noMad

an assembly system of behavioural fabrication

noMad

8

noMad a

behavioural

fabrication

system

a design proposal by: dmytro oleksandrovych aranchii | paul clemens bart | iris yuqiu jiang | flavia ghirotto santos developed at the architectural association school of architecture aadrl design research lab 2014/2015 in theodore spyropoulos’ studio. tutored by mostafa el sayed collected research and work of phase 1.

noMad | content

1.0

introduction

09

2.0

noMad | design thesis thesis statement thesis preparation

10 13 21

3.0

noMad | brief research artificial intelligence mobility self-structuring geometry synergetic formfinding self-assembly systems

42 45 51 57 65 71

4.0

noMad | prototyping geometry formfinding

82 85

5.0

noMad | base unit design geometrical properties actuation & fabrication

100 103 117

6.0

noMad | ecology of machines unit aggregation study of emergence taxonomy behavioural simulations

174 177 195 205 217

7.0

noMad | collective behaviour spatial configurations build up simulation communication simulation high population simulation

238 241 265 275 287

8.0

appendix | bibliography & endnotes

300

noMad | introduction

‘noMad’, a design proposal on behavioural based assembly, was developed at the Architectural Association School of Architecture’s Design Research Laboratory,a 16-month post-professional design programme.

AADRL Design Research Lab | Organised as an open-source design studio dedicated to a systematic exploration of new design tools, systems and discourses, targeting design innovations in architecture and urbanism, the AADRL actively investigates and develops design skills with which to capture, control and shape a continuous flow of information across the distributed electronic networks of today’s rapidly-evolving digital design disciplines.

Pursued by self-organised design teams, the studio is collectively addressing an overall design research agenda - ‘Behavioural Complexity’ through shared information- based diagrams, data, models and scripts.

Behavioural Complexity V.1 | Behavioural Complexity will investigate architecture as an instrument engaging both material and social forms of interaction. Social scenarios will be coupled with material life-cycles as a way of speculating on how we live and the role architecture can play. Behavioural, parametric and generative methodologies of computational design are coupled with physical computing and analogue experiments to create dynamic and reflexive feedback processes. New forms of spatial organisation are explored that are neither type- nor site-dependent, but instead evolve as ecologies and environments seeking adaptive and hyper-specific features. This performance-driven approach seeks to develop novel design proposals concerned with the everyday. The iterative methodologies focus on investigations of spatial, structural and material organisation, engaging in contemporary discourses of architecture and urbanism.

noMad | design thesis

design thesis | thesis statement

design thesis | thesis statement

agenda | development of a self-assembling fabrication system utilizing machinic behaviour and real-time decision making to enable architecture with a sensory system. noMad proposes a behavioural fabrication system that marks a shift of our build environment as a finite lifecycle construct, but is instead looking for autonomous, non-finite and real-time solutions to adapt dynamically to the demands of its environment - constantly restructuring itself.

In a self-assembling fabrication approach of ‚negotiated space‘, noMad aims to enable architecture with a sensory system, localising decision making by self-aware unit to unit communication instead of a deterministic, superimposed building plan.

Anchored in the world of self-structuring polyhedra, noMad is based on principles of synergetics, the study of geometry in transformation and the impact of a local change on its global systems behaviour: a single unit can autonomously change state, shifting its state by a simple rotational translation from one polyhedra to the other.

Hereby, noMad is operating on different scales of (collective) intelligence and behaviour, each autonomously self-assembling to the next higher order of organisation - from a highly mobile, nomadic states to high population spatial configurations. noMad proposes a system, that can self-regulate and adapt, react to outside influences and demands and encourages both interaction and communication.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 14

we propose....

8

! noMad a behavioural fabrication system

that can

, and not

page 15

design thesis | thesis statement

01_ non-finite

t no notion of building as a finite, static construct that remains unchanged until its demolishment

8

t after usage, systen can disintegrate or migrate to other building sites nearby

06_ space-negogiation ? !

y/n

stochastic t localized, goal oriented decision making by unit to unit communication t bottom up strategies

deterministic t no imposed, fixed and finite masterplan t top down strategies

05_self-awareness

t intelligent unit, aware of itself and it’s sorroundings and capable of taking decision and group behaviour

t no regular and unaware units, dependent on external power and/or sources with a finite purpose

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 16

!

n.o.m

a behavioural fab

key design features

02_mobility mobility

self-awareness

t nomadic systen that can autonomously transport to site by means of locomotion

t no liveless, static building material that depends on being externally placed

03_self-assembly

!

m.a.d.

brication system

t space building capabilities inherent in the units body

t no external man or machine force needed for construction cycle

04_self-structuring

t self-supporting qualties of polyhedral structure

t no external systems of trusses, scaffolding and support material needed

page 17

design thesis | thesis statement

, not ...

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 18

building lifecycle status quo

The new temples are already cracked Nothing but future ruins material for the next layer.

- Blixa Bargeld ‘Collapsing New Buildings�

The current state of the production of our build environment is defined by its building lifecycle and finite use of labour and material in its production.

In both energy and time intensive process, fabrication and construction is exclusevely coming into force for one sole, pre-defined purpose - and consequently its product demolished if either no longer in need or if its purpose merely adjusted or in need to adapt to changing dynamics or requirements.

In stark contrast to the name-giving lifecycle of a living creature - unpredictable and highly adaptive - our notion of a building lifecycles is restrained as a static construct of limitations and predeterminations.

page 19

design thesis | thesis preparation

design thesis | thesis preparation

1 noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 22

01_ non finite

The current state of the production of our build environment is defined by its building lifecycle and finite use of labour and material in its production.

In both energy and time intensive process, fabrication and construction is exclusevely coming into force for one sole, pre-defined purpose - and consequently its product demolished if either no longer in need.

In stark contrast to the name-giving lifecycle of a living creature - unpredictable and highly adaptive - our notion of a building lifecycles is restrained as a static construct of limitations and predeterminations. noMad - as a system more consonant to its biological role model - is non-finite in application, way of usage and site alocation, replacing the notion of building as a static construct that remans unchanged until its fundamental demolishment. Able to disintegrate when no longer needed, a non-finite system is can break down again to its simplest component or migrate to other building sites where, without material consumption, adjusting and adapting to changing dynamics or requirements in its environment.

page 23

design thesis | thesis preparation

self-awareness

2

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 24

02_ mobility

To react intelligently to the demands of urban development and the transport network on all scales in the course of growing interconnectivity, noMad’s research focused on mobility through locomotion, material reduction, flexible configurability and an extensive integration of the interface of mobility and the build environment as the convergent evolution of the static concept of architecture.

Conventional usage of liveless, static building materia depends on being externally placed to its destined location - to remain there, brick on brick, until it is manually removed again.

As low performance infrastructure is becoming a major limiting factor of rapidly growing megacities, noMad is bringing together the resource saving benefits of independent locomotion infrastructure with the amenities of non-finite building.

Designed as a mobile, nomadic system, noMad can autonomously transport itself to building site by means of locomotion.

page 25

design thesis | thesis preparation

3 noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 26

03_self assembly

Originating in the study of complex systems, the concept of self-assembly is an emergent process where pre-existing components of a disordered system find order and structure. Trough local interactions between its parts, a system can build an ordered structure that can be either static or dynamic.

The idea of self-assembly - applied in architecture - can be a logical approach for a more responsive architecture, implying more comprehension on material behaviour, reconfigurability of spaces and a more intelligent system deployment.

A self-assembling fabrication system is overcoming the dependency on man or machine force needed for its construction cycle. Machinic and robotic assembly instruments are not used as external devices, but are integral part of the building components themselves.

Therefore, noMad’s space building capabilities are inherent in its units body design, allowing it to relocate, assemble and (de-)construct to reach a higher order of organization and complexity.

page 27

design thesis | thesis preparation

4 noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 28

04_ self structure

noMad’s self-structuring qualities are inherent its geometrical properties.

Due do its polyhedral structure, there is no necessity for external system of trusse, scaffolding or support material.

Aiming to use the smallest self-structuring determinator, most explorations in self-structuring systems are anchored in the world of polyhedra.

When talking about framing of space, the cube defends its undeserved fundamental significance as our main geometrical point of reference. Never having been subjected to experimental verification, the cubic plane of references still define our spatial understanding of up to today.

It has been only in the last 50 years that polyhedra have been acknowledged as structural objects. A cubic frame would always be unstable due to its six degrees of freedom and collapse, stabiliziation requires e.g. the joining of the vertices by six additional struts. The tetrahedra described by these diagonals alone could arguably be seen as the more direct initial for a minimum rigid three-dimensional frame

page 29

design thesis | thesis preparation

5 noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 30

05_ self awareness

The idea of “self” in systemic thinking specifies any type of system that has capability of finding order of a higher hierarchy through local interactions between parts. It should be one that reacts to inputs, translating it into outputs based in the internal logics of the system. It’s through the observation of specific parts that one can understand the larger system.

To enable architecture with a sensory system, each building block requires a certain degree of self-awareness.

With each component being aware of the state its in, the state of its surrounding and able to communicate this with neighboring units , independent solution finding is made possible for the system.

This self-awareness is reached through simple computational means of “states” on a voxel based grid, i.e. clearly defined neighborhood relationships (i.e. location on grid, kind of allowed neighborhood density etc) and clearly defined range of states (i.e. degree of transformation, open or closed components, available as potential input etc.).

If a building block is not given a sense of “identity”, it is incapable of independent decision making or intelligence.

page 31

design thesis | thesis preparation

? !

y/n

6

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 32

06_ space negotiation

Corresponding to its self-dependent rules of awareness, assembly and structuring, noMad follows a fabrication approach of negotiated space.

In a neither solely bottom up nor top down strategy, the system (re-)acts goal oriented.

As a self-organizing system, it is not following a deterministic, superimposed masterplan.

Localized interaction and decision making is enabled through unit to unit communication, negotiationg each individuals aims of mobility and space-making in a resulting higher order of swarm behaviour.

Formations can therefore reach an ordered state of temporal equilibrium, performing differently than its isolated components, but always shift back to dynamic decentralization of local interactions, re-configures a system triggered by random fluctuations

page 33

design thesis | thesis preparation

S_

ales

intelligence & autonomous bevaviour

S

n it

of

eu gl

sc

sin

scales of operation |

single unit |

Through the use of active and passive geometry shifting components the system can reconfiguring its global behaviour. Based on self-structuring qualities of polyhedra, the research is engaging the issues of mobility, self-structuring and space-making.

When applied, noMad’s system of assembly operates on three distinct scales of intelligence and autonomy.

Each scale is autonomously self-organizing and self-assembling to reach its next higher order of organization.

Beginning from its smallest operational scale, the single unit, the system is still capable of simplest decisions and actions, such as changing the state of the unit, limited locomotion, connecting and disconnecting from an global system.

The unit is the main building block, based on a simple rotational movement of the faces of an octahedron around the vertices of its neighbor.

Within this transformation, the unit starts from octahedral state, expands to an icosahedron, cuboctahedron, back to icosahedron an and octahedron again.

Central design features focus on the activation of the single unit through internal controls and mechanics, possibilities of the single unit to self-connect and disconnect to system, mobility through locomotion, soft faces and control over its internal equilibrium.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 34

application scenarios

M_ n

L_ h i gh

ma

dic

ion collect

b od y

at pul po

ive

M L o

nomadic body |

high population collective |

The formation of nomadic bodyplans - both through detrministic and stochastic means - is where the intelligence of the system starts.

A logic of potential shape grammar combinations is defines the body like a genetic sequence: The ecology of machines shows creature-like characteristics and highly specific behaviour both due to their individual bodyplans, i.e. the physical body, and its sequence of activation, i.e. choreography of movement. The choreographies enable features and abilites such as lifting matter, walking or snake-like locomotion, rotational or translating arms and cranes etc.

Only a few of used components having active capacities while the rest of the structure reacts passively.

In the scenario of high population settlements, parts of the system lock in, losing their highly mobile features in favor of spatial and structural configurations. Transformation is now used for optimization & adaptation through reconfiguration, i.e. temporary scaffolds during its own build-up process, lifting up of extensions and outer parts of the structur, or temporarilty repositioning to allow another body to get in place.

Testing different deployment strategies and time based form finding through motion, fabrication driver of higher organisations is the catalogued behaviour of nomadic bodies - meaning every larger superstructure accumulation is defined by its multiple bodies coming together.

page 35

architecture, that demands,,,

.

Nomadic S ett l

y!

obilit m ..

Spatial Con fig

& LocoM ot io

n

Ron Heron - Walking City (1964)

eI

nf e uctur str ra

nts

on s ati ur

e em

Beduin Tent (date unknown)

Inhabitabl

N55 - Walking House (2009)

architecture that demands mobility | Architecture is exposed to change. Change may occur in site conditions (triggered by change in atmosphere and/or nature) or in programmatic demands (developing social dynamics). Change demands flexibility, flexibility demands mobility.

In the city of of London, one in five of its population, meaning over 800 000 people, are commuting daily, raising by 10% in 10 years. Millions of people rely on the capability of transportation systems each day. Especially with todays complex growth of megacities, new city regions sprawl far beyond usual boundaries of one single city - the effectiveness of infrastructure lagging behind populations needs. Mobilty low performance infrastructure is becoming the limiting factor of rapidly growing megacities. This concept of urban temporality and its higher then ever reliance on mobility is solely shifted onto the individual’s mobility, ‘Urban nomad’ is long synonymous for today’s city population.

The city surrounding the human remains as a static construct with little ability to adapt to chaging needs. Our current approach to architecture and urban development results in delayed reactions with no possibilty to respond in real-time, demanding long procedures of manual planning and concessions. Todays society’s demands not only ‘urban nomads’ but ‘nomadic urbanism’.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 36

Extrem eE

n

Post-

Extr em e

Dis as

Sce narios Shigeru Ban - Paper Shelter Haiti (2010)

nments viro En

r te

s ment on vir Richard Horden - Ski-House (1991)

o no m t u a

y!

...

application scenarios

NASA - Space Station (2010)

architecture that demands autonomy | The need for autonomy, i.e. non-human reliance, in architecture is primarily given by site-specific constraints - especially in the beginning and end of a bulding lifecycle, i.e. the process of fabrication and dismantlement.

Aggravated conditions of construction in scenarios of extreme environments - that are either hazardous or difficult to reach for human labour - require either means of pre-fabrication and specific transportation to site or strategies of non-human on-site assembly. “Extreme� hereby can imply physical obstacles - of permanent (like extreme heat or cold, extreme heights or depths) or temporary (post-disaster scenarios, like earthquakes or flooding) nature.

Besides site-speficic constraints, programmatic conditions like non-human inhabitable spaces, research or space stations Architecture enabling either autonomous fabrication or maintenance is being beneficially applied in fields of high density and utilization, i.e. in todays megacities, where machinic and automated decision making and ability of self-repair has become potentially more efficient then manual labour.

page 37

design thesis | thesis preparation Ma ch B ic in v eha

ior

how?

Fields of

Machinic Behaviour | noMad’s research is concerned with the system’s machinic behaviour, including aspects of fabrication and simulation of material and physical behaviour of our system.

Due to its space-packing, self-structuring and kinetic requirements, the system is grounded in the world of polyhedra and synergetics, the study of systems in transformation.

The research deals with geometrical explorations, especially transformational geometry, their spatial configuration, reconfiguration and locomotion and the common aim of making.

The central focus of making aims to develop demonstratable prototypes within a streamlined process of fabrication. The physical design-proposal of a unit is tested with various approaches of embedded mechanics and constructions in order to activate and realiably control the systems movement.

Digital simulations of global system behaviour resp. impact of local transformation on physical and mechanical behaviour are developed to catalogue emergent phenoma, both under space-making and structural - ‘static’ criteria as well as ‘dynamic’ properties, i.e. reconfigurability, flexibility and mobility.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 38

Co m m un i ca tio

fields of research

n

B

ur avio h e

why?

Research

Communication based Behaviour | In order to define the system’s internal motivation or performative criteria, particular problem-solving, goal oriented simulations are developed, emulating behavioural and communicational aspects of the system.

A computational abstraction model of physical geometry is utilized to emulate the behavioural and communicational aspects of the system. In these automated, goal oriented movement sequences, the communication between multiple bodies is driver for decision making.

These simulations are driven by individual scenarios and situational responses.

Bevavioural based simulations are conducted within a minimal framework of constraints like its reference to the groundplane. In course of the experiments, the system creates a self-imposed context to react to (such as maximum number of possibly arrayed passives without active unit or self-interlocking) to achieve a specific goal (finding another, reaching or avoiding an area of poential settlement, building up etc), As we are proposing to create a system that can self-regulate and adapt, but is not closed in itself but can also react to outside influences and demands, the research seeks to define both internal and external stimuli, encouraging both interaction and communication.

page 39

design thesis | thesis preparation

how?

G e o me t r i c

al E

lo xp on rati Spatial Con fig

on ati ur on

Reconfigu rat i

& LocoMotion

Fabricatio

Geometrical Exploration & Transformation | Grounded in the world of polyhedra and transformational geometry, the research engages with their specific space-packing, self-structuring and kinetic properties.

Based on the theory of synergetics, the study of systems in transformation, the system seeks to explore the relation between platonic solids and fosters their highly specific geometrical attributes.

Spatial Configuration | Through the development of different computational models, the system’s space making abilities were tested and evaluated by means of different growth and branching logic of spatial collectives. The tests follow specific, simple goals - i.e. a bridge, a vault, a pillar, - or properties i.e. porosity, stability, efficiency - to perform compression based aggregations due to the component based nature of the system.

Reconfiguration & Locomotion | When studied in a collective scenario, the system’stransformational and geometrical specifics show emergent behaviour, enabling the system to create flexible, adaptive spaces and re-position itself by means of locomotion. Both a taxonomoy of creature-like bodyplans with specific mechanical behaviour as well as the assembly process of larger settlements is developed.

n&

t tua Ac ion noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 40

Fabrication & Actuation | Different mechanisms of activation are developed to automatize the unit to enable its control over its faces and transformational mechanism.

Main aims are the ability to autonomously (dis-)connect and communicate to the system and a simple movement activation embedded within a streamlined fabrication process.

fields of research | overview

why?

Be hav iour

Autonomous Behaviour | Automated, goal oriented movement sequences and communication between multiple bodies is simulated within a computational abstraction model of physical geometry. Emulating the behavioural and communicational aspects of the system, bodies autonomously continue or re-calculate their individual movement pattern.

Autom ate d

Adap tiv e

viour ha Be

Adaptation & Localized Decision Making | Adaptive aspects of the system are enabled through localized decision making, through simple embedded intelligence and simple goals.

A body autonomously adjusts and optimizes its own movement sequence according to new goals or environmental change.

Colle

cti ve hav Be

ior

Collective Simulation | Simulation of larger populations is focused on the communication between units and therefore the development of rules of communication and interaction. These rulesets aim to control the crowd behaviour in goal-oriented self-organization - resulting in ‘negotiated space’, a hybrid of both bottom up and top down systems..

Sens

m ste Sy

Sensory System | In order to fabricate demonstratable prototypes, the mechanicly actuated models are provided with a sensory system,. The use of micro-controlling and sensoric like proximity- and light sensoric enables the set of rules to execute physical commands and decisions.

ory

page 41

noMad | brief research

brief research | artificial intelligence

brief research | artificial intelligence

artificial intelligence | self-awareness intro | self-learning Self learning started to be one of the most desirable achievements since cybernetics and robotics were founded.

At the same time rapid development of self-assembly field (in particular modular robotics, which is self-reconfigurable, self-replicating or even self-repairing) provides us with both conceptual and technical opportunity to create intelligent and atomic/modular system adaptive to the human and responsive to changing environment: complex cohesive systems consist of same simple units with short range of trivial rulesets.

Gordon Pask SAKI (Self-Adaptive Keyboard instructor) machine was an instance of machine-to- human and back interaction and double-beneficial process of learning, on one hand person was able to learn from machine preprogrammed response, and on the other hand machine could learn with a certain degree of precision from the human behavior reaching as follows the loop of self- learning.

Thus self-learning seems to be the crucial part of self-assembly as bilateral process of interaction between people and the system. We are more interested in machine learning, nevertheless we can assume not only robotic learning from users and surrounding context, but also people’s ability to change their scenario and build new neural connections according to system behavior. For instance person is trying to avoid boring permanent view from the window (and he or she doesn’t know exact states of the system and doesn’t have yet such kind of spacial interior) and input this command into systems (modular habitation in this case). Then machine makes decisions related to input and develops a strategy based on self-learning algorithm improving result from time to time. On the other hand person/user gets new information about possible desirable positions (if not occupied by neighbours) and also learns to define new more sophisticated input next time.

early implementations | learning algorithms Self learning started to be one of the most desirable achievements since cybernetics and robotics were founded.

At the same time rapid development of self-assembly field (in particular modular robotics, which is self-reconfigurable, self-replicating or even self-repairing) provides us with both conceptual and technical opportunity to create intelligent and atomic/modular system adaptive to the human and responsive to changing environment: complex cohesive systems consist of same simple units with short range of trivial rulesets.

William Grey Walter’s Tortoises (first two named Elsie and Elmer) was probably the first instance of self-aware machines (as a logical result of his brain studies) being able to correspond to the environment switching between several task performance: wandering pattern, locking into a light, oscillating after encountering the obstacle and mirror dance (self-recognition including mating dance of two robots at the same time).

The Interpretation of tortoise as a nonorganic living includes motor parts - wheels, forks, engines and battery; perception organs - photocell sensor and contact switcher; and finally the brain that consists of 2 neurons wires between motor and sense units.!

Unlike Wiener’s military oriented cybernetics Walter’s experiments were more amateur and science directed. Goal seeking and scanning together became to main concept of creation Nevertheless William Grey Walter was fully aware of tortoise’s possible military applications by using two photocells and transforming robot into self-directed missile. John Johnson also assumes the usage of tortoise’s photocell as a guiding fro the gun or robot itself as a carriage of the explosive being detonated contacting the obstacle. Anyway Walter always had an attitude to his invention and exhibited it as a model brain. Apparently we find it quite useful in terms of present paper’s topics as a first robotic intelligence that inspired scientist of next decades.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 46

self-awareness

Since that time humanity advanced much further towards artificial intelligence in terms of neural networks creation, complex adaptive systems with weighted connections. Contemporary scientific concepts use the apprehen sion of brain structure and actioning divides generally into supervised (providing of sample of answers or ‚teaching’ the system), unsupervised (clustering of information into unknown pattern) and reinforced (making decision based on previous outcome and adjusting the weights of network) branches of learning principle.

Early Grey Walter’s experiments (inability just to sum neurons to achieve brain) and modern neural network algorithms opened a way for us to integrate intelligence in self-assembly systems. Given approach allows self-reconfigurable systems to define adaptive strategies along the process of adaptation and interaction with outer and inner world.

self-learning | contemporary robotics Nevertheless, what if we don’t want to define predetermined rules of movement? Zykov, Bongar and Lipson developed computational and physical models of robotic introspection (so called self- modeling) which involved 16 basic self-directed interactions with the environment. Researchers simulated situation of interconnection between curiosity and cognition in animals and humans for creating new kind of behaviour through the robotic introspection. Locomotion is achieved without any internal model at all only due to the learning process.

Utilizing described approaches we have freedom to create total learning from the process of local behaviour to the global strategy. Without any movement algorithm machine starts to acquire skills of locomotion through the series of trials and failures which can be integrated into our strategy of self-assembly by architects and engineers by enduring modular structures with the ability of introspective learning or mixing it with more predefined motion algorithms (it doesn’t mean that deployment tactics should be predetermined as well, by the reason that they are two different learnings - motion ability and path/place finding optimization).

Jason Yosinski and team created 4-legged robot that reminds unusual qudruped spider. As they suggested that translation from digital simulation to physical environment wouldn’t be so accurate and smooth, they started immediately from second one. Robot was able to improve basic hand-coded walking ability. Implementation was totally based on gait-learning algorithms of two major classes: locally searching models (based on parameterized motion) and evolving artificial neural networks (using platform of HyperNEAT generative encoding).!

To be more precise, scientists explored 6 various parametric learning methods: uniform and Gaussian random hill climbing, policy gradient reinforcement learning (gradient descent), Nelder- Mead simplex, a random baseline, and a new method that builds a model of the fitness landscape with linear regression to guide further exploration. It was obvious from tests that all the variants were more successful than manually-designed walking strategy, however solely the linear regression and Nelder-Mead simplex algorithms outperformed a random base-line.

Moreover, HyperNEAT provided the best result, 9 times faster physical motion than hand-coded behavior giving complex coherent motion patterns with multiple but coordinated leg movement frequencies.

Although Paskian Universal constructor manifested self-replicating automata that was reconfigurating avoiding obstacle. It seems to be reasonable to continue with modern results in modular robotics. According to Hod Lipson, self-replication is observed in natural self-adaptive ‘machines’ such as crystals, waves and automata, the same principle became the basis of Molecubes. Approach of units reconfigurations of a cells of a building or modules as a building in the city that can be considered as megastructures. Structure combines computational simplification of the lattice/grid system and spacial ability of chain one. If we assume that the habitation is inside the giant molecube (test sample was only 10 cm edge) we should invent the technique to stabilize the horizontal ‘floor’ plane inside the transformable unit (interior of half of the cube). Moreover, even if we will decide to apply the Machine Metabolism principle of Cornell Creative Machine Lab’s team on self reconfiguration within cubic grid, we still need to deal with r!esulting rotation and horizontality problem in inner body of each particular moving building block.

page 47

brief research | artificial intelligence

Obviously we have few possibilities to implement this transformation desire. One of them is to have equivalent spacial organization on each face (we are more interested in internal ones while external can be produced as a monoshell structure) of geometrical unit. Thus we will be able to use ceiling as a floor etc. (more suitable for public architecture, spaces with small amount of internal elements). The opposite example of habitation requires to introduce either internal shell rotating in the contrary direction to main movement or local compensatory mechanisms that translate and orient details of the interior according to the changing spacial orientation. And finally, method, in which all the internal filling (furniture, equipment, etc.) should be just fixed strongly enough and final state of every unit’s translation remains the same as initial with regard to horizontality and gravity.

In first and second case we are able to assume the tools allowing person be inside during the whole project of self-reconfiguring locomotion process of the megastructure. However even the last option gives this ability if we implement small spherical compensating capsule for individual(s) or non gravity condition (decision should be made according to less resource consuming value) inside each module.

how predetermined it should be ? | softness Deterministic and stochastic reconfigurations are two ways to quickly aggregate large population of units. Latter means probabilistic and brownian-motion-like deployment of the system. Former, deterministic, is a strategy when modules are directly placed at the certain location (molecube example). Stochastic method is processed through ambient environmental energy for the transportation. Stochastic fluid environment could be simulated within the principle of fluid dynamics not requiring local force or locomotion skill as a passive self-organization ability. Technique is related to random arrival of new building blocks to the structure and provides ability to transform/morph into one of states of so called programmable matter where each living cell is programmed to serve certain mission within organism as in fluid environment.

S!tochastic self-assembly was even proposed to serve rapid prototyping tasks at home.

Hod Lipson and his colleagues compare self-reconfiguring robotics with metabolism process in living organism as a process of breaking down nutritions and creating new ones. It is also proposed by the Creative Machines Lab to reuse and recycle the modular elements as self-reparation of the structure (i.e. space stations, cell phone towers, skyscrapers) or exchange between different aggregations. Obviously we can easily expand this list to other typologies such including residential, commercial building and adaptive parts of museums or arenas. The usage could be extremely wide: from space expeditions (where we cannot afford to transport large variety of completely different units) to recovery not only from wear and tear, but from natural disasters like earthquakes changing only damaged modules and leaving the rest of survived construction.

The system’s developing throughout a living cycle may be defined by implementing the genetic algorithm (planning path based on design constrains) as an alternative strategy to neural networks.! By doing mentioned steps we create kinematic structures allowing the 4th dimension to come to t!he architecture.

Another possible direction of modular robotics and self-assembly notion is to introduce a soft module, a primary building block as in Cornell’s soft modular robot research which speculates on cubics’s modules flexibility attained by twist actuating cables between vertices of the cube; or authors’s AA research of term2 based on Fuller invention with transformable octahedron (into icosahedron, cuboctahedron and back to the initial state). In both examples we are dealing with 2 base states of geometrical unit - solid sustained (cube and octahedron respectively) and soft compliant (all the intermediate states of transformation). Despite of the fact that this technique brings additional flexibility and spacial organization with itself, it provides higher order of complexity formation). Despite of the fact that this technique brings additional flexibility and spacial organization with itself, it provides higher order of complexity that lies outside the main frame of the paper challenging more complex algorithms and c!omputation of behavioural logics.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 48

self-awareness

peaceful competition | game theory Game of theory is a crucial inherent part of self-learning processes in machines’ environment. It helps to achieve best possible results in certain branching situations using computer-based modeling. Forcasting provides us to have assumptions and expectations and adapt artificial intelligence behavior to constantly changing context.

One of the most significant founders of game theory are Von Neumann and Morgenstern. The discipline sourced from probability theory and mathematical statistics.

The most advanced concepts of predictions in games theory are related to conditions with predetermined state space (example - chess). The notions of root, tree of moves and leafs - the outcome from ending states. This tree structure allows us to develop a strategy designing functions even in multiplayer games, where several systems are aiming to “win” (read achieve best possible solution or outcome) simultaneously. However we and our program implementations should be quite selective in trees using effective reduction introducing clusters of similar states. Emergence in contemporary game theory made possible opponents to adapt to each other showing learning behavior during the process of “playing”. Humanity has ability to use existing approaches of game theory smartly making short forecasts based on recent data taking into consideration the level of detail that can avoid butterfly effect’s inaccuracies.

Synchronizing urban pattern with self-assembly we are able to assure duplex mutation based on artificial intelligence and Earth’s resettlement network, totally emergent in its essence. Machines for living and work can serve the idea of global adaptation and follow the people migrations (for instance escaping from the ‘dead’ city of Detroit after collapse of car industry) reusing the same buildings and travailing with owners avoiding problems of new property searching and its equipment. Acting this way we propose individual mobility in terms of houses (at least for middle distances within certain country if legislation restrictions will be not flexible enough). This strategy can can also provide a behaviour of machines that shifts human decision interfering into it and helping human to optimize trip and settlement solution by combining robotic self-learning and human brain into productive interaction.

Game of theory gives great opportunity to play adults game within a big scale of suburban megastructures and within them between each particular unit. Systems are able to compete in terms of demand on resources or more solar energy efficient location. Nonetheless if the first one achieved the optimal configuration and position, second or others (in multiplayer game) exclude its state from the search path and continue new peaceful competition.

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brief research | mobility

brief research | mobility

mobility in architecture | “The city of Sophronia is made up of two half-cities. In one there is the great roller coaster with its steep humps, the carousel with its chain spokes, the Ferris wheel of spinning cages, the death-ride with crouching motorcyclists, the big top with the clump of trapezes hanging in the middle. The other half-city is of stone and marble and cement, with the bank, the factories, the palaces, the slaughterhouse, the school, and all the rest. One of the half-cities is permanent, the other is temporary, and when the period of its sojourn is over, they uproot it, dismantle it, and take it off, transplanting it to the vacant lots of another half-city.

And so every year the day comes when the workmen remove the marble pediments, lower the stone walls, the cement pylons, take down the Ministry, the monument, the docks, the petroleum refinery, the hospital, load them on trailers, to follow from stand to stand their annual itinerary. Here remains the half-Sophronia of the shooting-galleries and the carousels, the shout suspended from the cart of the headlong roller coaster, and it begins to count the months, the days it must wait before the caravan returns and a complete life can begin again. ” [ITALO CALVINO, The Invisible Cities (16)] In his book, “The Invisible Cities”, Italo Calvino presents several cities built under different aspects, describing them as unique landscapes and built spaces due to their inhabitants, as if they were singular dimensions that could also fit into the description of any city nowadays. When one begins to read the description of Sophronia, one of the cities of Calvino, instinctively think that the interim city is the amusement park. However, he twists this concept, suggesting that transient city is actually the one we know as permanent, the city of everyday, of the routine, the experiences, the flows and the trades. Sophronia only exists while there is interaction between the various groups that compose it.

The immutability of architecture that constitutes society as we know it is exposed, leading to questions about how the city and its flows is perceived and experienced. The archetypes, as he describes them, exist, but the man is in constant motion, both physical as ideological, influenced by the - ever increasing - flow of information, and the architecture barely follow these changes. It’s their inter relations that give life to the city, and demolition, as highlighted, is the process that allows the finiteness of it all, leading to a consequent transformation and transience of architecture.

The man is in constant motion, but always backed by references able to identify him and specify him a source, an origin, like a “fixed address”. An individual is nothing without identity within society. The state, as the name implies, is static, unable to live a real mobility. This whole concept conditions the man and his creations. The architecture, because of that, produces static buildings – heavy and non-mobile structures. Thus, faced with this sociocultural configuration, it is understandable that our reality must be static, or society as a whole falls apart.

Humans needs easily recognizable icons and symbols to establish connections and relationships with the space in which it lives in. This comes from the necessity of finding themselves inside a changing landscape in order to develop a unique personality. He therefore is characterized in a static being, despite being in constant movement. The psychological structure of the society life is based in the relation and recognition of the space, as well as in the cultural assimilation. In this sense, the ‘fixed address’ acts as a form of socio-economic inclusion and integration.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 52

mobile architecture

In the new technological and information era, however, the individual may be recognized in other socio-spatial situations such as the internet, which allows a certain level of mobility followed by the presence of them in non-physical ambient, but virtual, where the existence could be understood as a spatial mobility of the individual.

Thus, the idea of thinking about architecture as a system, dominating all the process, is essential for the mobility thinking in architecture. It’s not about creating a different physical structure, but creating a new reality, a new method of living, a new relationship between man and space, which, in turn, culminates in the process through it is developed, in this case a flexible and mobile structure. However, a mobile structure, by itself, is incapable of promoting the mobility concept. For such, it needs to be able to establish deeper connections with the individual in addition to its physical structure, altering the method of interaction and user perception with the surrounding space.

The period where these issues emerged was very propitious. If in the past there wasn’t much freedom of creation and need for change, in the post-war era that reality changed, with new architectural proposals promoting the interference and interaction with the user.

The post-war created a complex urban situation, unlike anything ever seen before. Until then, the architecture was being designed to serve man’s needs, but completely connected with the monumentality of the spaces in which it was inserted. The period was marked by a profound economic, social and political crisis, which led the architects born in the midst of that to new questions about the structural principles of urban development, establishing more complex patterns related to the need of man’s identity standards.

The first architects to think about mobility in architecture as a desirable need, worked with precepts of space modularization and scientification of architecture, through projects that required high technology to be designed, giving birth to the critical thinking about the sedentary bias of urban space. Those ideas arises in the context of the post-war, from the modernism and industrial era, as a still fairly utopian movement that found in technique the best way to structure and situate these intentions. They introduced discussions about the urban space and mobile and adaptable architecture, as well as questions concerning the design methods that produced the static structures of the period.

Buckminster Fuller, Nicholas Habraken, Frei Otto and Yona Friedman were the architects who went more deeply in to these discussions on their proposals, with light, modular, disassembled and flexible designs. They introduced questions that, along with the counter culture movements of the 60s, eventually encourage a new generation of architects to think mobility as a new way of seeing architecture, both as a means of communication or as art, and especially as a way to establish a dialogue with the population.

The influence of the Situationist movement led to deeper questions about the impact of this supposed mobility on society, dealing with the mobile architecture as an “artistic-cultural manifesto”, thinking of the city as a leisure space, a living experience transformed into adventure. They also considered the use of high technology as a precondition for mobile projects, as well as a means to promote their ideals.

Everything that was new, mass-produced, was incorporated in the designs, which mostly had a great visual, aesthetic and provocative appeal, influenced by the Pop Art and electronic media. This way of thinking is linked to the communicative and questioning works of Archigram, Cedric Price and also artists like Constant Nieuwenhuys, with his “Unitary Urbanism”.

Currently, questions about the mobility of man and structures, as well as the mobility altering people’s lives still persist, but away from specific conditions, without consideration of the space in which it operates, but with the ability to settle anywhere, as an architecture able to adapt. The urban space starts to gain more relevance, being important the relationship of the body with the built environment, exhibiting this relationship that is established through unusual, ephemeral and mobile proposals. Artists such as Lucy Orta, Krzysztof Wodiscko and Joep Van Lieshout illustrate this marginal and provocative art, where man is the center of the relationship with the city.

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brief research | mobility

The architecture is now seen as a tool of man to achieve wellness. It conditions and defines their way of life and their interactions. Should thus be capable of shaping up to the needs and desires of society, through an adaptable, changeable, free and then, therefore, mobile architecture.

yona friedman | spatial city

Collage of the Spatial City extending over the Place de la Concorde in Paris

Yona Friedman (1923) was the responsible for coining the term. ‘mobile architecture’, with his manifesto for the X International Congress of Modern Architecture in Dubrovnik, in 1956, “Manifeste de l’architecture mobile”, where he expressed the needs for a more adaptable architecture, capable of understand the constant mobility of life. For him, the crescent automation of the production would increase the amounth of free time, changing radically the society. For him, the inhabitants should be owner of a “mass”, that would change accordingly to the demands of life.

One of his proposals, the “Spatial City”, was imagined to allow the reorganization of the publica and private space. The Project consists of a structural framework that could be occupied by volums. This framework would give the user freedom to occupy or leave the spaces as needed, by rearranging the volumes through the structural voids. These structures should be capable of being dismantled, moved and be alterable at any moment, and should also touch the ground in a minimal area.

The framework would overlay the existing urban fabric and and could make use of it’s existing infra structure, acting in the space where the actual city couldn’t reach.

Collage of the Spatial City | Frac Centre Collection

nicholas habraken | ‘support’and ‘infill’ Nicholas habraken (1928) was one of the first architects to formalize the design process and create a more ‘responsive’ architecture, that fits its user requirements, by allowing them to interveine in the design. He found in the modularization of the space a method of allowing a certain degree of freedom and variability in the process of projecting architectural buildings, creating a series of recombinatorial pieces of the constructive system. He proposed the idea of separating the ‘support’ structures of the buildings, that would coordinate all the infra-structure, from the ‘infill’, that would be everything else, from interior to exterior of a house system, and could have a great range of variability, allowing the participation of the inhabitants in the process of designing.

Scheepstimmermanstraat (1996-1997), Amsterdam.

Urban plan and coordination from West 8 and projects from several different architectural offices with the participation of the users.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 54

mobile architecture | examples archigram | visions of th future city

The Walking City | Ron Herron, 1964

Instant City, 1969-70 | Peter Cook, Ron Herron e David Greene

The Archigram group based his productions in the incorporation of technology and mass culture as a way of expressing themselves and the premises of the modern architecture, illustrating the future of the consumer society. They had a high tech approach, with lighweight structures, exploring the world of inflatables, capsule houses, nomadic, and computational architecture, exploiting a vision of interminable resources. For them, the most importante wasn’t the technology per se, but the new relations that were established in society by the interaction with these technologies, and the incorporation of them in the daily life. Their proposals were utopic in a sense, but extremely connected with the economical and social situation through which the new technologies, transport systems, communication and information were affecting the world.

The Walking City was a mobile robotic structure, that could autonomously navigate and connect to other ‘cities’ when needed, to form a massive metropolis and disperse when no longer the connections were necessary.

The Instant City, a mobile technological event, would offer a series of information and cultural events that would be carried from city to city distant to the main metropolis, working as complement to the city structure, supplying and attracting new activities to the small city and connecting it to the main one.

lucy orta | garment housing Lucy Orta is an artist who makes an approach to a body architecture through the creation of a garment-housing, able to allow human survival in an inhospitable environment, the urban environment.

Thus, Orta develops a sartorial lexicon that leads to formation of a collective creation of garments.

Discusses the issue of housing not as a fixed space, but something that you carry with you, a mobile urbanity, which is independent of the place, just the man.

Lucy Orta

krysztof wodiczko | homeless vehicles Wodiczko combines art and technology in order to call attention for marginalized social communities, using its design as a critical approach. He’s famous for using projections in buildings facades.

In his Homeless Vehicle Project, he legitimated the problems of the marginal community without legitimating the problems of homelessness, by building these vehicles for the homeless people as a tool for surviving in the city. Those vehicles called the attention of people and also gave an importance to the homeless, as they become part of something that generally they are not, earning space in society.

Krzysztof Wodiczko, 1988 – 1989 | Homeless Vehicles

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brief research | self-structuring geometry

brief research | self-structuring geometry

polyhedral space | Aiming to use the smallest self-structuring determinator, most explorations in self-structuring systems are anchored in the world of polyhedra. Few polyhedra can be found in the natural world, most of them have been creations of the mind. Nevertheless, they have formed what is an ongoing puzzle for humans - trying to understand them long before Pythagoras modern mathematics. Ancient artifacts as e.g. East African foot rings or the semiregular polyhedral pyramids of Egypt are considered attempts to understand and replicate logics of polyhedral geometries.1 Ancient Greeks first started to theorize about relationships between polyhedra, defined their five regular platonics (tetrahedron, octahedron, icosahedron, cube, dodecahedron) and from there on accepted them as symbols for all and everything.2 Euclid’s Elements first described their basic geometric principles, but it was not until Leonardo da Vinci’s illustrations for Pacioli’s De Devina Proportione almost two thousands years later that the first polyhedra were properly shown as a lattice structure and - at the same time - Albrecht Dürers ‘Underweysung der Messung’ in 1525 unreveiling their explicit relationships by unfolding.3 When talking about framing of space, the cube defends its undeserved fundamental significance as our main geometrical point of reference. Never having been subjected to experimental verification, the cube arguably owes its special position to being the simplest geometrical shape to draw on a piece of paper in ancient times without today’s understanding of mathematics and geometry. Up to today, the edges of the cube define our understanding of forward-backward / up-down / left-right, any imaginable spatial reference or orientation.

When dance artist and theorist Rudolph von Laban preferred the icosahedron as a frame of reference for his ‘Space Harmony’ choregraphies - to pattern repeatable movement sequences of moving through a predefined Platonic Solid - he mostly struggled with the realization that most of his dancers were just too culturally pre-conditioned to the cubic edges as ultimate definition of space.4

fig03: Albrecht Dürer, Underweysung der Messung (1525)

1 2 3 4 5 VIII.

It has been only in the last 50 years that polyhedra have been acknowledged as structural objects. A cubic frame would always be unstable due to its six degrees of freedom and collapse, stabiliziation requires e.g. the joining of the vertices by six additional struts. The tetrahedra described by these diagonals alone could arguably be seen as the more direct initial for a minimum rigid three-dimensional frame.5

Tomlow, Jos. Polyhedra. in Gabriel, Francois J (ed). Beyond The Cube: The Architecture of Space Frames and Polyhedra. London: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Page 2. ibid. Page 5. ibid. Page 7.

Laban, Rudolf. The Mastery of Movement. New York: Dance Books Ltd, 2011. Page 10.

Gabriel, Francois J. Beyond The Cube: The Architecture of Space Frames and Polyhedra. London: John Wiley & Sons,

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 58

1997. Page

polyhedral space

the five platonic solids |

type: vertices: faces (by sides): dihedral angle:

tetrahedron 4 4 70.52°

type: vertices: faces: dihedral angle:

cube 8 6 90.00°

type: vertices: faces: dihedral angle:

isocahedron 12 20 138.19°

type: dodecehadron faces: 20 vertices: 12 dihedral angle: 116.56°

type: vertices: faces (by sides): dihedral angle:

octahedron 6 8 (3) 109.47°

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brief research | self-structuring geometry

polyhedral packing and decomposition logics | definition optimization problems in mathematics that involve attempting to pack objects together into containers.

optimum rectangle packing logics:

1,00 efficiency

+

9 squares

+

0,93 efficiency 10 squares

optimum circle packing logics:

15 circles in square

6 circles in a right isosceles triangle

10 circles in a circle

5 circles in an equilateral triangle

truncated octahedron decomposition

base units

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 60

base module

space tiling | packing

polyhedral packing and decomposition

optimum tetrahedra packing logics:

packing logic

85.0% world record 2010 | 78.2% previous years process | by compressing tetrahedra and letting them self-assemble observation | quasicystals emerging, i.e. regularity but non-repeating pattern proof for entropy autonomously creating order

we-aire phelan packing two units of identical volume fills the space without gaps

dodecahedron

tetrakaidecahedron

translation unit

national acquatics centre ‘watercube’, beijing | chris bosse - arup

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brief research | self-structuring geometry

mobile space frames | The first experiments on space-frames and triangulated spaces as self-structuring polyhedral systems were produced in 1902 by the same person who invented modern communication and the telephone: Alexander Graham Bell.

Understanding himself as an universal creative, he was an active participant in the rapid development of industrial fabrication around the turn of the century, seeing the huge potential of ongoing technical improvements of the production process. The approach to his inventions was not looking for problem-specific solutions, but in reverse the development of technical or mathematical principles and then looking on how to apply them in retrospect. In this manner, he became both the inventor of the tetrahedral truss and the concept of the space frame.

His interest in self-structuring systems was not grounded in an architectural application but in nautical and aeronautical engineering:1 The early prototypes of his tetrahedral space-frames were applied to enormous kites. Base unit of his system is a latticed tetrahedron of 20cm edge length, with a minimum number of members to create a rigid frame and therefore optimal weight and lightness for flying objects. He prefabricated an array of these basis elements as prototypes to create clusters and agglomerations with emergent qualities.2 The resulting compositions of tetrahedral were tested in the wild, extensively catalogued, reconfigured and optimized and tested again for their structural and technical properties. As a result, Bell created an empirical study of flying behaviour, all based on the same basic component but with performances far from what could have been expected from an isolated tetrahedron.

Bell developed several principles and rules of optimization by introducing a hierarchy of faces, partly covered with fabric, and by minimizing the weight of the overall structure by dismissing central, fully surrounded tetrahedra.3 The experience gained from his tetrahedral kite experiments has been later implemented into complete architectural building structures of larger scale - the first being a 28m high watch tower in Canada in 1907. Here, Bell did not follow up the implications of kinetics and mobility, the main evaluation in his earlier flying experiments. But a number of new principles - a hierarchy in edges, the three continuous border rods of each tower leg being thicker where expecting higher forces4 - strongly link his self-structuring explorations to his other iconic research: the telephone as a network of communication.

Bell did not see his prefabricated tetrahedral units as an isolated component of six rods and four nodes but as part of a bigger network: the single unit indistinguishable from the total system, behaving as a flow of energy with paths of thicker diameter transporting higher amount of force between nodes.

1 2

3 4

Wachsmann, Konrad. Wendepunkte im Bauen. Wiesbaden: Krauskopf Verlag, 1959. Page 19.

Bell, Alexander Graham. Tetrahedral principle in kite structures. in: National Geographic Magazine 14 (6), 1914. Page 219ff.

Tomlow, Jos. Polyhedra. in Gabriel, Francois J (ed). Beyond The Cube: The Architecture of Space Frames and Polyhedra. London: John Wiley & Sons, 1997. Page 28. ibid. Page 30.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 62

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brief research | synergetic formfinding

brief research | synergetic formfinding

principles of synergectis | To enable the system to adapt, Buckminster Fullers theory of synergetics, the study of systems in transformation, is utilized. It implies that most platonic solids are inherently embedded within each other and can therefore transform geometry by a rearrangement of face to face and vertic connections. synergy t JOUFSBDUJPO PG NVMUJQMF FMFNFOUT JO B QSPEVDJOH BO FGGFDU EJGGFSFOU GSPN PS HSFBUFS UIBO UIF TVN PG their individual effects t FYQMPSJOH UIF GPSNBUJPO BOE TFMG PSHBOJ[BUJPO PG QBUUFSOT JO TZTUFNT synergetics t TUVEZ PG TZTUFNT JO USBOTGPSNBUJPO t UPUBM TZTUFN CFIBWJPS VOQSFEJDUFE CZ UIF CFIBWJPS PG BOZ JTPMBUFE DPNQPOFOUT including humanity’s role as both participant and observer. t TDJFOUJmD BOE QIJMPTPQIJDBM TUVEJFT J B HFPNFUSZ QBDLJOH MPHJDTƼ

ernst haeckel | phaeodarea (1876)

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principles of synergetics

page 67

brief research | synergetic formfinding principles of synergectis | Rejecting the cube for reasons of instability, Buckminster Fuller made advantage of a coordinate system based on tetrahedral-octahedral space filling.1 Using the tetrahedral base unit for his system as initial setup, its vertices being defined by four closest-packed spheres, he started a catalogue of relational proportional polyhedra and their respective higly specific systems of interconnections, transformations and dynamic properties.

In his main manifesto, the study of ‘Synergetics’ in 1975, Fuller gives a comprehensive area of reference for transforming systems and their emergent behaviour, unpredictable by its single parts - including the human in his role as observer and participant - defined by himself as: “A system of mensuration employing 60-degree vectorial coordination comprehensive to both physics and chemistry ... explaining much that has not been previously illuminated ... following the cosmic logic of the structural mathematics strategies of nature, which employ the paired sets of the six angular degrees of freedom, frequencies... Synergetics discloses the excruciating awkwardness characterizing present-day mathematical treatment of the interrelationships of the independent scientific disciplines as originally occasioned by their mutual and separate lacks of awareness of the existence of a comprehensive, rational, coordinating system inherent in nature.2 Central ideas Fuller lies out are the rejection of the commonly used 90 degree coordinate system in favour of omnidirectional 60 degree coordinates. In favour of the standard XYZ coordinate system, he introduces the Isotropic-Vector-Matrix (IVM), based on the unit-vector-length edges of the tetrahedron.3 Alongside this space describing system lies a revision of our notion of ‘dimension’: height, width and depth are described as three distinct dimensions, each behaving independly.

As a means to describe the relative size of a unit and to quantify the relation of time and shape, Fuller introduces the measuring unit ‘frequency’: “Size and time are synonymous. Frequency and size are the same phenomenon.”4 This notion of four-dimensionality adds the dimension of physicality (time, mass) to spatial properties.

“Geometers and “schooled” people speak of length, breadth, and height as constituting a hierarchy of three independent dimensional states -- “one-dimensional,” “two-dimensional,” and “three-dimensional” -- which can be conjoined like building blocks. But length, breadth, and height simply do not exist independently of one another nor independently of all the inherent characteristics of all systems and of all systems’ inherent complex of interrelationships with Scenario Universe....

All conceptual consideration is inherently four-dimensional. Thus the primitive is a priori four-dimensional, always based on the four planes of reference of the tetrahedron. There can never be less than four primitive dimensions. Any one of the stars or point-to-able “points” is a system-ultratunable, tunable, or infratunable but inherently four-dimensional.5 All platonic polyhedral solids defined within that system are inherently informed by and contained within each other and therefore able to switch states. The tetrahedron initial unfolds to octahedral shape, expanding to an 1 2 3 4 5

Loeb, Arthur. Preface. in Buckminster Fuller. Synergetics: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking.

New York: Macmillan Pub Co, 1975. Page 5 Fuller, Buckminster. Synergetics Vol1: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking. New York: Macmillan Pub Co, 1975. Chapter 200.01 ibid. Chapter 986.203 ibid. Chapter 528.03 ibid. Chapter 527.702

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 68

fig07: Buckminster Fuller, Geodesic Dome Patent (1951)

icosahedron, cuboctahedron and finally flips inside-out and collapses in mirrored order.

Special significance Fuller puts hereby in the doubling of edges while the grid collapses and expands between its geometrical states - comparable to a hierarchy of capacities in a network.

These theses by Fuller are never seen as a replacement of traditional mathematics but an alternative point of view, an attempt to integrate geometry and philosophy into a shared framework defining both the physical and metaphysical world.6 Fuller had a rather holistic understanding of his concept, including a wide field of disciplines of the philosophical and scientific world, such as geometry, chemistry, psychology, biochemistry and economics.

Despite inspiring ongoing followers in their research on related topics, most of his ideas never reached mainstream recognition in the academic world. Especially the blurred differentiation or explicit relational understanding of apparent seperates - such as the physical and the ideal world, the human, micro and universal scale, the observer and the observed - challenged more conventional ways of thinking both at the time of Fuller’s publications as well as today.

In similiar fashion in that he saw the future of houses as apparatus for receiving and broadcasting, he referred to his structural systems as ‘nets’, primarily not systems of physical interconnection but as networks of energy and flow.

As conventional planning of permanent settlements and neighbourhoods would be rendered obsolete in a hyper-mobile age, nomadic systems of endlessly circulating bodies instead of physical infrastructure would lead the way.

Within a system like that, the ability to disconnect is considered of equal importance as to connect.7

6 7

ibid. Chapter 251.50 Wigley, Mark. Network Fever. in Grey Room 39. Cambridge: MIT Press, 2001. Page 113.

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brief research | self-assembly systems

brief research | self-assembly systems

self assembly systems | Self-assembly is a process where pre-existing components of a disordered system finds order and structure through local dynamic interactions between its parts. It’s an emergent behaviour that can be found in complex systems.

Self-assembly and self- organizing systems can be a response for a more automated and more responsive architecture. In nature these concepts are the very base of the building system of things, and analysing how naturally it happens in nature can give clues on how to improve the architectural systems that we rely on.

Self-assembly systems can be a logical approach for a more responsive architecture, with more comprehension on material behaviour, reconfigurability of spaces, and more intelligent system deployment.

These systems are plentiful in nature, and include the formation of everything from snowflakes, to biological structures, to galaxies. Trough local interactions, disordered parts can build an ordered structure that can be either static or dynamic.

In static self-assembly formations, when the system reaches it’s ordered state it founds equilibrium, reducing its amount of usable energy. It must have a higher order that performs differently than its isolated components.

Dynamic self-assembly process can also be described as self-organized systems, where the ordered state arisen from local interactions configures a system triggered by random fluctuations that allows a variety of states, a nonequilibrium system. The system is composed by agents that may or may not define the laws through which the systems responds to, and its organization is either decentralized or distributed all over the components of the system.

Another concept linked with the idea of self-assembly is self-replication, a type of behaviour in dynamic systems that allows the construction of a copy of the agent. It is present in biology, in cell division that replicates the DNA, as well as for biological virus and computer virus for example.

Cellular Automata, for example, is a type of system that recreates the replicating logics of nature, demonstrating that the essential qualities of self-assembly/self-reproducing systems were possible in material and mechanical systems . It’s possible to observe these qualities being reproduced in contemporary robotics researches, like the “self-replicator” robot from Cornell University.

The idea of “self” in systemic thinking specifies any type of system that has capability of through local interactions between parts find order of a higher hierarchy. It should be one that reacts to inputs, translating it into outputs based in the internal logics of the system. It’s through the observation of specific parts that one can understand the larger system.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 72

definition

natural systems

- self-organization - shape and function shifting -looking for higher order

robotics

- modular systems - self-reconfiguring - loco-motion

materiality

- embedded in materiality or fabrication process - self assembly plan - predetermined

geometry

- configuration defined by geometrical properties - logics of packing

mechanics

- re-configuration by use of mechanical princicples (hinges, gears etc)

SELF-ASSEMBLY MANIFESTATIONS definition | disordered system of pre-existing components forms an organized structure or pattern as a consequence of specific, local interactions among the components themselves, without external direction.

01_spontaneity

02_order

03_interaction

04_building

interactions only on local level

assembled structure has higher order than its isolated components

weak, slack interactions as important role in material synthesis

any possible combination of homogenous or heterogenous building blocks

self assembly encodes the global order of the whole spontaneous process leading to equilibirium no minium number of units

self organization no initial encoding necessary nonequilibirum process minimum number for interactions

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brief research | self-assembly systems

morphogenesis | is the biological process that causes an organism to develop its shape. It is one of three fundamental aspects of developmental biology along with the control of cell growth and cellular differentiation.

The process controls the organized spatial distribution of cells during the embryonic development of an organism. morphogenesis can take place also in a mature organism, in cell culture or inside tumor cell masses. morphogenesis also describes the development of unicellular life forms that do not have an embryonic stage in their life cycle, or describes the evolution of a body structure within a taxonomic group Robots inpired by natural process can be classified in two types, as morphogenetic robots and epigenetic robots. The self-assembly robots of the core of our research can be classified as morphogenetic robots.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 74

modular robotics taxonomy

morphogenetic robotics

epigenetic robotics

t TFMG PSHBOJ[BUJPO TFMG SFDPOmHVration, self-assembly & self-adaptive genetic and cellular mechanisms (from biological early morphogenesis) t CPEZ BOE DPOUSPMMFS EFWFMPQFE TJNVMtaneously t BDUJWJUZ JOEFQFOEFOU EFWFMPQNFOU

t EFWFMPQNFOUBM NFDIBOJTNT BSDIJtectures and constraints of lifelong and open-ended learning of new skills and knowledge t DPHOJUJWF DBQBCJMJUJFT MBOHVBHF emotion) through experience t BDUJWJUZ EFQFOEFOU EFWFMPQNFOU

! ?

!

?

!

! ! ?

?

!

!

deterministic reconfiguration

stochastic reconfiguration

t VOJUT CFJOH EJSFDUMZ NBOJQVMBUFE JOUP their target location t FYBDU MPDBUJPO JT LOPXO BU BMM UJNFT t SFDPOmHVSBUJPO UJNFT DBO CF HVBSanteed t NBDSP TDBMF TZTUFNT VTVBMMZ EFUFSministic.

t SFMJFT PO TUBUJTUJDBM QSPDFTTFT MJLF Brownian motion). t MPDBUJPO POMZ LOPXO XIFO DPOOFDUed to the main structure t OP QSFDJDF SFDPOmHVSBUJPO UJNF t NPSF GBWPSBCMF BU NJDSP TDBMFT

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hybrid

chain architecture

brief research | self-assembly systems

self-replicate

lattice architecture

t IZCSJE BSDIJUFDUVSF t SPUBUJPO DIBJO MBUUJDF JOUFSface t TFMG SFDPOmHVSJOH OP MPDPNPtion

cubelets t MBUUJDF BSDIJUFDUVSF t EJGGFSFOU VOJUT t OPU SFDPOmHVSBCMF

TAXONOMY OF MODULAR ROBOTICS

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 76

modular robotics taxonomy

smores t IZCSJE BSDIJUFDUVSF t TFMG SFDPOmHVSBCMF t CPUI MPDPNPUJPO autonomous movement m-tran III t IZCSJE BSDIJUFDUVSF t DIBJO KPJOU MBUUJDF JOUFSGBDF t TFMG SFDPOmHVSBCMF MPDPNPtion

m-blocks t MBUUJDF BSDIJUFDUVSF t OP MPDPNPUJPO t BVUPOPNPVT NPWFNFOU

complexity of single module

page 77

brief research | self-assembly systems

self-replicator | cornell university w/ hod lipson

servo-motor

grid interface (lattice)

rotating axis (chain)

t hybrid self-reconfiguring system t CVJMU UP physically demonstrate artificial kinematic self-reproduction t module: 0.65 kg cube with 100 mm long edges and one rotational degree of freedom t infinite number of self-reproducing chain meta-structures can be built from Molecubes.

cornell creative machine lab leaded by hod lipson created molecubes to explore self-replicating phenomena from nature using artificial robotic replication aiming to create adaptive machines.

m-blocks | MIT grid interface (lattice system)

gyroscope spinning flywheel

t BVUPOPVNPVT NPWFNFOU CZ TQJOOJOH nZXIFFM BOE HZSPTDPQF t TZTUFN PG NBHOFUT BUUBDIFT VOJUT MBUUJDF TZTUFN OP MPDPNPUJPO

romanishin, the reasearcher in MIT showed preconcept to his supervisor and also to hod lipson both of whom told it was impossible. however today the m-blocks project works and proves the idea through the 20 000 revolutions per minute of the wheel inside. m-blocks are based on angular momentum end precise calculatuion of the inertion force that produces movement which in turn ends up with magnetic connection of edges or faces of neighbouring blocks.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 78

case study catalogue

modular hybrid robots (roombots) | ecole polytechnique federale

t TBNF BYJT PSJFOUBUJPO BT NPMFDVCFT t SFBM MJGF BQQMJDBUJPO PG CVJMEJOH CMPDLT GPS GVSOJUVSF UIBU TFMG BTTFNCMFT TFMG SFDPOmHVSF and self-repairs.

built om the molecubes basis, roombots embrace the field of interior usage of self-assebly and self-replicating units. thus system is able to relocate furniture within a habitation [i.e. motion table for disabled], reconfigure to other types of house equipment. the enhance of application belongs to simoultanious participation of passive and active blocks that is saving matter and energy at the same point as in the thesis prototypes.

m-tran III | kurokawa et al., [AIST] legged configurations

chain connection

lattice connection

serial configurations

t hybrid type self-reconfigurable system t module: two cube size (65 mm side) 2 rotational DOF and 6 flat surfaces for connection. t chain system: locomotion by CPG (Central Pattern Generator) controller t lattice system: change of configuration, e.g., 4 legged walker to caterpillar

early japanese experiments with modular robotic [MR] systems where represented as a m-tran implementation. as ‘usual’ in MR it was used identical modules, but probably for the first time such a fertile veriety of configuration was achieved. thus robots were able to move as a snake, 2- or 4-legged creatures according to relief characteristics and stability issue. mentioned application approximates the discussed future of extraterestrial expeditions when we don’t need to send different expensive robots but only plenty of modules instead.

page 79

brief research | self-assembly systems

hydro fold | christophe gauberan

t IBDLFE JOLKFU EFTLUPQ QSJOUFS t NJYUVSF PG XBUFS BOE JOL DBVTFT QBQFS UP GPME BVUPNBUJDBMMZ BMPOH wet lines and humid areas

kinematics | nervous system surface expansion through embedded hinges

‘kinematics’ was developed in collaboration with Motorola’s Advanced Technology and Projects group t large objects compressed down for 3D printing through simulation t assemblage of rigid, hinged, triangular parts that behave as a continuous fabric in aggregate

robogami | ecole polytechnique de lausanne

fiberglass sheet shape memory

laminated plastic

t TFMG GPMEJOH PSJHBNJ CZ VTF PG TNBSU TIFFUT t mCFSHMBTT TIFFUT XJUI FNCFEEFE TIBQF NFNPSZ TUSJQT DPQQFS lamiated plastic mesh as wires

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 80

case study catalogue

ico tens | cornell creative machine

t TIBQF DIBOHJOH BNPSQIPVT UFOTFHSJUZ t EJTUSJCVUFE BDUVBUJPO UPMFSBUJOH UIF MPTT PG NVMUJQMF BDUVBUPST while maintaining locomotion

self assembly line | MIT self assembly lab

a discrete set of modules are activated by stochastic rotation from a larger container the unit geometry and attraction mechanisms (magnetics) ensure contact with one another overtime as more units come into contact, break away, and reconnect, larger, furniture scale elements, emerge.

bio molecular self assembly | MIT self assembly lab

study on how the basic ingredients for molecular assembly could translate to self-assembly shaken randomly the independent parts find each other and self-assemble various molecular structures. flasks contain a custom tag that identifies the type of molecular structure and the ingredients

page 81

noMad | prototyping

prototyping | geometry formfinding

prototyping | geometry formfinding

initial prototyping | Due to the space-packing, self-structuring and kinetic requirements of our design proposal, we started our research in the world of polyhedra and transformational geometry.

Our initial research and formfinding was grounded in specific polyhedra, their packing and decomposition logics and kinetic qualities - exploring how a geometry can transform and what are the implications on its connected surrounding

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 86

phase shifting geometry prototyping

page 87

prototyping | geometry formfinding

internal connections |

The star-shaped edges of the units geometry fold and overlap internally, its outside-pointing vertix describing differing polyhedral hull.

Its initial constellation correspond to the vertices of a cube, in its collapsed shape it mimics the vertices of an octahedron. functional principle

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 88

s te

a ns of tr forma ti

on

sta

phase shifting geometry prototyping

page 89

prototyping | geometry formfinding

invert packing |

A single cube, able to duplicate to two equal-volumed cubes by inside-out reconfiguration. When unfolded, each cube transforms to a stellated polyhedra - starshaped - packed inverted into each others negative shape.

functional principle

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 90

s te

a ns of tr forma ti

on

sta

phase shifting geometry prototyping

page 91

prototyping | geometry formfinding

rotating edges |

Six irregular tetrahedra, folded out of one continuous piece to a closed, hexagonal shape. The connection between its parts -each only fixed through one, alternating edge to its neighbor - allows and endless, twisting rotational movement.

functional principle

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 92

s te

a ns of tr forma ti

on

sta

phase shifting geometry prototyping

page 93

prototyping | geometry formfinding

rotating edges |

As the platonic solids of the regular octahedron, isocahedron and cuboctahedron are inheritently embedded within each other, they can flip stages from one to the other by a simple rotational movement between neighboring faces on its connecting vertix. the resulting geometry expands in volume and re-configures its face’s neigh- bourship relations, in a 5 staged loop.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 94

s te

ans of tr forma ti

on

sta

phase shifting geometry prototyping

page 95

prototyping | geometry formfinding

octa-tetra pyramid |

based on previous experiment, if four of the base’s eight faces are extruded with a regular tetrahedra, the resulting geometry now operates on a regular (octa-tetra) grid. It can therefore fill the space without gaps, its possible face connections increase to sixteen.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 96

s te

a ns of tr forma ti

on

sta

phase shifting geometry prototyping

top view

page 97

prototyping | geometry formfinding

negative space stellation |

a stellated variation of previous prototype, each of the base’s eight faces are stellated both in- and outwards to fill the inside space completely. The resulting geometry - a stellated octehedra in collapsed form describes a perfect cube in expanded state. Amount of faces increases to 24.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 98

s te

a ns of tr forma ti

on

sta

phase shifting geometry prototyping

top view

page 99

noMad | base unit design

base unit design | geometrical properties

base unit design | geometrical properties

• state 01 float state

• state 02 float state

01

type: regular polyhedron vertices: 6 faces (by sides): 8 (3) dihedral angle: 109.47°

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 104

02

osahedron _ic

ctahedron _o

geometricalconfigurations

• state 03

type: regular polyhedron vertices: 12 faces (by sides): 20 (3) dihedral angle: 138.19°

states of transformation

03

04

type: regular polyhedron vertices: 12 faces (by sides): 20 (3) dihedral angle: 138.19째

ctahedron _o

uboctahed

osahedron _ic

_c

n ro

type: quasiregular polyhedron vertices: 8(3) + 6(4) faces (by sides): 12 dihedral angle: 125.26째

05

type: regular polyhedron vertices: 6 faces (by sides): 8 (3) dihedral angle: 109.47째

page 105

base unit design | geometrical properties

face relations differentation | the 8 octahedral faces differ in their degree of mobility and their complexity of movement during the transformation. observed from a fixed plane, opposing faces merely shift on a linear axis where diagonal and neighboring faces translate in a rotational movement around the center and itself. the search space for potential aggregations therefore differs drastically between each face.

t possibilities of interaction:

0° / 120°

30° / 90°

t path of movement: 60° | cuboctahedra 30° | icosahedra

60° 90° | icosahedra 0° | octahedra 120° | octahedra

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 106

potential search space

diagonal faces

neighbouring faces

opposing faces

fixed reference plane

page 107

base unit design | geometrical properties

diagonal connections | t rotational movement t translated output geometry

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 108

face to face relations

opposing connections | t linear movement t start and endstate identical

page 109

base unit design | geometrical properties

face to face relations | A series of different relational changes within one unit, from mere linear translating of opposing faces to relocation and rotation of diagonal faces,drastically changes the units potential search space to aggregate, allowing new connections.

Meaning a local transformation reconfigures the entire existing global system it is connected to in different variations, depending on its connection to neighboring units.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 110

face to face relations

diagonal opposing

diagonal connections | t rotational movement t translated output geometry opposing connections | t linear movement t start and endstate output identical diagonal opposing

page 111

base unit design | geometrical properties

recursive subdivision |

subdivision

subdivision

t states of transformation

t state 01 float state t state 02 float state t state 03

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 112

t recursion | 1 active: 01 passive: 04

scalability of the grid

movement sequence |

0°

15°

30°

45°

60°

75°

90°

105°

120°

t recursion | 2

t recursion | 3

active: 05

active: 21

passive: 16

passive: 64

page 113

base unit design | geometrical properties

initial input

base structure positions

no active units

1

1

2

2

25

no passive units

2

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 114

movement path tracking

page 115

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 118

key design features

01_breaking the grid 02_sof faces

relocation of neighboring passive units through activation, a local change can reconfigure the global system behaviour

soft faces enable the units movement and communication abilities

03_system attachment

disconnect

connect

by extracting and repulsing of its faces, a unit can autonomously connect and disconnect to a larger system and vice versa.

04_units interlocking

fixed connection

flexible connection

flexible connections between each face’s center allow a rotational degree of freedom between units or interlock to rigid face-to-face corner connections. page 119

base unit design | actuation & fabrication evolution of prototypes | v0 .3

ert inv p ac k i n g v1 .0

ert inv p ac k i n g v0 .2

v1 .2

ste d faces

que unit

llate v1 .1

v1 .2

B

B

ern int

volumetric faces

rapid prototyping

etra faces ta-t

ed joints bedd em

oc

al connection s

initial formfinding

noco mo

A

ed ional ges tat ro v0 .1

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 120

A

v1 .1

activation

-patterne d

na l a

ned faces

ctivation

tter pa

o ag di

A

m

u lt

a iple

ctivation

unit autonomy

a rl

uble do

table faces nfla Bi .0

e in

B

face actuation

al activation

v2 .2 _l v2 v1 .3

v2 .1 v2 .0 v1 .3

rn xte _e

attern

uated faces act

xa p he

-A

C

soft faces

evolutionary taxonomy

v2 .3 _ v1 .3

v3 .0 _

page 121

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

monocoque unit | the monocoque unit is 3d printed in sls out of one coherent geometry. to mimize movable components, possibility of breakage and ease the fabrication process, all connection details and joints are embedded within one precisely interlocking piece, impossible to assemble by individual manifactured items. due to the expanding qualities of the module, it can be printed in volume and material saving contracted state and expand once out of the machine.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 122

monocoque unit

top view

3.5

cm

-

+ -

+

-

+

3.5

cm

front view

right view 5cm

5cm

+

-

5cm

-

5cm

+

+ -

-

+

-

+

page 123

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 124

page 125

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

embedded joints | for minimised seperate parts, all mechanism to enable locomotion as well as interface for magnetic face to face connections are embedded within the geometry’s vertices, i.e. the corner joints.

During and after the unit’s assembly, the face components remain exchangeable, allowing the quick testing of different face designs (male/female interfaces etc) and a scaleless application.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 126

embedded joints

125.26째

-

+

t front view

-

+

joint component

t minimised seperate parts t integrated connection-points

t top view

unit assembly

t exchangeable face components t scaleless application

page 127

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 128

page 129

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 130

page 131

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

soft faces | Given the ability to autonomously connect and disconnect to the system, the usage of soft faces allows simple movement by extending its faces and the ability for a unit to connect and communicate to close by neighbors.

By retracting its faces, a system can disconnect already assembled units or dont allow a connection to begin with, i.e. in case of overload etc.

This flexible center of the face allows two varying degree of freedom of connected units: a flexible, central connection that allows a rotational degree of movement or rigid face to face connections for structuring purposes. soft faces are tested through the use of soft materials and membranes, inflatables and through patterning.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 132

soft face inflation

page 133

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

• surface patterning catalogue

patterns 01_ recursions: 00 rigidity: medium transformation: medium

02_ recursions: 00 rigidity: weak transformation: strong

03_ recursions: 00 rigidity: strong transformation: little

04_ recursions: 01 rigidity: strong transformation: little

05_ recursions: 01 rigidity: medium transformation: medium

03_ recursions: 01 rigidity: weak transformation: strong

• interlocking faces

unlocked

locked

• edge magnets interlock rotational movements

• rotational freedom of movement

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 134

soft face patterning

page 135

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

soft patterning v1.1. |

_c

n ro noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 136

uboctahed

t double sided patterning t inflatable cussioning t internal connections of opposing faces

01

soft face patterning 02

osahedron _ic 03 _c

uboctahed

n ro

page 137

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

soft patterning v1.2. |

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 138

osahedron _ic

t one sided patterning t internal connections of opposing faces

02

soft face patterning 01

ctahedron _o 03 _c

uboctahed

n ro

page 139

sof faces through patterning

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 140

soft face patterning

page 141

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

soft patterning v2.0. |

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 142

osahedron _ic

t one sided patterning t internal connections of opposing faces

02

soft face patterning 01

ctahedron _o 03 _c

uboctahed

n ro

page 143

base unit design | actuation & fabrication 03 _c

uboctahed

n ro 03

_c

uboctahed

n ro noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 144

soft face patterning 03

_c

uboctahed

ctahedron _o

uboctahed

ctahedron _o

_c

01

03

n ro

01

n ro

unit actuation | By the means of Arduino/based micro-controlling, different mechanisms of activation were tested to automatize the unit, both to enable its control over its faces (to make small relocation and movements within the grid) and transformational mechanism.

Main aims are the ability to autonomously (dis-)connect and communicate to the system and a simple movement activation embedded within a streamlined fabrication process.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 146

page 147

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

fa

ces

opposing face actuation | proximity sensors, magnetic faces and a rotational micro-servo are used as an external push-pull mechanism to expand and compress two opposing faces of the unit, allowing its transformational movemnt.

opposing pus

hin g

actuation prototype v0.0. | external actuation

• reliable manufacturing process • precise control

sensor - sensor

sensor - human

• only allows half-movement of the movement • all mechanics and sensoric is located external to the units body

t actuator build-up: Fixpoint Wire to Wheel

TURNIGY S8166 Servo Motor Radius // 7cm Fishing Wire connected to Component

Pull Length // 18cm Installation Base

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 148

external actuation

t movement sequence: 1

2

3

4

page 149

diagonal rotatio na lf

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

es ac

soft face actuation | A central full rotational micro-servo is attached to the unit’s face-centers via flexible hinges.

The mechanism allows the individual control of the expansion and contraction of the units patterned soft-faces for simple re-positioning and to connect and disconnect to other units.

• independent actuation of the units indivdual faces • all faces activated via one single servo • no transformation of the units geometry • fixing of mechanism requires two faces

perspective:

top view:

front view:

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 150

soft face actuation

page 151

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 152

soft face actuation

al

rotation

a x is page 153

fa

ces

opposing face actuation | the use of linear actuators to expand and compress two opposing faces of the unit allows prototypes with reliable internal mechanisms and control. the mechanics require no rotational or free-axis movement, but are limited in speed and size due to the nature of its actuation.

opposing pus

hin g

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

• simple manufacturing process • least breakable parts • precise control

• only allows half-movement • requires linear actuator

perspective:

top view:

front view:

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 154

opposing face actuation

page 155

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

lin

ea

ra

ct

ua to r

firgelli l12 | miniatur linear actuator stroke: 100mm maximum force: 12-45N no-load speed: 5-23mm/s voltage: 6V

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 156

linear actuator

opposing face actuation

page 157

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

rotational joints actuation | rotational joint p oin t

s

the construction of a transmission gear allows the simultaneous rotation of two opposing joints in opposite directions for a smooth and full unit transformation. the micro-servo is suspended from the soft faces in the unit’s center of gravity.

• full rotational move • center of gravity • free faces | suspended servo • complex to manufacture • easily breakable, delicate parts

top view:

transmission gear

suspended servo

rotational joints

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 158

rotational joints actuation

page 159

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 160

rotational joints actuation rotational joints

transmission gear

rotation al

a xi s

suspended servo

page 161

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 162

rotational joints actuation

page 163

diagonal rotatio na lf

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

es ac

diagonal face actuation | internal actuation of the unit can be achieved by rotational movement via micro-servos of a diagonal face in reference to the fixed plane. due to the expanding nature of the transformation, the mechanism must allow a telescope movement along the rotational axis. • allows full rotational movement from one single servo actuation • mechanism requires high amount of indivual parts • easily breakable due to delicate nature of parts used

perspective:

top view:

front view:

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 164

diagonal face actuation

page 165

fa

ces

multiple walker actuation | acclomeration of multiple passive and active units results in more complex choreographies and demand reliable internal mechanisms and control. prototype uses linear actuators to expand and compress two opposing faces of each active unit.

opposing pus

hin g

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

• least breakable parts • precise control • simple manufacturing process • requires linear actuator • only allows first half of transformation

perspective:

top view:

front view:

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 166

multiple walker actuation

page 167

base unit design | actuation & fabrication

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 168

multiple walker actuation

page 169

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 170

page 171

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 172

page 173

noMad | ecology of machines

page 175

ecology of machines | unit aggregation

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

study of emergent behaviour | a synergetic - i.e. actively transforming - unit has the capability to change not only its own state but when operating in a field re-configure its surrounding. in a butterfly effect of onpassing reactions, the local change of the active unit has a global impact on all passive units within the same system. in a series of physical and digital tests, overall system behaviour was tested to predict and control local and global changes of organization.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 178

emergent behaviour

page 179

gn

e

ve units a cti c i t

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 180

02 _p ic

01 _m a

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

ku

hbouring passiv neig es f po

su

un rro

field ding

04

03 _r el

eighbors of n n io at oc

_n ew

initial aggregation study

magnetic faces were created in order to facilitate the physical prototypes. The magnets allowed to create different aggregates quickly and analyze its impacts and its body configuration. the idea of having transformable units that could increase in size and aggregate to new ones in order to generate more complex behaviours opened up a new range of problems. The capability of aggregating had to be translated also to the simple units, and the metod of connection was yet to be explored. However, the idea of having magnectic faces that could be controlled later by turning on an off added a new degree of freedom to the system, as at this point, any unit could be capable of aggregting and creating new bodyplans. So an active unit could choose between it’s neighbours and collect them according to it’s objectives. in order to achieve it’s desired bodyplan configuration, perform complex tasks or simply to work locally as an interchange unit, the idea of realocating neighbours was a key point, creating clusters of local intelligence in the system. This capablity of realocating the passive units attached to an active body could save energy and help the system work more effectively, as any passive unit attached directly or in a chain to an active unit could be transported to new locations without having to be activated.

page 181

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

the relation of the active unit with a stable point and to its connected passive units affected it’s final configuration in the three states. Some aggregations could be explored in order to achieve specific objectives. By trying to make some bodyplans behave in specific ways or to move in a field in order to reach a target, a range of different creature-like bodies that were capable of behaving in specific manners were developed. two active units | endpoints: locomotion through active endpoints

1

2

two active units, when connected to a series of passives with fixed face to face connections had some limitations when acting as a single bodyplan. First, the activation of these units had to be coreographed, so one wouldn’t block the movement of the other. When activated alone, each unit was two active units | center: rotational movement around central axis

1

2

two active units, when directly connected, showed the ability of duplicating the size of the bodyplan, allowing the “arms” (the passive units connected to it) to achieve new positions in the field, that could two active units | endpoints: locomotion through active endpoints

1

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 182

2

initial aggregation prototyping

3

4

capable of lifting and realocating the whole cantilever. When combinging the movement of both active units, the whole bodyplan changed it’s position in relation to the origin, revealing the ability of the system to act like a movable creature and change position over time.

3

4

possibly be used to collect or reconnect to other units further away from the original position.

3

4

page 183

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

edge to edge connections | Fixed face to face connections serve for solid aggregations but can easily lead to interlocking clustering through their limited degree of freedom.

More flexible edge-to-edge connections allow movement between passive units and enable emerging behavior of passive arrays between active units.

fixed base plane | passive members build up tension until ‘flipping’ moment of re-configuration

1

2

one axis of free movement | passive members adjust fluent to states of active unit

1

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 184

2

t

f

e c t io n o

f

onn ec c a

e c t io n

fac e

o

onn ec c a

fac e

t

edge to edge connections

3

4

3

4

page 185

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

interlocking geometry |

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 186

v

w

fro nt

top vie

specific face to face connections and combinations can both enable but also hinder movement by interlocking

iew

interlocking geometry

page 187

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

• active face layout enables embedded body-plan by limited possible connections

1

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 188

2

random organization

stochastic assembly

• probability of faces

• unfolded face layout:

-

+ -

+

+

linear active faces: 2 +

-

• assembly sequence: rotation active faces: 2 active

active

passive word

branching active faces: 4

active connection point potential expansion

3

re-configure

4 self-assembled units

page 189

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

intelligent faces | a differentation in male and female interfaces embeddes possible body plans in single units. by adding a oncave and convex subdivision to the polygon-surfaces aggregations that would block potential movement are less ikeley.

t ref: dna g

guanine

c

cytosine

a

adenine

t

thymine

building sequence informed by possible combinations

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 190

intelligent faces

page 191

ecology of machines| unit aggregation

t geometry informs aggregation logic

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 192

intelligent faces

-

+

-

+

-

-

+

-

+

+

-

-

+

-

+

t embedded body plan

page 193

ecology of machines | study of emergence

ecology of machines | study of emergence

emergent behaviour studies |

legend

the studies show emerging behavior of multiple simple units combinations. different face to face relations and methods of arraying (linear | radial | helix | branching) have been tested and compared, leading to different qualities in degree of freedom, movement, relocation/locomotion, cantilever, stability. those studies were important in the awareness of how many and how the units should connect in order to achieve specific spatial movement. This research was the first step in the creation of an ecology of machines - specific bodyplans with different abilities and objectives.

t state 01

00 x

t amount of passive units

float state t state 02 float state

00 x

t state 03

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 196

00 x

t amount of active units

t amount of simple “words� used in aggregation

characteristics

case study | radial aggregation

case study helix aggregation total of components 04 x

01 x

performance t small rotation on stand t no cantilever t no relocation simple unit 08 x

front view

page 197

characteristics

ecology of machines | study of emergence

case study linear aggregation total of components 06 x

02 x

performance t strong rotation t large cantilever t no relocation simple unit 03 x

03 x

front view

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 198

linear aggregation

characteristics

helix aggregation

case study helix aggregation total of components 06 x

03 x

performance t twisting movement t small cantilever t rolling / forward movement simple unit 03 x

front view

page 199

ecology of machines | study of emergence

initial constellation

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 200

build up sequence

end configuration

page 201

case study branching

total of components 46 x

rotational locomotion neighboring face connections

linear expanding opposing face connections

192 x

linear expanding opposing face connections

characteristics

ecology of machines | study of emergence

top view

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 202

simple unit | branching 28 x

simple unit | rotational arm 18 x

rotational locomotion neighboring face connections

linear expanding opposing face connections

case study | branching aggregation

front view

page 203

ecology of machines | taxonomy

ecology of machines | taxonomy

taxonomy | mechanical simulations the analogy with a ‘grammar’, where letters can form words, and words can be combined into varied phrases led to the creation of distinctive bodyplans with nomadic behaviour, that were later organized and catalogued in a taxonomy of families due to their individual body plans and sequence of activation this ‘ecology of machines’ opened a new world of exploration and possibilities, as each machine exhibit life-like behaviour, with different objectives and awareness, being capable of taking decisions and make the system interact and adapt, triggering emergent events and augmenting the intelligence of the system, only a few of the used components has active capacities while the rest of the structure reacts passively, saving energy and adding efficiency to the system

legend

some cataloguing of movements made clear the limits and capabilities of each machine, offering evidences of when and how to use each one. the taxonomy can be understood as a genetic sequence: a shape grammar of simple choreographies that can be read as features and abilities such as lifting matter, walking or snake-like locomotion, rotational or translating arms and cranes, etc.

t state 01

00 x

t amount of passive units

float state t state 02 float state

00 x

t state 03

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 206

t amount of active units

family | super bodies specie | directional snakes

specie | clusters

specie | body walkers

specie | directional arms

specie | base walkers

specie | directional walkers

specie | multi active snakes

specie | wheels

behaviour characteristics

nomadic bodyplans classification

family | simple bodies

nomadic bodyplans

page 207

characteristics

ecology of machines | taxonomy

specie wheels configuration 16 x

03 x

performance diagonal movement / X-Z plane

step 01

step 03

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 208

step 02

step 04

characteristics

nomadic bodyplans case study

specie directional walker configuration 09 x

03 x

performance diagonal movement / X-Z plane

step 01

step 02

step 03

step 04

page 209

characteristics

ecology of machines | taxonomy

specie multi active snakes configuration 09 x

06 x

performance diagonal movement / X-Z plane

step 01

step 03

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 210

step 02

step 04

characteristics

nomadic bodyplans case study

specie directional walker configuration 13 x

08 x

performance diagonal movement / X-Z plane

step 01

step 03

step 02

step 04

page 211

ecology of machines | taxonomy

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 212

simple walker locomotion

page 213

ecology of machines | taxonomy

t path of movement walker02

starting position walker01

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 214

simple walker locomotion

simple walker | movement sequence of active and passive components

page 215

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

behavioural simulations | in order to simulate a more automated, goal oriented movement sequence and communication between multiple bodies, a computational abstraction model was developed to emulate the same rotational movement around two simultaneous axis of the physical geometry. the emulation was the first step into the understanding of the emergent behaviour that could come out of the collective behaviour and interaction of multiple machines. the computational simulations were important to expose the limits and possibilities of the system and the defined families of creatures. through simple embedded intelligence - such as maximum number of possible arrayed passives without active unit, reference and sticking to the ground, no self and ground interlocking, etc. and simple goals - like find neighbours, reach or avoid and area – a body autonomously adjusts and optimizes its own movement sequence.

n noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 218

ha 02_be vioural si

mu lat i

on

ech 01_m anical sim ula tio

family | super bodies specie | directional snakes

specie | clusters

specie | body walkers

specie | directional arms

specie | base walkers

specie | directional walkers

specie | multi active snakes

specie | wheels

behaviour characteristics

nomadic bodyplans classification

family | simple bodies

nomadic bodyplans

page 219

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations rules of single cell

t TFBSDI TQBDF

t WPYFM TUBUFT

face to face possible neighbors: 6

current active & rotational axis

passive

potential active

active and passive units are indicated in blue and grey respectively. Performing units are indicated in green, with an axis of current rotational direction.

each unit has 6 faces to connect to other possible neighbours.

t HMPCBM CPEZQMBO PSJFOUBUJPO

t SPUBUJPO QMBOT 1

5

3

2

2

3 6

• unit (input-output)

each cell has a global bodyplan orientation. Each face has specific numbering to create a list of connections and act as imput or output to other neighbour t TUBUF PG UIF DFMM state01 cluster-passive state02 active-potential state03 active-executing

each cell has 3 different states, being state 01 indicated in grey and represents a passive one, state 02 is indicated in blue as potential active and state 03 indicated in green as an active

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 220

rotation planes

1

4

5 3

1 2

YZ-rotation • •

face 1 to 2 to 3 face 3 to 4 to 1

5 2

3

6

XY-rotation • •

face 5 to 2 to 6 face 6 to 4 to 5

1

XZ-rotation • •

face 1 to 5 to 3 face 3 to 6 to 1

the system allows 3 possible rotational plans (in relation to the faces connections): YZ plane, XY plane and XZ plane.

rulesets sequence of states 02_behavio

ur a ls u im

lation 01_mechan ic a l

sim ulat

ion

rules of constraint movement max no of pas si

self-

ref t o

th

nd rou

rray

ng cki

eg

rlo

a ve

int e

<5

page 221

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

â&#x20AC;˘ voxel states

â&#x20AC;˘ surface patterning catalogue

state00 cluster-passive state01 active-potential state02 active-executing genome code a = clockwise b = counterclockwise c = reverse 1,2,3... = no of active

01_ elements: 48 active units: 9 sequence: inwards to outwards direction: clockwise genome: 1a,2a,3a,4a,5a,6a,7a,8a,9a

â&#x20AC;˘ parameters: no self-intersection

max passive units 1 2 3 4 5 6

sequence of rotation 1

2

3

04_ elements: 48 active units: 5 sequence: rotate around central unit direction: alternating inwards to outwards genome: 1a,2a,3a,4a,5a,4b,4b,4b,4b,3a,3a, 3a,3a,2b,2b,2b,2b

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 222

trace path animations

02_ elements: 48 active units: 9 sequence: outwards to inwards direction: counter-clockwise genome: 9b,8b,7b,6b,5b,4b,3b,2b,1b

03_ elements: 48 active units: 7 sequence: inwards to outwards direction: alternating genome: 1a,2b,3a,4b,5a,6b,7a

05_ elements: 48 active units: 6 sequence: rotate around central unit direction: reverse genome: 1c,2c,3c,4c,5c,6c,5c,4c,3c,2c,1c

06_ elements: 48 active units: 8 sequence: random direction: random genome: random

page 223

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 224

page 225

creature behaviour characteristics

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

specie base walkers configuration 03 x

02 x

performance linear movement in X-Y plane simple unit 01 x

choreography of activation | the specific ‘creature’ performed a different sequence of activation that translates into a coreography, emulating it’s resulting behaviour. different sequences of activation results in different coreographies. The same unit can walk straight, up, down or diagonally. the traces of the movement is shown as green/gray path, evidencing the behaviour of the machine.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 226

simple bodies case study

top view

2

1

2

1

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

page 227

creature behaviour characteristics

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

specie body walkers configuration 03 x

02 x

performance sequence 01 | linear movement in X-Y plane simple unit 01 x

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 228

creature behaviour characteristics

simple bodies case study

specie body walkers configuration 03 x

02 x

performance sequence 02 | diagonal movement in X-Y - Z plane simple unit 01 x

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

page 229

creature behaviour characteristics

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

simple body case study | different rulesets

specie body walkers configuration 03 x

02 x

performance sequence 03 | repeated movement in X-Y plane simple unit 01 x

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 230

creature behaviour characteristics

super body case study

specie multi active snake configuration 06 x

04x

performance diagonal movement in X-Z plane simple unit 01 x

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

page 231

creature behaviour characteristics

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

specie multi active snake configuration 07 x

08 x

performance diagonal movement in X-Z plane simple unit 01 x

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 232

creature behaviour characteristics

super body case study

specie multi active snake configuration 17 x

10 x

performance diagonal movement in X-Z plane simple unit 01 x

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

page 233

collective behaviour characteristics

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

specie body walkers

super bodies

configuration 09 x

06 x

1

performance linear movement in X-Y plane 2

2

simple unit 03 x

3 2

4

4

coreography | 01 right | 02 right | 01 left | 02 left...

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 234

superbody formation

superbody formation | when multiple bodies connects, their possibilities of action becomes drastically more complex, joining forces to a combined superbody. in this example, the bodies autonomously adjusts and optimizes its own movement sequence in order to combine into a super body, with broadened behaviour for the sake of reaching the goal.

page 235

collective behaviour characteristics

ecology of machines | behavioural simulations

specie body walkers | base walkers 03 x

front view

02 x

performance diagonal movement in X-Y - Z plane simple unit 05 x

05 x

top view

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 236

autonomous decision making

autonomous decision making | multiple bodies in a field must communicate as a type of awareness in order to find its closest and more proeminent neighbour to connect and form a superbody to perform specific tasks, in this case, reach the goal. itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible to observe how different combinations results in different behaviours even when they have a common objective.

page 237

noMad | collective behaviour

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 242

space making criteria

spatial configurations | Through the development of different computational models, central evaluation criteria of high population collectives are defined by the systemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s space making abilities.

Spatial configurations were tested under specific, simple goals - i.e. a bridge, a vault, a pillar, - to perform compression based aggregations due to the component based nature of the system.

The deployed system aggregates with an adaptive degree of detail, allowing a higher density grid where finer resolution is needed, i.e. for fine elements or strong surface curvature.

page 243

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

0 1_ s ur f

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 244

02_ ca rte

na

elaxation ult r va ry

build up sequence

a ver o co at re

n

aluat ev of io

ace

compression based aggregation

03 _

curvature

ba

04_ bu ild

se

05_ co

mp re ion

a based ggregat e

ce

rsive subdivisi o

n que se

ecu dr

ss

up

n page 245

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

objective: point to point bridging

full area covering

surface curvature analysis:

no of building blocks: 4568

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 246

5430

compression based aggregation

vertical point to point pillar

wall to wall bridging

1587

3342

page 247

!

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 248

spatial configurations | The results of nomadic bodyplan research serve as base for the testing and evaluation of different growth and branching logic of spatial collectives.

Results showed a varying degrees of enclosed space, porosity, stability, potential expansion, efficiency, spatial and aesthetic qualities due to different combinatorial rules and restraints. When we talk about higher organisations of collectives this catalogued behaviour is the driver of the fabrication, Meaning every larger superstructure accumulation is defined by what multiple bodies come together and how.

?

page 249

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

maximum branching: 6 total no of units: 360 no of actives: 90 no of passives: 270

maximum branching: 3 total no of units: 360 no of actives: 90 no of passives: 270

no of bodies: 6 total no of units: 360 no of actives: 90 no of passives: 270

no of bodies: 3 total no of units: 360 no of actives: 90 no of passives: 270

supergrid formation | Each nomadic â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;creatureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, according to its specific bodyplan and sequence of movement, creates its own specific grid, In the assembly process of collective settlements, i..e. semi-mobile superbodies, the structures and spaces a creature can fabricate are directly related to the its potential deployment locations, meaning the path it operates on.

Therefore each individual bodyplan also results in a specific supergrid with distinct qualities - either coherent or hybrid through the symbiosis of multiple different nomadic bodies or the breaking down resp seperation of a nomadic body in its simplest parts.

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 250

supergrid formation

01_single unit gridless

02_nomadic body regular grid

03_spatial collective supergrid

page 251

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

base body:

wa l

supergrid

human scale

r_ ke

elevations:

right

cluster_1.2

cluster_1.1

01 no of bodies: 12 total no of units: 84 no of actives: 36 no of passives: 48

no of bodies: 6 total no of units: 42 no of actives: 18 no of passives: 24

elevations:

front

top

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 252

right

top

front

taxonomy of superbodies

superbody case study 01 |

cluster_1.3

Due to their limited freedom of mobility and little volumetric qualities, a combination of certain bodyplans can only create structures with high porosity and therefore result in strand-like, porous scaffolding systems.

The example of a linear simple walker offers only limited active connections to branch at its ends (max 3 branches on one active unit) and can only operate on a limiting turning circle due to its simple sequence of movement.

A wall sized structure (Cluster 1.3.) is build from ca 400 units with 1/3 of them acting as actives.

no of bodies: 64 total no of units: 448 no of actives: 192 no of passives: 246

page 253

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

base body:

wa l

supergrid

human scale

r_ ke cluster_2.2

cluster_2.1

02 no of bodies: 27 total no of units: 360 no of actives: 90 no of passives: 270

elevations:

elevations:

right

no of bodies: 27 total no of units: 324 no of actives: 81 no of passives: 243

front

top

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 254

right

top

front

taxonomy of superbodies

superbody case study 01 |

cluster_2.3

More complex nomadic bodies spot a high amount of possible vertical and horizontal connection-faces and allow dense branching around its active units (up to 8 possible branches).

Versatile branching and growth logics can pack the space with less gaps, creating fully double curved surfaces. The same number of units can be deployed in its most efficiently packed volume (cluser 2.1.) or cover wider spread areas (cluster 2.2.).

no of bodies: 108 total no of units: 1340 no of actives: 324 no of passives: 972

page 255

state01_ recombinatorial configuration

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 256

While high population superstructures lose the complete mobile qualities of its nomadic components, they utilize its transformational abilites for recombinatorial structuring, optimization

or for temporary scaffolds during its own build-up process. Extensions and outer parts of the structure can lift another up, or temporarilty reposition to allow another body to get in place.

state02_ temporary scaffolding

temporary scaffolding

page 257

cluster_1.2

cluster_1.1 noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 258

page 259

cluster_1.3

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 260

page 261

collective behaviour | spatial configurations

3D printed model with SLS material

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 262

agglomeration prototype

page 263

collective behaviour | build up simulation

collective behaviour | build up simulation

communication based simulation | In an automated simulation, the mechanical behavior of the unit gets emulated in a voxel based abstraction model.

In order to develop the communicational and behavioural rules and restraints, different algorithmic models are applied to simulate aggregation, deployment, locomotion and crowd behaviour of the system throug autonomous decision making.

â&#x20AC;˘ voxel states

state00 invis-dead state01 alive-potential state02 cluster-passive

state03.1-3 cluster-active

â&#x20AC;˘ search space full neighborhood possible neighbors: 26

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 266

voxel simulation

| â&#x20AC;˘ grid activation

2

orientation

1

3

aggregations

start initial

k-j [i;j]

start initial

initial

[i;k]

2

aggregation

1

[j;k]

initial

[j;k]

initial

[i;k]

â&#x20AC;˘ connection type: face to face possible neighbors: 6

edge to edge possible neighbors: 12

vertix to vertix possible neighbors: 8

page 267

collective behaviour | build up simulation

linear deployment | simulation of linear deployment provides a chain structure and high controlability over sctructural reconfiguration. given experiment exploit an initial simulation of one active unit that rotates all the attached elements, indexed by its changing color. empty frames indicate all the possibilities of further deployment of the system.

1 2 2

1

â&#x20AC;˘ unfolding of relational map

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 268

linear deployment 1

2

3

4

5

6

page 269

collective behaviour | build up simulation

â&#x20AC;˘ voxel states

state00 invis-dead state01 alive-potential

aggregation simulation | aggregation simulation by central rotational active unit, aiming to attach all possible potential passive units in the field that directly touch the extend of current aggregation possible number of neighbours for each unit is 6 which means presense of only face-to-face connections

state02 cluster-passive

state03.1-3 cluster-active

â&#x20AC;˘ search space face to face possible neighbors: 6

potentials: 1200 grid: 20x20x20 density of potentials: 15% ratio: 23%

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 270

aggregation simulation 1

2

3

4

5

page 271

collective behaviour | build up simulation

â&#x20AC;˘ voxel states

state00 invis-dead state01 alive-potential

aggregation simulation | aggregation simulation by central rotational active unit, aiming to attach all possible potential passive units in the field that directly touch the extend of current aggregation. possible number of neighbours for each unit is 26 which means presense of all vertex, edge and face connections.

state02 cluster-passive

state03.1-3 cluster-active

â&#x20AC;˘ search space full neighborhood possible neighbors: 26

potentials: 1200 grid: 20x20x20 density of potentials: 15% ratio: 23%

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 272

voxel simulation 1

2

3

4

5

page 273

collective behaviour | communication simulation

collective behaviour | communication simulation

objective deterministic reconfiguration

deterministic reconfiguration

generate expected aggregations with the use of known CA patterns in order to understand CA logics in the 3D world

explore the possibility of controlling chaotic CA population by defining vectors of growth

parameters 2D stacking CA with initial patterns of gliders and blinkers in order to determine the direction of growth

categories of aggregation

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 276

full 3D CA with pre defined routes and probability rules applied to the path, influencing the development of the population

guided CA growth | evaluation catalogue

stochastic reconfiguration

stochastic reconfiguration

explore the interaction of different CA populations and the hability of using them as motion paths, conducing the direction of the organization

the infuence of the attractors can be controlled and coordinated according to the design intentions, in order to build greater aggregations based in the motion path generated by the system

full 3D CA with animated â&#x20AC;&#x153;attractorsâ&#x20AC;? floating around in the field. The attractors works with probability rules applied to itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s range of influence, altering the behaviour of the population.

Motion paths as conducer of the aggregation, creating material placement logics based in the agging of cells affecting the final configuration. Interesting results are directly connected to the rule sets

page 277

collective behaviour | communication simulation

movement vectors traces of movement

01_ initial pattern resolution | 32

01_ rules: 2 | 3 | 3 resolution | 32 initial pattern | gliders motion pattern | helix final configuration | twisting tower

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 278

simulations reel The guided ca-based collective behaviour is aimed to achieve space-making growth that in turn provides the logic compensation of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;out of controlâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC; cellular automata results. Two approaches are used to perform controlability: origin of start imput with probabilistic attributes and moving directions/vectors of growth.

The nonlinear origin of attractor is also used for creation of fluent interconnected body. After certain iterations constructionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cells have ability to freeze as they become geometrically stable. Attraction vectors increase the probability of birth of the new voxel changing the classic emergence rules of automata and giving ability to construct conducted space that is serving for a purpose.

02_ rules: 2 | 3 | 3

03_ rules: 8 | 12 | 9 | 10

resolution | 32 initial pattern | catenary oriented routes motion pattern | linear final configuration | instable

resolution | 32 initial pattern | x3 interconnected attractors motion pattern | helix final configuration | instable

page 279

collective behaviour | communication simulation

rulesets

rules of growing t WPYFM TUBUFT

state01 alive/active state02 cluster/passive (16 generations) state03 attractor

The algorithm has 3 possible states of voxels. Alive unstable, alive stable (never die) and the moving conductor itself.

t TFBSDI TQBDF full neighborhood possible neighbours: 26

Every cell in space exploits the maximum available number of neightbours which is number 26 according to the cubic grid. t QBSBNFUFST lower probability of living cells higher probability of living cells

area of influence agged cells direcional vectors

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 280

Probabilistic distribution makes possible to operate objects in advanced manner to populate important area seamlessly and continously.

characteristics

motion path / material placement matrix

voxel states state01 alive/active state02 cluster/passive (16 generations) state03 attractor

ruleset D|D|B|B 9 | 10 | 5 | 13 resolution | 32 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix / vary final configuration | --

page 281

characteristics

collective behaviour | communication simulation

voxel states state01 alive/active state02 cluster/passive (16 generations) state03 attractor

ruleset D|D|B|B 9 | 10 | 5 | 13

01_ rules: 9 | 10 | 5 | 13 resolution | 32 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix final configuration | twisting tower

01_ rules: 9 | 11 | 5 | 13 resolution |64 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix final configuration | negative voids

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 282

motion path / material placement matrix

01_ rules: 19 | 9 | 6 | 8 resolution | 32 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix final configuration | twisting tower

01_ rules: 8 | 12 | 9 | 10 resolution | 64 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix final configuration | negative voids

01_ rules: 8 | 12 | 9 | 10 resolution | 32 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix final configuration | twisting tower

01_ rules: 16 | 9 | 6 | 8 resolution | 64 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix final configuration | negative voids

page 283

characteristics

collective behaviour | communication simulation

voxel states state01 alive/active state02 cluster/passive (16 generations) state03 attractor

ruleset D|D|B|B 9 | 10 | 5 | 13

02_ rules: 9 | 10 | 5 | 13 resolution | 32 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix/vary final configuration | --

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 284

motion path / material placement matrix

Production of space structures by the algorithm may be controlled by not only initial conditions and local rules but also varying speed and radii of conductors, setting their trajectories etc.

03_ rules: 9 | 10 | 5 | 13 resolution | 32 size of attractors | vary motion pattern | helix/vary final configuration | --

page 285

collective behaviour | high population simulation

collective behaviour | high population simulation

communication based simulation | In contrast to the mechanical / spatial approach of growth and granching logics, automated simulations of larger autonomous populations are based on the communicatioal aspects between units. The development of algorithmic rules of interaction and unit relations result in self-organizing crowd behaviour.

A field of passive units, as “dead” material, is potentially shifted around in space by a connected active unit. Movement fundamentally starts on the ground plane or - if an active unit autonomously decides on a potential building site for a settlement start build vertically.

These goal oriented simulations create negotiated space, i.e they act according to an dialogue between: • bottom up decision making of every single unit for example: if it is in the center of an overpopulated area, an active unit can decide to act as an repulsor, creatng void spaces or, if an active unit is in an empty area, it can act as an initial seed for a settlement as attractor to other units • top down rules such as: different deployment strategies, dependent on their initial istribution (i.e. multiple seeded building scenarios), migrateing from one site to another

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 288

page 289

collective behaviour | high population simulation

â&#x20AC;˘ rules of single voxel

rule s

â&#x20AC;˘ voxel states

ob

vertical stacking

m

ility

state00 cluster-passive

of

state01 active-potential attractor potential site

horizontal pushing

â&#x20AC;˘ search space

g

immobile passives

e kin

face to face possible neighbors: 6

goa l se

X transported by active units

radi us o

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 290

ence

r=3

u nfl fi

moveable passives around active

communication based simulation

â&#x20AC;˘ rules of crowd behaviour global density | growth direction

structural stability | center of mass finding

local density | microdecision making

the system is defining its own area of local density and starts to occupy defined new area for more homogeneousity and compactness

the system is defining its own area of local density and starts to occupy defined new area for more homogeneousity and compactness

each unit has ability to define its local density based on number of neighbours. according to overpopulating or low density the path is being generated

page 291

collective behaviour | high population simulation

megastrucure1 | central repulsion (global) deployment mode | cube growth | multiple centers number of units | 3375 actives | 33% size | 5.8 x 5.8 x 4.5 m

megastrucure2 | central repulsion (local) deployment mode | cube growth | multiple centers number of units | 3375 actives | 33% size | 5.8 x 5.8 x 4.5 m

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 292

communication based simulation

timeline of deployment

timeline of deployment

page 293

collective behaviour | high population simulation

megastrucure3 | multiseeded wall deployment mode | plane growth | linear number of units | 3000 actives | 25% size | 5.0 x 1.7 x 2.2 m

megastrucure4 | central cluster deployment mode | cube growth | branching tower number of units | 3000 actives | 27% size | 5.0 x 2.5 x 2,4 m

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 294

communication based simulation

timeline of deployment

timeline of deployment

page 295

collective behaviour | high population simulation

megastrucure5 | diagonal scaffolding (one directional) deployment mode | plane growth | diagonal strands number of units | 3000 actives | 35% size | 5.0 x 1.7 x 5,1 m

megastrucure6 | two sided scaffolding deployment mode | plane growth | diagonal strands number of units | 3000 actives | 27% size | 6.4 x 1.7 x 3,3 m

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 296

communication based simulation

timeline of deployment

timeline of deployment

page 297

noMad - behavioural fabrication | page 298

page 299

appendix | bibliography & endnotes

appendix | bibliography

biliography |

ARCHIGRAM. Archigram. Studio Vista Publishers, Londres, 1972.

BELL, Alexander Graham. Tetrahedral principle in kite structures. in: National Geographic Magazine 14 (6), 1914.

CASTELLS, Manuel. The Informational city - Information technology, economic reestructuring, and the urbanregional process. Blackwell Publishers, Oxford, 1994.

COOK, Peter and David Greene. Metamorphosis. in Ekistics 28. London, 1969.

DELEUZE, Gilles, and Feliz Guatarri, A thousand plateaus: capitalism and schizophrenia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1987. Print.

FRIEDMAN, Yona. Yona Friedman/Pro Domo. Actar. Barcelona, 2006.

FULLER, Buckminster. Synergetics Vol1: Explorations in the Geometry of Thinking. New York: Macmillan Pub Co, 1975.

GABRIEL, Francois J (ed). Beyond The Cube: The Architecture of Space Frames and Polyhedra. London: John Wiley & Sons, 1997.

KELLY, Kevin. Out of control: the new biology of machines, social systems, and the economic world. Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1995. Print.

KRONENBURG, Robert. Houses in Motion: The Genesis, History and Development of The Portable Building.

Academy Editions, London. 1995.

KWINTER, Sanford. Soft Systems. in Brian Boigon (ed.). Culture Lab. Princeton Architecture Press. 1993.

LABAN, Rudolf. The Mastery of Movement. New York: Dance Books Ltd, 2011. Page 10.

MCHALE, John (ed). Portfolio and Art News Annual, No.4, 1961.

MCLEARY, Peter. Robert le Ricolais: Visions and Paradox. Madrid : Fundacion Cultural COAM, 1997.

OTTO, Frei, and Sabine Schanz. Frei Otto, Bodo Rasch: Finding Form: Towards an Architecture of the Mind: Towards an Architecture of the Minimal. Germany: Menges, 1995. Print.

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architectural association school of architecture aadrl design research lab 2014/2015