Constrained form-finding of tension-compression structures using automatic differentiation

Paper pre-print: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.02607

This repository contains data and code that supports the experiments presented in the paper "Constrained form-finding of tension-compression structures using automatic differentiation", submitted to the journal of Computer-Aided Design in 2022.

The code used to model the structures described therein is organized in three folders that match the three experimental sections of the paper:

1. Section 3: Two-segment compression strut, stored in/extensions
2. Section 4: Tensegrity wheel, tree canopy and bridge, saved in /numerical_validation
3. Section 5: Spiral staircase, stored in /case_study

The code in this repository runs in three different environments. The Python script in the folder /case_study sections 3 is executed from a command line interface. The jupyter notebooks in the folder /numerical_validation can be executed locally or remotely using Google Colab. The file in /case_study only works in grasshopper for Rhino3D.

Regardless of the file or the environment, all the files require a valid installation of compas_cem version 0.6.1 to work.

If you are confortable with python, you can install this version of compas_cem with a one-liner:

pip install compas-cem==0.6.1

Otherwise, please follow the instructions listed in this website for more detailed instructions on how to install compas_cem according to your operating system.

If you have a question or you find a bug in the files, please reach out to arpastrana at princeton dot edu.