TouchCAD and fabric based objects
TouchCAD provides several useful features for production of fabric based
objects. The modeling engine makes it easy to produce complex free-form
shapes and the built in unfolding engine converts just about any shape on
the screen into something that you can manufacture. The unfolding engine
contains parametric features for dividing surfaces into suitable units that
fits into the given material width. It also adds essentials such as seam
allowances, panel numbering, alignment marks, etc. The unfolding engine
also comes with a very extensive set of parametric settings that allows
you to experiment with different layouts and settings and instantly get
to see the result in a predictable way. TouchCAD 3.5 also adds the ability
to produce pre-painted full color panels in full size!
The pictures above shows some of the excellent work done by Touch-3D / TouchCAD veterans Baytex Manufacturing. The New Zealand based Baytex company designs, manufactures and exports large tents all over the world. The picture above shows a 57 x 57 x 24 meter tent used for touring with the Australian edition of the Cats musical.
The bottom right tent in the picture above won a first price for quality on a trade exhibition in Florida, USA
Some more architectural style roofs.
The left model above is a whopping 63 x 63 x 29 meter event
tent and to this day the largest made by Baytex.
The floor area alone is 3.650 square meters.
TouchCAD was used for a set design at the national Theater of Iceland to design a large "trumpet" made of fabrics. Details and images here.
The image unfolding features can be used for applying images on very large objects, such as sails. Below is a practical example by WB Sails in Finland.
Quote from Stockholm based newspaper Svenska Dagbladet April 28, 2005:
On a stormy September night 1994, 852 people lost their life on the Baltic Sea. Over ten years later the disaster, the Stockholm Maritime museum thinks that the Swedes are ready for a first exhibition around the disaster"
Exhibition producer Emma Having points out that they still want to show respect to the victims. The exhibition starts with a white room, entirely without images or texts. Rounded fabric walls enclose the visitors- it is like being in side an enormous rice lamp - while the light slowly shifts an the sounds of the sea can be heard in the background.
- I want to give time to reflect over the sea and human relations in a time of crises and death. We sometimes try to rationalize away death in Sweden. When Estonia sank, the entire society was numbed. We have created a glass bubble of false security with high tech and good laws. People therefore think that we are protected against all evil, says Emma Hatving."
Design by Alexis Pontvik Architects, Stockholm
3D modeling and production preparation in TouchCAD 3.5 by Lundström Design, Stockholm
Production by Syversen Sails, Stockholm and Smögen.
261 square meters, 10.95 x 8.8 x 9.8 meters, 65 panels. The shape is suspended in the roof and is supported in shape by 23 horizontal carbon fiber battens.
"Cloud" is a 5.3 x 4.0 x 2.3 meter portable inflatable rest and conference room designed by Monica Förster for OFFECCT AB (www.offecct.se) in Sweden. Lundström Design did the modeling and production preparation and Gransegel in Stockholm did the production.
The 24x14x11.5 meter inflatable "Light Drop" shown outside the House of Parliament in Stockholm. The drop, designed by sculptor / architect Monika Gora. The unfolded panels where exported to a laser cutting machine normally used for cutting sails at Gransegel (Gran Sails) in Stockholm.
This six meter high inflatable bottle was modeled based on a single image (to the left) and the height. The modeling was done by Lundström Design for inflatable specialists Sky Signs in Phoenixville, US.
Peanut. This 8.2 x 5.3 x 3.1 meter inflated peanut-shaped exhibition room was used for an art exhibition. Modeling and production preparation by Claes Lundstrom and production by Gransegel in Stockholm.
TouchCAD also enables you to reverse engineer object based on high resolution in-scale background images, separate for the Front, Top and Side views. These images can be scanned in paper drawings as well as just photos or digital images taken from a position close to the center of the object. The purpose in this example was to create replacement skins for car seats based on background images and a few reference measurements.
TouchCAD also enables you to unfold full scale high resolution images mapped on the 3D model. Some examples of use; You can accurately reproduce the unfolded location of details located on the skin, for example when reverse engineering a replacement skin for an already existing seat that you don't have drawings on. Other examples is simply to experiment with different textures on the object, by for example generating pre-painted full scale full color unfolded patterns and apply them to a prototype to see what it looks like.
The same model where some of the parts where unfolded as images with the original textures mapped on it! Note that the model was designed to be symmetrical and you can actually see that the original is not quite symmetrical. In other words, the model may actually be more accurate than the original.
Lundström Design, Ekhagsvägen 7, 104 05 Stockholm,
Sweden
Phone int-46-8-15 46 63, E-mail: info@touchcad.com
IP Phone numbers: Skype: touchcad, - iChat: touchcad, - AIM: touchcad