Learning Algorithmic Design with Grasshopper

Course details

Algorithmic design allows you to add intelligence to the design process, making the computer a co-pilot in your modeling. In this course, learn how to bring algorithmic design to your workflow using Grasshopper and Rhino. This course was designed for product designers, architects, mechanical engineers, and industrial designers alike. Instructor Chris Reilly introduces advanced design techniques and projects that can help you get a more in-depth view of how to apply algorithmic design to develop projects in creative fields such as architecture and design. Discover how to create and fine-tune Voronoi diagrams, draw spline profiles, extrude 3D forms, and more.

Learning objectives
Planning for material depth and angled panel joints
Working with Voronoi diagrams
Drawing trapezoidal profiles
Offsetting corner lines
Drawing shelf and spline profiles
Using Boolean operations
Labeling panel profiles
Creating 3D extrusions and panel arrays
Using clusters to organize complex definitions

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Harnessing the power of parametric design in Grasshopper
02 - What you should know
03 - Using the exercise files

1. Design and Algorithm Planning

04 - Planning for material depth
05 - Planning for angled panel joints
06 - Creating spline joints
07 - Outlining an algorithm

2. Creating Voronoi Diagrams

08 - Exploring Voronoi diagram basics
09 - Generating a dynamic Voronoi diagram
10 - Manually adjusting a Voronoi diagram
11 - Fine-tuning a Voronoi diagram
12 - Creating a static Voronoi diagram

3. Drawing Shelf Profiles

13 - Offsetting Voronoi cells
14 - Fine-tuning offsets
15 - Connecting cell corners
16 - Accessing individual lines
17 - Sorting profile edges
18 - Sorting corner lines
19 - Drawing trapezoidal profiles

4. Drawing Spline Profiles

20 - Offsetting corner lines
21 - Setting up spline width controls
22 - Locating spline corners
23 - Setting up spline height controls
24 - Finding points inside each cell
25 - Grouping points in space
26 - Drawing spline profiles

5. Curve Boolean Operations

27 - Curve Boolean operations
28 - Previewing key components
29 - Testing data flow

6. Labeling

30 - Creating text labels
31 - Labeling panel profiles
32 - Rotating text labels
33 - Organizing label components
34 - Creating linear dimensions
35 - Setting up angle dimensions
36 - Fine-tuning angle dimensions

7. Creating 3D Extrusions and Panel Arrays

37 - Extruding 3D forms
38 - Orienting extruded forms
39 - Sorting and searching Brep Components
40 - Constructing base planes for orientation
41 - Orienting a flat panel layout
42 - Partitioning a data stream
43 - Measuring panels
44 - Calculating X offsets
45 - Examining the data stream
46 - Making X motion vectors
47 - Calculating panel array rows
48 - Calculating Y offsets
49 - Spacing panels in the Y dimension
50 - Fine-tuning paneling components
51 - Organizing paneling components

8. Working with Complex Definitions

52 - Locating panel base points
53 - Labeling 3D panels
54 - Final organization
55 - Creating named views
56 - Organizing complex definitions with clusters

Conclusion

57 - Next steps