GEMS

Geometric Manufacturing Solutions for Freeform Shapes

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milling This research project is funded by the EC within the framework of Marie Curie Actions (Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways). It is a collaboration of ModuleWorks, Aachen, the Computer Science department of the Technion in Haifa (Prof. Gershon Elber), the research group Geometric Modeling and Industrial Geometry at TU Wien (Prof. Helmut Pottmann), Evolute GmbH in Vienna, and Moduleworks Romania in Bucharest.

Zaha Hadid Design We investigate different manufacturing technologies for freeform surfaces which are conceptually similar. One of those is the efficient NC machining of parts which have to be produced in large amounts so that it is feasible to specifically design a cutting tool for that purpose. The major computational problem to be solved here is to approximate a given freeform surface by another surface generated by a 1-parameter motion of a milling tool. Another problem is the segmentation of a freeform surface into patches which can be generated by sweeping a profile curve. This is especially relevant in architecture, for the design of both outer surfaces and of sub-constructions. In freeform architecture each design is unique, and it is therefore important that it is composed of parts which are easily generated, e.g. by wire-cutting through styrofoam. The respective solutions of these two tasks share numerous components, and thus will be investigated within the same project.


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