly dedicated to production for design projects rather than conventional software
courses, the Open Classes will be run as a series of personal tutorials where each enrolled student will
get a slot of 30 minutes with a Grasshopper expert who will outline the most convenient tools or
developed scripts to use in each particular project, with the aim of speeding up production with
computational tools.
Although the course is not designed to achieve a high level in the software, a series of introductory
sessions will also take place prior to the personal tutorials as an option for those who want to get an
overview of different aspects of Grasshopper:

Personal tutorials (30 min per student)
-
Wednesday 30th of April - 3pm to 9pm
-
Thursday 1st of May - 9am to 6pm
-
Friday 2nd of May - 9am to 1pm

To apply for a 30 min personal tutorial or for a slot in any of the three introductory sessions please
email:manuel.garcia@ucl.ac.ukwith Grasshopper Open C. in the subject line by the 27th of April.
Enrolment is on a rst-come, rst-serve basis. All classes are to be held in The Royal Ear Hospital Room
3.03, students need to bring their own laptops with Rhino + Grasshopper installed.
Intro to Grasshopper Intro to Kangaroo Intro to Engineering plugins
Tues 29th of April 3pm-6pm Weds 30th of April 9am-11.30am Weds 30th of April 12pm-2pm
o Canvas and toolbars
o Components and parameters
o Tools for annotations
o Primitive parameters
o Geometric parameters
o Introduction to points, vectors
and planes
o Introduction to elements, lists
and data trees
o Curves
o Surfaces and solids
o Meshes
o Particle based systems
o Introduction to forces
o Anchor points
o Settings
o Springs
o Forces (Gravity, springs,
pressure, wind, attraction-
repulsion)
o Dynamic re-meshing
o Gravity modeling (catenary
shapes)
o Dynamic relaxation (minimal
surfaces, tensile structures)

Karamba Structure optimization

o Elements (bars , surfaces)
o Analysis model
o Structure Optimization
o Results visualization

Geco - Ecotect
o Link to Autodesk Ecotect
Analysis
o Average percentage of shade
o Lighting Calculations