Introducing 'Exoskeleton' - A wireframe thickening tool

A collaborative effort by David Stasiuk and Daniel Piker, Exoskeleton brings simple wireframe thickening to Grasshopper. You input a network of lines, and it turns them into a solid

(without the heavy calculation of a Boolean intersection of many pipes and spheres).

The input line networks can have any topology, and need not form closed polygons or volumes, so could come from algorithms such as DLA, leaf venation, or Woolly threads.

The resulting meshes are ideal for 3d printing and further processing, such as subdivision with WeaverBird and relaxation with Kangaroo.

There are settings for the thickness of the struts, node sizes, and whether to leave openings at nodes with only one connected line.

The approach we used is loosely based on the one described in the paper Solidifying Wireframes by Ergun Akleman et al.

Thanks to Giulio Piacentino for helpful discussion in the development of this idea, for WeaverBird, and the GHA wizard, to Mateusz Zwierzycki for convex-hull ideas, and Kristoffer Josefsson for helpful discussion.

Exoskeleton001.gha

(component will appear under the Mesh>Triangulation Tab)

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Comment by Erik Lander on April 5, 2020 at 7:23pm: I've been researching voronoi this weekend. Yall's blowin' my mind, but where has all this evolved I wonder...

Comment by HS Chan on September 20, 2018 at 9:14am: Thank you, David and Daniel! This is a great tool. Would you be able to share the GH definition of the 6th demo? I was working on a very similar structure but with more branches in 3D space.

Comment by Ali Bazazan on May 22, 2016 at 4:57pm: Useful, thanks alot!

Comment by Ondrej Homa on September 22, 2015 at 11:38am: Thanks, I will definetely download it.

Comment by Daniel Piker on September 22, 2015 at 11:09am: For download and support for the latest version of these components, please go to the Exoskeleton group page here:

http://www.grasshopper3d.com/group/exoskeleton

Comment by David Stasiuk on July 24, 2015 at 9:20am: Hi Lina- There is actually an updated version of exoskeleton that allows for a little more control of a few parameters: http://www.grasshopper3d.com/profiles/blogs/exoskeleton-cytoskeleto...

Also, you will find some example files there for download...in the complex examples package there should be one for a Radiolarian that you can play with. Good luck!

Comment by LINA on July 24, 2015 at 4:29am: Dear Daniel and David,

I would like a sphere like the first image that you posted.

Is it possible to send me some key words to help me.

thank you in advance

Comment by Silvio Carta on October 15, 2014 at 11:09am: any idea to solve patric guenther's issue? Same thing with me.

Comment by Ondrej Homa on August 6, 2014 at 7:37am: Dear Daniel and David,

I would like to ask, did You figured out the overlapping nodes issue allready?

Thanks in advance,

Ondrej