Flying Machine Arena

The Flying Machine Arena (FMA) is a portable space devoted to autonomous flight. Measuring up to 10 x 10 x 10 meters, it consists of a high-precision motion capture system, a wireless communication network, and custom software executing sophisticated algorithms for estimation and control.

The motion capture system can locate multiple objects in the space at rates exceeding 200 frames per second. While this may seem extremely fast, the objects in the space can move at speeds in excess of 10 m/s, resulting in displacements of over 5 cm between successive snapshots. This information is fused with other data and models of the system dynamics to predict the state of the objects into the future.

The system uses this knowledge to determine what commands the vehicles should execute next to achieve their desired behavior, such as performing high-speed flips, balancing objects, building structures, or engaging in a game of paddle-ball. Then, via wireless links, the system sends the commands to the vehicles, which execute them with the aid of on-board computers and sensors such as rate gyros and accelerometers.

Although various objects can fly in the FMA, the machine of choice is the quadrocopter due to its agility, its mechanical simplicity and robustness, and its ability to hover. Furthermore, the quadrocopter is a great platform for research in adaptation and learning: it has well understood, low order first-principle models near hover, but is difficult to characterize when performing high-speed maneuvers due to complex aerodynamic effects. We cope with the difficult to model effects with algorithms that use first-principle models to roughly determine what a vehicle should do to perform a given task, and then learn and adapt based on flight data.

Link to the FMA

MaP+S - Material Processes and Systems Group at Harvard GSD

The Materials, Processes, and Systems (MaPS) Group, lead by Professor Martin Bechthold, is a research unit that promotes the understanding, development and deployment of innovative technologies for buildings. The group evolved from the previously established Design Robotics Group, and is located in a research cluster at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. MaPS looks at materiality as starting points for design research, with a special interest in robotic and computer-numerically controlled (CNC) fabrication processes as well as small scale work on nano-materials. Much of our current work studies ceramic material systems and design robotics. MaPS also runs the Adaptive Living Environments (ALivE) project jointly with Harvards REAL group. ALivE develops novel applications for nano-scale material systems developed jointly with scientists from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.

Link to MaP+S

The Grasshopper Primer Third Edition | Foundations by Modelab

Modelab just released the new Grasshopper Primer called 'The Grasshopper Primer Third Edition | Foundations'. A big Thank You is really deserved.

Link to 'The Grasshopper Primer Third Edition | Foundations' webpage

Interactive Architecture

The Interactive Architecture Lab is a multi-disciplinary research group and Masters Programme at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London. Interested in the Behaviour and Interaction of Things, Environments and their Inhabitants.

Link to Interactive Architecture
Link to 'Scorpion – Robotics Controller'
Link to 'Furl: Soft Pneumatic Pavilion'

B-pro

Bartlett Prospective is the new structure for the Post-professional Masters Programmes at the Bartlett School of Architecture.

Link to B-pro

HyperCell

HyperCell - The research is focused on aspects of self-assembly, fabrication and prototyping.

Link to HyperCell

ShapeOp

ShapeOp is a header-only C++ library for static and dynamic geometry processing, using a unified framework for optimization under constraints. Examples of its applications include architectural design subject to geometric constraints, and physics simulation of elastic materials. It is developed by the Computer Graphics and Geometry Laboratory of EPFL, in collaboration with Daniel Piker and Anders Holden Deleuran. It is released under Mozilla Public License Version 2.0.

Link to ShapeOp

Digital Matter - Intelligent Constuctions

The Intelligent Constructions research line wishes to explore how Digital Fabrication goes beyond assigning material properties into rigid construction components. The group works with digital content, information and fabrication for the generation of new techniques generating the production of non-rigid, responsive and multi-functional material and construction systems. Hence generating an architecture that is not just mimicking the living but is roaring into life.

Link to Digital Matter - Intelligent Constuctions

Gozour Workshops

Gozour Workshops - Parametric Design Tutorials and Guide Files

Link to Gozour Workshops

Shaping Behaviour

SHAPING BEHAVIOUR    revolves around the psychological and physical aspects of morphogenesis. From a psychological point of view, shaping refers to the INFLICTED, CAUSED and or TRAINED TRANSFORMATIONS of the behaviour of an organism/object – which we are addressing through computation. The physical meaning refers to the formal outline and/or geometry of a given object – this being both a two dimensional or three dimensional results of the ongoing COMPUTATIONAL EXPERIMENTATIONS. Since we are not interested in static experiments, nor in the direct results, behavior is referring to the PROCESS and the INTENSIVE USAGE of agent based algorithms and systems.

Link to Shaping Behaviour