Joseph Settipani's Page

Interesting Idea, yes, that kind of connection is good because it is always identical. I don't like the flattening of the pipes though. Also the onus of correctly mating the connectors with the segments is very large on the end user. My end goal is to have the script specify the connectors for any pipe being used. This is an academic project, but I am experimenting with MakerBot technology to 3D print the connector. The trick is to work within the constraints of using a MakerBot versus a commercial 3D printer. The advantages are huge though, open source 3D printing using basic ABS that costs pennies versus proprietary tech that costs 20 dollars a connector.
Mathematically, it appears there are only 3 different kinds of connectors, because there are only three kinds of pipe lengths. The Pentagonal which connects to only the short segments, a hexagonal, which connects only to the longest segments and common hexagonal which connects to all three segments and it is the most numerous connector. Ultimately, these connectors and segments should be color coded for simple assembly. My goal is that a group of kindergarten kids could figure it out without help.