Responsive skins have been studied for their high capacity of self-regulation according to several different inputs (light, temperature, wind, pressure, humidity) and outputs (in our case, movement), permitting to modify the relationship between architecture and technology.

The scripting process starts from the definition of the hexagonal grid and define the movement that every cell has to follow. The main goal of the analysis through Grasshopper is to minimize the amount of light that comes from the sun in certain days and hours to a plane located behind the skin. In this way, we are able to test the performances of different configurations and shapes in order to regulate some environmental input. In addition to the possible combinations within the same cells amount we also have to set the level of freedom that the cells have to move in relation with each other. From the list of cells, dividing them in partitions, you are able to inform the script about how to evaluate the angle that will lead the movement. In the first image for example, maintaining the same configuration, the size of the partitions is increased from left to right, giving to the system more flexibility. The last row shows the range of value that the algorithm analyzes to determine the impact of the tessellation on the light transmission.

The second image shows the opposite process, maintaining the same freedom degree and showing some of the different configurations that can be created. In this case they are quite limited due to the partition size (2). We can certainly consider to expand this system from a small scale to an entire envelope and playing with the possibility to connect and manage different areas along the surface. In the last image are shown some geometries applied on a different shape and the basic example in three different moment during the same day (early morning, late morning, afternoon). In this case the script han been used to find in every moment the best configuration to reduce the light but leaving the freedom to choose not only within the number of configurations but also within the freedom degrees. We can affirm that, even if it is able to select between several different settings, the analysis will choose a regular configuration to better cover the entire surface. Without the presence of obstacles this is the best and less expensive solution to protect from the sun.

Route Tracker Lite for Windows Phone

Screenshot of Route Tracker Lite display

Geo location data in txt. format and in xml. format. The latter is used to clean and organize data from the first.

Through Grasshopper, coordinates are grouped in two shifted lists to connect every point with the following one in order to create the path.

The map shows the grey path to reach the final point. At the end of every segment there is a triangle whose dimension is related to the length of the vector. In the image the most of these shapes are not visible due to the scale. The blue triangle shows how the tracking software had problems to measure the point because of a tunnel.

In this case the path is undermarked by a red line and the track is shown without any discontinuity point.