Looks count: Computing and constructing visually expressive mass customized housing

2010 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-445 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry Knight ◽  
Lawrence Sass
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Digital Fabrication ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Assembly Systems ◽  
Shape Grammars ◽  
Pilot Studies ◽  
Assembly Design

AbstractThis paper introduces new research that seeks to develop low-cost, high quality, mass customizable building assembly systems that provide visually rich design variations for housing or other small structures. The building systems are intended to be tailored for particular cultures and communities by incorporating vernacular decorative design into the assembly design. Two complementary research areas are brought together in this work: shape grammars and digital fabrication. The visual, aesthetic aspects of the research are explored through shape grammars. The physical design and manufacturing aspects are explored through advanced digital design and fabrication technologies, and in particular, build on recent work on monomaterial assemblies with interlocking components that can be fabricated with computer numerical control machines and assembled easily by hand. The long-term objective of this research is the development of formal, visual–physical grammars with rules that generate complete computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacturing data for fabrication of full-scale components for assembly design variations. This paper reports on the first phase of this research: pilot studies for prototype assembly systems that incorporate vernacular languages from different parts of the world. The results of these studies are very promising, and demonstrate a spectrum of strategies for embedding visual properties in structural systems. Important next steps in this research are outlined. If successful, this work will lead to new solutions for low-cost, easily manufactured housing, which is especially critical in developing countries and for postdisaster environments. These new housing solutions will not only provide shelter but also support important cultural values through the integration of familiar visual design features. Beyond the specific context of housing and building assemblies, the research has the potential to impact the design and manufacture of designed artifacts on many scales and in many domains, especially in domains where visual aesthetics need to be considered jointly with physical, structural, or material requirements, and where design customization and variation is important.

Analyzing Language in Suicide Notes and Legacy Tokens

Crisis ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Egnoto ◽  
Darrin J. Griffin
Keyword(s):  
Text Analysis ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Student Writing ◽  
Computer Assisted ◽  
Automated Identification ◽  
Completed Suicide ◽  
Suicide Notes ◽  
Self Harm ◽  
Harm To Others

Abstract. Background: Identifying precursors that will aid in the discovery of individuals who may harm themselves or others has long been a focus of scholarly research. Aim: This work set out to determine if it is possible to use the legacy tokens of active shooters and notes left from individuals who completed suicide to uncover signals that foreshadow their behavior. Method: A total of 25 suicide notes and 21 legacy tokens were compared with a sample of over 20,000 student writings for a preliminary computer-assisted text analysis to determine what differences can be coded with existing computer software to better identify students who may commit self-harm or harm to others. Results: The results support that text analysis techniques with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) tool are effective for identifying suicidal or homicidal writings as distinct from each other and from a variety of student writings in an automated fashion. Conclusion: Findings indicate support for automated identification of writings that were associated with harm to self, harm to others, and various other student writing products. This work begins to uncover the viability or larger scale, low cost methods of automatic detection for individuals suffering from harmful ideation.

scholarly journals Design of Vertical Axis Wind Turbine Darrieus Type (H- Darrieus Rotor) of 0.20 KW from the Software Topsolid

2020 ◽  
pp. 52-70
Author(s):  
Hagninou E. V. Donnou ◽  
Drissa Boro ◽  
Donald Abode ◽  
Brunel Capo-Chichi ◽  
Aristide B. Akpo
Keyword(s):  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Permanent Magnets ◽  
Aerodynamic Force ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Coastal Region ◽  
Vertical Axis ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Geometrical Shape ◽  
Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

The design of a vertical axis wind turbine (Darrieus type) adapted to the site of Cotonou in the coastal region of Benin was investigated. The statistical study of winds based on the Weibull distribution was carried out on hourly wind data measured at 10 m above the ground by the Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA) over the period from January 1981 to December 2014. The geometrical and functional parameters of the wind turbine were determined from different models and aerodynamic approaches. The digital design and assembly of the wind turbine components were carried out using the TOPSOLID software. The designed wind turbine has a power of 200W. It is equipped with a synchronous generator with permanent magnets and has three wooden blades with NACA 0015 profile. The optimal coefficient of lift and drag were estimated respectively at 0.7832 and 0.01578. The blades are characterized by an optimum angle of attack estimated at 6.25° with a maximum fineness of 49.63. Their length is 4 m and the maximum thickness is estimated at 0.03 m with a chord of 0.20 m. The volume and mass are respectively equal to 0.024 m3 and 36 kg. The aerodynamic stall occurs at an attack angle of 14.25°. The aerodynamic force exerted on these blades is estimated to be 240 N. The aerodynamic stresses exerted on the rotor are estimated at 15 864 504 Pa and the solidity at 0.27. The efficiency of the wind turbine is 0.323. From TOPSOLID, the geometrical shape of each component of the wind turbine is represented in three dimensions. The assembly allowed to visualizing the wind turbine after export via its graphical interface. The quantity of annual energy produced by the wind turbine was estimated at 0.85 MWh. This study is the first to be carried out in the study area and could reduce the technological dependence of vertical axis wind turbines and their import for low cost energy production.

scholarly journals Computer Numerically Controlled Drawing Robot Based on Computer-Aided Design

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antor Mahamudul Hashan ◽  
Abdullah Haidari ◽  
Srishti Saha ◽  
Titas Paul
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Computer Aided Design ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Main Idea ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Computer Aided ◽  
Complex Circuits ◽  
Open Source Hardware ◽  
Aided Design

Due to the rapid development of technology, the use of numerically controlled machines in the industry is increasing. The main idea behind this paper is computer-aided design (CAD) based low-cost computer numerical control 2D drawing robot that can accurately draw complex circuits, diagrams, logos, etc. The system is created using open-source hardware and software, which makes it available at a low cost. The open-source LibreCAD application has been used for computer-aided design. Geometric data of a CAD model is converted to coordinate points using the python-based F-Engrave application. This system uses the Arduino UNO board as a signal generator of the universal g-code sender without compromising the performance. The proposed drawing robot is designed as a low-cost robot for educational purposes and aims to increase the student's interest in robotics and computer-aided design (CAD) skills to the next level. The drawing robot structure has been developed, and it meets the requirements of low cost with satisfactory experimental results.

scholarly journals Disrupting the Digital: An Architecture of Parts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mollie Claypool ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Open Source ◽  
Design Thinking ◽  
Digital Fabrication ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Theoretical Argument ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Architecture And Design ◽  
The Way

The paper ascribes to a belief that architecture should be wholly digital – from the scale of the micron and particle to the brick, beam and building, from design to fabrication or construction. This embodies a fundamental and disruptive shift in architecture and design thinking that is unique to the project images included, enabling design to become more inclusive, participatory and open-source. Architecture that is wholly digital requires a radical rethinking of existing design and building practices. Thes projects described in this paper each develops a set of parts in relationship to a specific digital fabrication technology. These parts are defined as open-ended, universal and versatile building blocks, with a digital logic of connectivity. Each physical part has a malefemale connection which is the equivalent of the 0 and 1 in digital data. The design possibilities – or the way that parts can combine and aggregate – can be defined by the geometry and therefore, design agency, of the piece itself. This discrete method advances a theoretical argument about the nature of digital design as needing to be fundamentally discrete, and at the same time responding to ideas coming from open-source, distributed modes methods of production. Furthermore it responds to today’s housing crisis, providing for a more democratic and equitable framework for the production of housing. To think of architecture as wholly digital is to substantially disrupt the way that we think about design, authorship, ownership and process, as well as the building technologies and practices we use in contemporary architectural production.

scholarly journals KOSMOS: An Open Source Underwater Video Lander for Monitoring Coastal Fishes and Habitats

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (22) ◽  
pp. 7724
Author(s):  
Dominique Pelletier ◽  
Justin Rouxel ◽  
Olivier Fauvarque ◽  
David Hanon ◽  
Jean-Paul Gestalin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Work Experience ◽  
Collective Intelligence ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Ecological Status ◽  
Digital Fabrication ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Ecological Knowledge ◽  
Underwater Video ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Technical Specifications

Background: Monitoring the ecological status of coastal ecosystems is essential to track the consequences of anthropogenic pressures and assess conservation actions. Monitoring requires periodic measurements collected in situ, replicated over large areas and able to capture their spatial distribution over time. This means developing tools and protocols that are cost-effective and provide consistent and high-quality data, which is a major challenge. A new tool and protocol with these capabilities for non-extractively assessing the status of fishes and benthic habitats is presented here: the KOSMOS 3.0 underwater video system. Methods: The KOSMOS 3.0 was conceived based on the pre-existing and successful STAVIRO lander, and developed within a digital fabrication laboratory where collective intelligence was contributed mostly voluntarily within a managed project. Our suite of mechanical, electrical, and software engineering skills were combined with ecological knowledge and field work experience. Results: Pool and aquarium tests of the KOSMOS 3.0 satisfied all the required technical specifications and operational testing. The prototype demonstrated high optical performance and high consistency with image data from the STAVIRO. The project’s outcomes are shared under a Creative Commons Attribution CC-BY-SA license. The low cost of a KOSMOS unit (~1400 €) makes multiple units affordable to modest research or monitoring budgets.

Using existing site surveillance cameras to automatically measure the installation speed in prefabricated timber construction

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alireza Ahmadian Fard Fini ◽  
Mojtaba Maghrebi ◽  
Perry John Forsythe ◽  
Travis Steven Waller
Keyword(s):  
Time Window ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Transformation Method ◽  
Digital Design ◽  
Spatial Transformation ◽  
Exact Matching ◽  
Productivity Measurement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Surveillance Camera ◽  
Automated Method

PurposeMeasuring onsite productivity has been a substance of debate in the construction industry, mainly due to concerns about accuracy, repeatability and unbiasedness. Such characteristics are central to demonstrate construction speed that can be achieved through adopting new prefabricated systems. Existing productivity measurement methods, however, cannot cost-effectively provide solid and replicable evidence of prefabrication benefits. This research proposes a low-cost automated method for measuring onsite installation productivity of prefabricated systems.Design/methodology/approachFirstly, the captured ultra-wide footages are undistorted by extracting the curvature contours and performing a developed meta-heuristic algorithm to straighten these contours. Then a preprocessing algorithm is developed that could automatically detect and remove the noises caused by vibrations and movements. Because this study aims to accurately measure the productivity the noise free images are double checked in a specific time window to make sure that even a tiny error, which have not been detected in the previous steps, will not been amplified through the process. In the next step, the existing side view provided by the camera is converted to a top view by using a spatial transformation method. Finally, the processed images are compared with the site drawings in order to detect the construction process over time and report the measured productivity.FindingsThe developed algorithms perform nearly real-time productivity computations through exact matching of actual installation process and digital design layout. The accuracy and noninterpretive use of the proposed method is demonstrated in construction of a multistorey cross-laminated timber building.Originality/valueThis study uses footages of an already installed surveillance camera where the camera's features are unknown and then image processing algorithms are deployed to retrieve accurate installation quantities and cycle times. The algorithms are almost generalized and versatile to be adjusted to measure installation productivity of other prefabricated building systems.

A review on the interactions of robotic systems and lean principles in offsite construction

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Gusmao Brissi ◽  
Oscar Wong Chong ◽  
Luciana Debs ◽  
Jiansong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Digital Fabrication ◽  
Lean Construction ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Automated Guided Vehicles ◽  
Robotic Systems ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Lean Principles ◽  
Construction Automation ◽  
Journal Papers

PurposeThe purpose is two-fold: (1) to explore the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction in the context of offsite construction (OC) that were addressed in the literature published between 2008 and 2019 and (2) to identify the gaps in such interactions while discussing how addressing those gaps can benefit not only OC but the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry as a whole.Design/methodology/approachFirst, a systematic literature review (SLR) identified journal papers addressing the interactions of automation and lean in OC. Then, the researchers focused the analysis on the under-researched subtopic of robotic systems. The focused analysis includes discussing the interactions identified in the SLR through a matrix of interactions and utilizing literature beyond the previously identified articles for future research directions on robotic systems and lean construction in OC.FindingsThe study found 35 journal papers that addressed automation and lean in the context of OC. Most of the identified literature focused on interactions of BIM and lean construction, while only nine focused on the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction. Identified literature related to robotic systems mainly addressed robots and automated equipment. Additional interactions were identified in the realm of wearable devices, unmanned aerial vehicles/automated guided vehicles and digital fabrication/computer numerical control (CNC) machines.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies dedicated to exploring the interactions of robotic systems and lean construction in OC. Also, it proposes a categorization for construction automation and a matrix of interactions between construction automation and lean construction.

An Integrated Design for a CNC Machine

2014 ◽  
pp. 254-265
Author(s):  
Amro Shafik ◽  
Salah Haridy
Keyword(s):  
Low Cost ◽  
Integrated Design ◽  
Numerical Data ◽  
Open Loop ◽  
Numerical Control ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cnc Machine ◽  
Loop Control ◽  
Loop Control System ◽  
Stepper Motors

Computer Numerical Control (CNC) is a technology that converts coded instructions and numerical data into sequential actions that describe the motion of machine axes or the behavior of an end effector. Nowadays, CNC technology has been introduced to different stages of production, such as rapid prototyping, machining and finishing processes, testing, packaging, and warehousing. The main objective of this chapter is to introduce a methodology for design and implementation of a simple and low-cost educational CNC prototype. The machine consists of three independent axes driven by stepper motors through an open-loop control system. Output pulses from the parallel port of Personal Computer (PC) are used to drive the stepper motors after processing by an interface card. A flexible, responsive, and real-time Visual C# program is developed to control the motion of the machine axes. The integrated design proposed in this chapter can provide engineers and students in academic institutions with a simple foundation to efficiently build a CNC machine based on the available resources. Moreover, the proposed prototype can be used for educational purposes, demonstrations, and future research.

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