General information
This approach employs Rhino and Grasshopper to generate digital files for fabricating physical landscape models through laser printing. The primary focus lies on horizontal contour models, with an emphasis on devising strategies to reduce laser time and material usage.
Example
Here an example, using a 5-millimeter material thickness as contour interval, and with the number of boards set to 4. This configuration establishes that starting from a cut contour line (C), the contour raised by 20 millimeters (5 millimeters material thickness multiplied by 4 boards) will act as a second cutline (C) on the backside of the model and the subsequent contour will be engraved (B) as a reference to glue the next contour from the subsequent Board on it. -> read more below.
Colors
(A) | Score Text Labels | RGB Color: Blue (0,0,255)
(B) | Score next contour line | RGB Color: Green (0,255,0)
(C) | Cut inner lines | RGB Color: Magenta (255,0,255)
(D) | Cut outer lines | RGB Color: Red (0,0,255)
Above: the 4 different layers in 4 different colors that are the output of the grasshopper definition. (A) the first pass will engrave text lables that are curves derived of a single stroke font which have been rebuild to a low-number of line segments and joined as polylines to reduce time; (B) contour lines of the next board that will be scored as a reference between the two cutlines; (C) the inner cutlines; (D) the outer cutlines
Area to Glue
The area that is left to glue will be between (B) the scored reference for the next conour line and (C2).
Above: Board 01 (C1) Cut line that will be visible in the model at 165 mm; (C2) cut line on the back of the model at 185 mm; (B) engraving of the next contour line at 170 mm as a reference for assembly; (X) Area that can be used for gluing the next contour of the next board (Board 02).
Board 01 | Contour 165 mm
Board 02 | Contour 170 mm
Above: On the left: contour at 165 mm on Board 01; on the right: the subsequent contour at 170 mm of Board 02
Assembly sequence
Before being able to start assembly of the model, all boards need to be laser-printed.
Above: Animation of a 5 mm interval -> resulting in a total of 64 layers to assemble
Above: Animation of a 10 mm interval -> resulting in a total of 32 layers to assemble
Above: Animation of a 2 mm interval -> resulting in a total of 160 layers to assemble
Plug-Ins used in the grasshopper definition
If you have LunchBox installed you can automatically bake the outputs.
If you have FroGH installed you can convert the text lables to curves.
Inputs | short overview
Input: Total number of boards (sheets of material)
The goal is to use as few boards as possible, but still have enough surface to glue … start with a low number and then measure the distance between cut and score line to determine if you need to go higher with the “Number of Boards” to still be able to have enough surface to glue.
scaled single mesh surface & material thickness
For the sript to run the input geomtery needs to be a single mesh surface. This mesh should also be scaled to model dimensions, so that the according material thickness can be specified as an intervall.
single stroke font & size
Using a single stroke font for the labels will reduce the time for this scoring pass, adjust the size of that font in millimeters.
Outputs | short overview
Layer (A) | scoring pass | text labels
Layer (B) | scoring pass for the next contour line
Output – laser pass (C) | cutting pass for the contour lines / inner cuts
Output – laser pass (D) | cutting pass for the outer border line
Download Grasshopper Script: Offset Method [V.8]
Download Grasshopper Script: Offset Method [V.11]
Acknowledgments
The basic concept of this method derives from an analog technique, first translated into the digital by Daniel Luckeneder in 2012.
Download Adobe Illustrator Template: 1000x700mm with RGB Colors for Trotec Laser Printer
Other GH scripts for laser printing
Vertical Section Model [V.4]
Convert 2D meshes to outlines using varied line types and hatch patterns
Rebuild Curves