POD is a method for decomposing arbitrary triangulated 2-manifold mesh into blocks, which can be manufactured by exclusively planar cuts.

The method employs a projection-based approach (Bouaziz et al., 2014) to minimally perturb an input triangle mesh towards a nearby configuration where adjacent faces have tangent in circles. This geometric condition, previously discussed in the derivation of torsion-free substructures (Pottman et al., 2015), implicitly defines a network of planar quadrilaterals which, in this context, represents the interface between each pair of adjacent blocks within the structure. By defining cut planes in such a way, we obtain an approximation of the input mesh with tight packing blocks which are amenable to robotic fabrication.

The large scale prototype was fabricated using EPS foam blocks a hot wire cutter and a 6-axis robotic arm. The prototype explores the application of this method to surfaces of hyperbolic character as the constant negative curvature provides a number of benefits related to component registration and assembly.

Team

Alicia Nahmad (R-Ex)
Shajay Bhooshan (ZHACODE)
Vishu Bhooshan (ZHACODE)
David Reeves (ZHACODE)