Apart from doing very interesting projects using several technologies and digital fabrication tools , this guys are documenting their experiences and work methodologies, thing that I´m finding very useful , specially because I´m in a very similar position starting with my first partnerships and consultancy services.

I really recommend to visit their site and see what they´re up to.

First Manifesto from PROJECTiONE on Vimeo.

Thesis Proposal (extract from site)

PROJECTiONE defined

We do not intend to define specialists within our group. We are not a group of individuals that coexist to form a collaborative. While we have different backgrounds that affect our perspectives, we are not completely separate parts under the label of a whole. As Wiscombe explains, this has allowed for unpredictable and unforeseen results in the synthesis of our ideas and interests. However, unlike these clear definitions of collaboration and collective, our interests fluctuate between divergent and aligned. Our ideas, skills, and interests may differ, but they also overlap toward a common goal. We do not formulate individual ideas that the group supports, rather the group reformulates individual ideas to a point where the individual is indistinguishable from the group. This is our collective. This is PROJECTiONE.

Research

Our opportunities to work together in the past have focused on using digital and analog design and fabrication tools. To frame our position in this field, we contrast that experience against current theories and the critical positions of digital designers and fabricators. We have followed trends in digital theory and executed a series of interviews in New York City to understand what current designers and fabricators consider to be relevant to their practice. Our questions highlighted their perspective on the relationship between digital and analog tools and processes.

Analysis

Some groups we interviewed, such as Tietz-Baccon, find value in the relationships of digital and analog, often using CNC machinery to create jigs for crafted analog fabrication. They exhibit their craft through the use of all tools, recognizing that creativity and precision can still occur within the analog. Others, like Gramazio and Kohler at the ETH in Zurich are exploring this relationship in a different way. Though they are experimenting with a seven-axis robot, they have no intent of eliminating the human, remaining largely integrated into the process. [West Fest Pavilion in Switzerland] In this process, the robot picks up a piece of wood and places it on a table, where a student cuts it to a CNC-specified length with a miter saw. After cutting, the robot positions that same piece of wood in a specific place, while another student secures it with a nail gun. It is a mutually constructive machine-human relationship and an integrated use of this technology.

Similar to these groups, we completed a quick design/fabrication project entitled Projection that we used to analyze our internal methodologies and help define our position. Critical relationships existed throughout the project between the analog design (measurement of Cartesian coordinates) and the digital model (insertion of coordinates in digital space). This was made possible by our understanding of the required digital inputs that informed how we modeled and measured using analog tools. During fabrication, our analog techniques (steel cutting, and welding) informed the shape and information embedded in templates (laser-cut cardboard). These templates were designed to wrap around steel angles so that they could easily be held in place while marking and cutting, but also carried with them information regarding the steel pieces’ length and orientation. An interrogation of analog and digital space in this project allowed a unique and continuous transfer Buy Levitra Online Without Prescription of information between the two.

This example highlights the thinking that is intrinsic to our process, relying on an intimate understanding of a variety of tools, both analog and digital. This knowledge can then be applied in developing innovative relationships (coordinate mapping, and laser-cutting templates). Unlike some of the designers and fabricators interviewed, we remain open to new uses of both analog and digital tools. We don’t place any undue importance on either new technologies or traditional means, and we rethink the relationships that exist between them.

PROJECTiONE´s position

Software and hardware should not just make designing or fabricating easier, streamlining the design process. They should not exist separate from the human. They should provide opportunities to change the way designers think. They should allow us to design differently; more precisely, more creatively, and with greater intent. This can be done through an interrogation of the tool’s purpose. Every tool has a purpose or material associated with it, but that purpose should be continually challenged. PROJECTiONE was created within this framework. We find design potential in the areas of overlap and creative use of analog and digital design and fabrication methods. In every project we intend to innovate. We develop new techniques. We rethink traditional techniques. We creatively force tools to do what they weren’t intended to do. Our ideas and methodologies are based on an interrogation of relationships between the individuals of PROJECTiONE and the tools of our craft. This concept is not unique to us, but its execution and results highlight our position in digital practice. PROJECTiONE resides in the space between digital and analog.

Project Description
The applet begins with a single unfolded cell. Dragging the edge of a cell towards its center begins a fold. Right clicking and dragging an edge attaches a new cell. The applet is aware of an invisible “floor,” that causes legs to fold twice past a certain length.

You’ll see legs turning blue once they’re folded twice. Right clicking an “edge” causes that leg to become fixed, so that it is always perfectly tangent to the ground, even if the floor height changes in the future. This application was built with Processing.

Floor height & Fixed Legs
A variable floorHeight determines the point at which legs fold. Low floor heights make for larger surfaces, while high floor heights make for longer legs. As the floorHeight value changes, the arcs that make “yellow” legs stay tangent to the ground.

MOS Cells from George Michael Brower on Vimeo.

My experiment with augmented reality using Processing
Below you´ll see a video showing my first approaches to Augmented Reality once again I have to thank the awesome community of Processing which personally I think is the most powerful feature of the software, which create tons of libraries that really makes our lives easier.
In this case I use the following libraries: JMyron for capture the video feed from my web cam, ArtTooKit to track the Hiro pattern and create the 3D space and Saito´s OBJ Loader to import the 3d Object in this case a simple torus .obj.

How it works
The program takes the video feed from a video source in this case my web cam then it tracks down the pattern it is programed to recognize once it has done this it creates a 3d space taking as a base the pattern, once this is done you can use this space as a normal 3d space in the processing environment, in this case I imported an .obj file and added some controls so I can rotate the object using my mouse.
Now I´m working on a version to import more complex geometries and real time rendering with shades and lighting features.

If you have any questions about this kind of projects please let me now I´ll do my best to try to help.

Xylem is a digital tool made by Federico Weber an industrial designer making a master of industrial design at the Politecnico of Milan, buy rx drugs without prescription that allow people to design their own family of furniture by using a very friendly interface in which the user can change different variables of the design by simply moving some control points and some sliders that affect the object dimensions, it also allow you to visualize your design in a 3D environment were you can change the color of your furniture , finally it provides the digital information to manufacture your design using digital fabrication tools.

Straight from the site
The aim of the xylem project was to investigate the possibilities of digital fabrication technologies and computational design methodologies. The xylem project is neither a table, a bench or a stool; it’s a family of objects which can be co-designed by the clients, using a custom built software, to best suit their needs and tastes.

The software, developed in Processing, is designed in order to allow the modification of the xylem’s shape by the users. In order to generate the table and ensure a safer use for users I’ve used three mathematical principles. The Convex Hull and the Voronoi Diagram are direct responsible for the table shape, while the physical simulator is used to guarantee a minimum border length of 15 cm.

don´t forget to visit Federico´s site and of course try out  Xylem HERE.

Do you think designers should be the only authors of designed products as is commonly conceived , or that designers should become providers of tools and let consumers become the designers of their own goods?

Apparently  2010 seems to  be te year of Grasshopper lately we have been watching the appearance  of some grasshopper plugins like Rabbit 1.0 , WaveBird and Modetools developed by independent design studios , I predict this tendency will grow this year and we will see some pretty amazing stuff developed buy drugs for this tool.

If  all this  was not enough  today David Rutten anounced the new WIP version 0.6.0055 Grasshopper 2009 Gold Edition , sounds very fancy right? actually it is this incorporates some new and interesting widgets, one that calls my attention is the Markov widget wich chains to ‘guess’ which component you want to use next based on your behaviour in the past.

I still can remember a little more than a year ago when I downloaded the first version of Grasshopper , (called Explicit History in those days ) it had very few components but for somebody who had to learn rhinoscript the hard way was easy to see the hidden potential of the tool, I ´m happy to see what it has become, with every realease they appear lots of  features I wouldn´t even imagine it could have, can´t really say how version 1.0 is going to be, but I can say its going to be something HUGE for the world of parametric design softwares.

While that happens I invite you to try out this version wich can be downloaded from HERE and as always have fun.

What features do you thing will appear in the future or which ones you thing are missing ?

Improvements for this version (straight from the site)
This release fixes a number of reasonably serious bugs:
- VB and C# components would have problems loading referenced assemblies from unexpected folders. This is (at least somewhat) fixed.
- Enabling objects would fail to properly enable input parameters for components, this is fixed.
- Probably some other ones too, my bookkeeping skills leave something to be desired.

It also offers some new functionality:
- A new Group object has been added. Groups allow you to visually link several components. Group colour cannot yet be changed, but by double clicking the group, the outline mode can be toggled.

- A new Markov widget has been added. This widget uses Markov chains to ‘guess’ which component you want to use next based on your behaviour in the past. It takes a while for it to get accustomed to you as a special and unique and lovable individual, so don’t expect miracles right away.

- A new Profiler widget has been added (off by default). The profiler lists worst-case runtimes for parameters and components, allowing you to track down bottlenecks in networks and to compare different components in terms of performance.

- All widgets now have proper tooltips.

- Mouse picking has been improved. Different actions are now handled better and especially making new wires should be somewhat easier.

- Toolbars now draw separators between different groups of objects. Separators can be disabled via the View menu.

- Fuzzy searching has been improved.

- Scribbles now allow font sizes up to 100pt.

- All Complex Number components have been moved into their own Tab.

- Tabs are now scrollable when the width of all tabs exceeds the width of the window.

And of course a couple of new components (to be honest, I have no idea which ones are new since the last release):

- Repeat Data
- Random Reduce
- Domain Inclusion
- String Concatenation
- Sinc (Sinus Cardinalis) trigonometry function
- Spherical Cloud
- Sort Points
- Vector Rotate and Vector Mass Addition (are these really new? … I forgot)
- Curve Dash pattern
- Nurbs Curve Control Points
- Metaball with custom charge overrides
- Curve self-intersections

I often get to talk to people that are very worried, with problems of adaptation to this times or concerned for the lack of jobs among many other things, generally they attribute this problems to bad government administrations and global economic crisis , In fact governments just like people are victims which haven´t been able to see the great economic and industrial shifts that are currently happening and the ones to come, for example the way in which people consume products , every time people will star to consume more and more digital information or contents (music, movies,Iphone apps,video games, farm ville objects etc..) , instead of buying  physical objects as we did before, and also purchasing physical objects will start to be done under digital platforms were people can go , customize his object then get the 3D file and print it in his own home , and I´m not talking about a far away future this technologies are already available will be just be question of time to get them popularized. All this changes are going to originate new ways of economic systems in which there will be no middle man between the producer and the final consumer or at least the gap will be reduced dramatically which inevitable will cause a lot of companies to disappear creating the lack of jobs we are starting to see this days.

The lack of jobs and the inability of people to stay updated with current ways getting things done are ocasionating the social convulsions that we can see today like globalifobic and anti-technology movements for example.

Technology is whithout a doubt the one who is generating and impulsing all this changes , that is why its important that we (as societies , goverments and corporations) start developing strategies to regulate and democratize the technological advances .

This by no reason means to close or shut down  the technological advance, as many romantic people  may suggest the returning to a natural state, that would be like returning to a state were children die daily from the more simple diseases like it happens today in some african countries, a state were societies will be ignorant praying for weather phenomena to occur , if  technology is not the key for human development what would be of people like Michelangelo,if their predecessors had not taken the initiative to invent the brush for example , its our obligation to develop tools that our future geenrations use to create things beyond our imagination. To turn the back to technology not only is stupid but immoral .

In fact we don´t only need less technology but even more , the problem we have been having all life is the stupid and selfish way in which we have been using technology, As soon as a new technology is born we are suddenly trying to find the way to package it and sell it without stopping to evaluate the consequences that this may have at middle and long terms , which has led us to an unsustainable confusing world of clutter.

Its natural that many people develops a disgust  for technology  but despite all we are all guilty in minor or greater degree of the use we have given it , it is necessary to start creating movements  in pro of  rational technology dedicated to foment the scientific investigation and technology development under a selective base.

Interactive Interface to design your own jewerly online (n-e-r-v-o-u-s.com )

The Open Source and DIY movements are one of the major shifts I have seen in order to build  more democratic and sustainable  technologies because they essentially remove the major problems  of the old ways of privatization and exclusion that always have affected technology. When a new technology is shared openly so every one can use it , it dramatically reduces the opportunity  for corporations to make instant profit with it  ,using it in stupid products that have short term potential  instead you allow several people to study , evaluate , apply and combine it with other technologies that may have a major positive long term impact on societies.In few words I think the problem with technology is not the discovery of  it but the type of  diffusion we give it, it is not the investigation but the application we give to new discoveries.

Only by creating a culture of openness we will be able to generate the tools that will help us improve  and adapt in this ever changing world  by making technology accessible to everyone. In the near future people will have to be more prepared because jobs and opportunities will require more and more critical judgement, the jobs were people went 8 hours to perform a repetitive task will dissapear due to the autamtization processes, that is why it is important to develop ways in which everyone is aware of the changes are happening around them so no one stays out of the game. So everyone should be out there being curious, researching , creating and sharing.

Some cool initiatives I have seen:

N-E-R-V-O-U-S

Fluid Forms

Rep Rap

Eye Writer http://www.eyewriter.org/about/

DIYLILCNC

MakerBot

If you want to try it out go to the bottom of the post and register to download the file.

About ETFE (Ethylene Tetra Flouro Ethylene)
ETFE foil roofs can be supplied as a single layer membrane supported by a cable net system but generally consist of a series of pneumatic cushions made up of between 2 and 5 layers of a modified copolymer called Ethylene Tetra Flouro Ethylene.
The cushions are kept continually inflated by a small inflation unit which maintains the pressure approx. 220 Pa and gives the foil a structural stability and the roof some insulation properties.

INSULATION
While a single ply ETFE membrane has a U value of 5.6 w/m²°K, a standard three layer cushion has a U value of 1.96 w/m²°K – a better insulation value than triple glazing when used horizontally (glazing manufacturers figures are for vertical glazing which considerably enhances the figures). The insulative qualities of ETFE cushions can also be improved by the addition of more layers of foil which can be treated with specialist coatings to enhance the thermal properties.

TRANSPARENCY
ETFE Foil is a very transparent material and transmits light across the entire visible light region (380 – 780 nm) totalling approximately 94-97% of total light. Transmission across the ultraviolet range (320- 380nm) is also very good (approx 83-88%) and therefore allows plants and vegetation underneath to thrive.

SOLAR CONTROL
As described above, the base material of the cushions is very transparent, the ETFE Foil can be treated in a number of different ways to manipulate its light transmission properties.These include:

- Printing: Also known as fritting, the surface of the foil is covered with a variety of patterns to reduce solar gain while retaining translucency. By varying the percentage of coverage and density of the ink, the energy transmission can be altered. Alternatively, the foil can be over printed with a number of treatments to affect transmission.

- Tinting: A wide variety of coloured foils are also available, although less readily than the standard clear foil. Coloured foils can be used alongside clear foil to incorporate branding and large scale imagery.

- Surface treatments: Surface treatments undertaken during the manufacturing process can vary the properties of the fabric and allow us to manipulate light transmission. These treatments render the foil matt in appearance and therefore provides an excellent surface for projecting
light shows and images onto.

- Radiation: The foil can also be conditioned with a range of radiation treatments which can reduce the levels of IR and UV rays transmitting through the skin.

INFLATION UNITS
ETFE cushion systems are continually inflated by air inflation units located close to the cushions. As the cushions only need to maintain pressure and not generate air flow, the energy consumption used by these units is minimal. An entire roof is generally powered by 2 or more fans powered by electric motors within each inflation unit.
A typical air inflation unit measures 1.2m x 1.2m x 0.9m and is located nearby to the ETFE cushion system, internally or externally

REPLACEMENT
If an ETFE Foil cushion becomes damaged, the individual cushion can be easily removed and replaced with minimal disruption. Minor repairs can be made to the cushion without removing it from the main structure.

ENVIRONMENTAL
ETFE can be recycled with ease, but due to its properties (does not degrade under UV light, sunlight, weather, pollution) it has a very long life which is estimated between 50-100years, making the need for recycling small. The aluminium frames do require a high level of energy for production, but they also have a long life and are readably recycled when they reach there end of life.
(information via Architen)

File Name :PneumaticCalddingTool.rvb

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So you have been wondering around on several sites that show pretty cool and astonishing projects  of architecture , graphic design or interactive applications , and you have read they have been created whit the help of programming languages like rhinoscript,maxscript,actionscript ,phyton etc.. at the  beginning the idea of generating shapes and forms by using lines of code  may sound crazy I remind when I started it has a shock for me and really confusing . However if your curiosity and your will to get into this world is greatest than your fear to get into the world of algorithms and numbers , there are few things you need to know to have a nice start.

Patience,Practice and Time are fundamental with any of this its hard to really achieve significant results , Time its one of the most difficult things to get on this days but you´ll have to make an effort and find the way to dedicate some hours for this task in a daily basis specially at the beginning while you start understanding the basic of programming languages  its very common you start a script and when you let pass some days return again to it and don´t have a clue of what the f”#@k you where doing , so in few words what i´m trying  to say its no more Lost, Prison Break or what ever its your favorite TV show for while.

Community , social media and Blogs are your greatest ally  in order to learn over the last couple of years I have witnessed the grow of communities, blogs ,videos etc.. that are generated daily  with great people sharing their knowledge , I would dare to share that almost anything you need to know is already out there and the best part its free, perhaps you are used to have someone teaching you personally or take courses or workshops  this is is not bad it helps you a  to get on tracks  easily  , but perhaps you are in a place where this events don´t take place which was my case under this situation you are going to have to learn something way more important than a programming language you´ll have to learn by yourself  fortunately  for us never in the history of  mankind this has been more easy  you just need to go to the correct places and ask the right questions there’s a lot of good people out there willing to help.

Algorithms at the end of the day the only thing you have to keep in mind no matter if you are dealing with simple 2d drawing, 3d modelling or a complex interactive system , what you are doing is an Algorithm  which nothing more than a fancy word for calling a list of procedures that’s right an algorithm is nothing more  than a set of  instructions you give a computer to achieve a task something like a recipe. For example the algorithm for preparing a Pineapple Tangerine Margita

Variables

• -6  Tangerines
• -2 Spoons of  rice syrup
• -2  ice cubes
• -Pineapple wedges.
• -1 pinch salt
• -Tequila =)

Algorithm

• -Juice the tangerines
• -Place in blender
• -Add pineapple, sugar,salt and tequila
• -Blend on highest speed till smooth
• -Serve margaritas in goblets garnished with pineapple wedges.
• -Repeat all the steps until you get happy.

Processing a good place to start , even do I started programming in rhinoscript because I was very focused on 3d modelling later on I started using which is Processing which is an open source programming language and environment for people who want to program images, animation, and interactions. One of the main objectives of processing is to introduce  to artists and designers the fundamentals of computer programming , as I started using this platform It became a lot easier to me understand the basic  rules of programming languages,I would have made my beginnings in programing if I have started with processing, thats why i strongly recommend this platform to start learning besides its one of the greatest communities you can find out there everybody sharing codes , libraries and you can meet good people on the way.

I am starting with this thing of  writing my personal thought and ideas, I hope this text helps a little bit those  who are a lost in there way of starting  , any comments are greatly appreciated.