United States Air
Force Academy Cadet Chapel
Parametric modelling and use of “Dynamo” to
parametrically control the model is the intension behind the project assigned.
The chapel is composed of a body, mainly of panels to let sunlight into the
chapel. Modelling of the chapel was done by first creating the necessary
reference planes and reference lines and by placing an adaptive component
created using adaptive family. The adaptive component is a 3D mass in the shape
of the wings. It is as shown below.
The adaptive component is then placed on the reference
planes and lines to form an arch like structure. Also the foundation columns
and beams are then created by using the surface components and extruding. The
parameters that control the structure are four different heights and ground
super elevation. Also the width of the structure is controlled at three
different locations to give better control on the visual appeal of the
structure. The wing width is also one of the parameters that is controlled to
increase aesthetics of the chapel. The parametric singular element is as shown
below.
The singular element is then replicated along the
length and another parameter called body-length is created which helps to control
the total length of the structure. The individual elements are then joined to
form a single solid mass from which all other elements like roof, walls and
floor can be picked in the project. The mass and the parameters controlling the
mass are shown in the image below.
The mass is then uploaded into a project and placed
along the direction of requirement. The mass in the project can be controlled
using “Dynamo” by just sliding the sliders which gives a feel for the
structure. This is done using “select model elements” tab in dynamo which is
used to pick the mass and then all the parameters like heights, width,
lengths...etc. are pulled out by using “get family parameter”. “Integer slider”
tab is used to provide a numerical value by sliding the slider. The dynamo
graph is as shown below.
“Element.SetParameterByName” tab is used to combine
all the elements and get the variation of the model in Revit. The Revit project
created using the above Dynamo script is as shown below.
The other use of dynamo in this project is the
creation and placing of the solar panels in such a way as to optimize the solar
energy projecting on to the panels. This is done by first selecting the surface
that has maximum sunlight falling on it like roof by use of “selectFaces” tab.
Then the “surface.PointAtParameter” tab is used to create points on the surface
chosen. Then a circle is drawn by using the points created using
“Circle.ByCenterpointRadiusNormal” tab which let us choose the normal to the
circle. This parameter helps us to get our panels exact opposite to the sun
direction. A polygon is then created using the circle as a reference and it is
then patched to form a surface using “Surface.ByPatch” function. Then a
thickness is provided for the panels and it is imported to Revit by using
“Importinstance.ByGeometry” tab. The Dynamo graph for the solar panels is as
shown below.
The panels thus created and placed in Revit are as
shown below. The number of panel, dimension and thickness are inputs in the
Dynamo.
The rendered image of the completed project is shown
below.
Scope for Improvement
My original intension was to place the solar panels on
the wings so that more surface was available for capturing the sun rays, but I
seem to have run into a dead end while getting the points on the surface to
create the circle necessary to get the panel. As the “Surface.PointAtParameter”
tab utilizes the ‘u’ and ‘v’ coordinates, the cross product yields a
rectangular surface. To get rid of the points outside the surface is the big
challenge for me now. The script yielded a surface as shown below
If I can get rid of the unnecessary points, placing
the solar panels on the wings is very similar to any other regular surface.
