August 17, 2021

topoForm#1: Generative Topological Design for Additive Manufacturing

August 17, 2021/ r s-s

MULTI-AGENT TOPOLOGICAL FORMATION FOR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING
Additive Manufacturing(AM) methods are being adopted in building construction due to their ability to provide reductions in time, cost and material waste, while offering increased geometric design flexibility. This flexibility enables increases in topological complexity to provide greater structural integrity whilst reducing the material volume utilized in the manufacture of parts. This research developed a multi-manifold generative design software that is able to embed both structural and geometric optimisation within a bespoke design process that preserves algorithmic character throughout optimisation cycles.

topoForm #1 is in an evolutionary multi-agent software that develops topological design solutions for column-like elements while attempting to optimize for several structural and geometric conditions. Inspired by John Frazer’s Etruscan Column project and Richard Dawkins’ Blind-Watchmaker algorithm, topoForm #1 is both an evolutionary and generative design algorithm. topoForm #1 mixes bottom-up agent-based behavior with top-down global means of analysis and evaluation, leveraging systemic openness and design character from local agent-based interactions while ensuring agent behaviours are evolved towards performance-based results.

Lead Researcher: Robert Stuart-Smith
Researchers: Patrick Danahy, Natalia Revelo

AML-PENN

Autonomous Manufacturing Lab Weitzman School of Design | University of Pennsylvania
Autonomous Manufacturing Lab (AML-PENN) explores the integration of design and production within robotic processes of building manufacturing. The interdisciplinary AML lab aims to develop innovative methods of autonomous and semi-autonomous bespoke fabrication that leverage real-time robotics, computation, sensor and computer vision technologies within generative design processes for architectural design. AML-PENNDesign is part of PennDesign's Advanced Research and Innovation Lab (ARI).

Advanced Research & Innovation Lab & PennDesign Robotics Lab
The Advanced Research & Innovation Lab (ARI) brings together the combined expertise of PennDesign faculty members with state-of-the art fabrication, measurement and modeling technologies. ARI is led by Professor and Chair of Architecture Winka Dubbeldam and comprises a wide variety of research groups: the Autonomous Manufacturing Lab (Assistant Professor of Architecture Robert Stuart-Smith), the Polyhedral Structures Lab or PSL (Assistant Professor of Architecture Masoud Akbarzadeh), and the Baroque Topologies Lab (Associate Professor of Architecture Andrew Saunders), with additional initiatives in development. As part of multi-year plan to provide additional tools and facilities to support the scholarship of PennDesign faculty and students, ARI opens up vast new territories for innovation and places the School at the forefront of applied and speculative research in several domains.

University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design
The Weitzman School of Design prepares students to address complex sociocultural and environmental issues through thoughtful inquiry, creative expression, and innovation. As a diverse community of scholars and practitioners, we are committed to advancing the public good–both locally and globally–through art, design, planning, and preservation.

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