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Behavioral Form Finding: A Multi Agent Systems Framework for Environmental Aware Form Finding of Shell Structures
Abstract
This work focuses on the application of Multi Agent Systems Framework for form finding shell structures by incorporating environmental parameters. Within the developed MAS approach the steering of form beyond purely form found shapes is explored by introducing behaviours which relate to the orientation of the site and the corresponding solar path. The aim is to extend traditional form finding by introducing MAS approach which enables the development of agent based models that integrate physical forces such as gravity and tension with virtual ones that relate to different design objectives. Though the use of heuristic functions the behaviour is coupled with the energy and daylight analysis in order to obtain more control over its impact. The framework is evaluated in an experimental design which uses an existing thin concrete shell design by H. Isler as a benchmark. Using the same boundary conditions as the existing shell, the proposed methodology is applied in order to generate design alternatives with improved environmental performance.
... En exécutant des règles en fonction d'informations locales, les agents peuvent atteindre un objectif global en coopérant entre eux et en fonction de leur environnement [4]. Dans la littérature, certains utilisent cette technique pour optimiser la panélisation d'un système de couverture [22], la performance énergétique d'une façade en intégrant les préférences des futurs usagers [23], la conception d'une enveloppe piézoélectrique [24], ou encore la couverture d'un stade de tennis [25]. S. Parasho et ses coauteurs [6] ont mené une étude comparative entre AG et MBA, mais appliquée à deux cas d'études distincts [22]. ...
Il existe différentes méthodes génératives qui permettent une conception performancielle. Les algorithmes génétiques apparaissent comme la solution la plus populaire dans la littérature scientifique. Néanmoins, en pratique, les problèmes rencontrés nécessitent souvent une intégration de contraintes strictes que d’autres techniques génératives fonctionnant avec des règles, comme les automates cellulaires, sont plus aptes à intégrer. Dans cette étude, nous comparons l’efficacité de ces deux techniques appliquées à un même cas d’étude issu de la pratique professionnelle. Il s’agit de la conception d’une enveloppe pour une tour de bureaux à Madagascar qui intègre à la fois le confort thermique et la qualité de vue. Il ressort de cette expérience que l’approche la plus efficace est une méthode hybride qui utilise à la fois un automate cellulaire pour intégrer les contraintes, et un algorithme génétique conduisant l’optimisation multicritère.
Digital design paradigms in architecture have been rooted in representational models which are geometry centered and therefore fail to capture building complexity holistically. Due to a lack of computational design methodologies, existing digital design workflows do little in predicting design performance in the early design stage and in most cases analysis and design optimization are done after a design is fixed. This work proposes a new computational design methodology, intended for use in the area of conceptual design of building design. The proposed methodology is implemented into a multi-agent system design toolkit which facilitates the generation of design alternatives using stochastic algorithms and their evaluation using multiple environmental performance metrics. The method allows the user to probabilistically explore the solution space by modeling the design parameters’ architectural design components (i.e. façade panel) into modular programming blocks (agents) which interact in a bottom-up fashion. Different problem requirements (i.e. level of daylight inside a space, openings) described into agents’ behavior allow for the coupling of data from different engineering fields (environmental design, structural design) into the a priori formation of architectural geometry. In the presented design experiment, a façade panel is modeled into an agent-based fashion and the multi-agent system toolkit is used to generate and evolve alternative façade panel configurations based on environmental parameters (daylight, energy consumption). The designer can develop the façade panel geometry, design behaviors, and performance criteria to evaluate the design alternatives. The toolkit relies on modular and functionally specific programming modules (agents), which provide a platform for façade design exploration by combining existing three-dimensional modeling and analysis software.
This paper describes a framework of concepts and processes that support teams to construct and explore design spaces maximizing social, environmental, and economic value. The framework guides teams through processes of problem formulation, alternative generation, impact analysis, and value assessment. The paper describes an extensible supporting computational infrastructure based on a system integration approach and structured in four layers: parametric user interface, analysis engines, software interfaces, and data visualization. The paper describes implemented functionality in terms of goal and preference-setting, parametric modeling, energy, daylight, view, first cost, lifecycle cost and lifecycle carbon, and demonstrates application through a test case. The paper concludes with evidence about the power and flexibility of the DSC framework with the results of a professional case study, and a survey of professional and student architects who have been trained in constructing and exploring parametric, performance-based design spaces.
Concepts of swarm intelligence are becoming increasingly relevant in the field of architectural design. An example is the use of agent-based modeling and simulation methods, which can help manage the complexity of building designs that feature many similar, but geometrically unique elements. Apart from leading to effective solutions and expanding the architectural design space, agent-based design methods can also be employed in integrated planning processes, in which the contributions of various disciplines take place in an integrated loop instead of being executed consecutively. We propose a computational framework for architectural design, in which agents represent building elements and/or joints between building elements. Behavior parameters, behavior weighting, and the environment can be modified in real-time while the agent system is running. Additionally, the designer can interact with individual agents directly, while slowing down or pausing agent movement if so desired. In the resulting design approach, the designer can globally adjust behavior parameters, while retaining local control over details where needed. To facilitate an integrative design process, domain-specific data and the results of external analysis can be included, either directly as input for agent behaviors, or by modifying the environment. We illustrate the potential of this computational framework using the example of the design of plate structures and show how this method can lead to quantifiable results while also attaining aesthetic goals. Furthermore, we provide an outlook toward possible further extensions of agent-based design methods in architecture.
Reinforced concrete shells frequently constitute the most visible element of a building envelope. They dominate the architectural expression, yet the three-dimensional form is generally determined by the engineer according to its structural efficiency, rather than by the architect according to aesthetical considerations. This raises the question “Who is the author of the design?” The design philosophy of recognised shell designers is introduced, specifically that of Swiss shell designer and “structural artist” Heinz Isler, who is considered to have had particular sensitivity to the aesthetics of his shells, rooted in his admiration of the natural world and derived by natural laws. The Sicli Factory shell, 1968, is taken as a case study and is used to compare Isler’s design method with contemporary digital form-finding using the particle spring method. It is concluded that there are advantages and disadvantages to both physical and digital modelling methods. Designers should be encouraged to explore with various approaches.
Material usage and the related embodied environmental impact have grown in significance in the built environment. Therefore, cities and governments need to develop strategies to reduce both the consumption of resources during usage phase as well as the embodied impact of the current building stock. This article proposes a new component-based building inventory database as a basis to develop such strategies using building stock modeling. The developed database clusters the building stock according to building typology (single-family houses, multifamily houses, and office buildings), age, and the main construction systems of the different building components. Based on the component makeup, it lists the necessary material input and waste output for different refurbishment options for each building component. The advantages of the proposed database structure are shown based on two applications for the developed database for Switzerland. The component-based database allows optimization of refurbishment strategies not only from an energetic perspective, but also with respect to materials, both on the input (sourcing of materials) and the output (waste streams) level. The database structure makes it possible to continuously extend the data set by adding new refurbishment options or add data such as component-specific lifetimes, costs, or labor intensities of the refurbishment options. In combination with an aligned economic model, this would give an even more holistic view, impact, and feasibility of different refurbishment scenarios both in environmental and economic terms.
As high performance design is becoming more desirable in the field of architecture, the need for supporting architects with environmental analysis tools is also growing. Rhino/Grasshopper is one of the most widely used platforms that are used by designers today. There are already a number of environmental plugins developed for Rhino/Grasshopper. However, Ladybug offers several advantages that are currently not offered by existing Rhino/Grasshopper related environmental design plugins. Ladybug imports standard EnergyPlus Weather files (.EPW) in Grasshopper and provides a variety of 2D and 3D designer-friendly interactive graphics to support the decision-making process during the initial stages of design. It also simplifies the process of analysis, automates and expedites the calculations, and provides easy to understand graphical visualizations in the 3D modeling interface of Rhino/Grasshopper. It also allows users to work with validated energy and daylighting engines such as EnergyPlus, Radiance and Daysim. Integration with the parametric tools of grasshopper allows for almost instantaneous feedback on design modifications, and as it runs within the design environment, the information and analysis is interactive. The development is a free and open source; users can customize the tool based on their needs and contribute to the source code.Copyright
This paper presents a new computational framework based on Thrust Network Analysis (TNA) for the design of funicular structures. Fast and robust solving algorithms enable the interactive exploration of these constrained structural systems. By giving explicit, bidirectional control over the internal force distribution and overall geometry to the designer, free exploration of these statically highly indeterminate systems is made possible. The equilibrium of funicular compression networks is represented by reciprocal diagrams, which visually express the force dependencies between different parts of the structure. By modifying these diagrams in real-time, the designer is able to explore novel and expressive vaulted geometries that are blurring the difference between shapes associated to typical compression-only forms, obtained e.g. with hanging networks, and freeform surface structures. The power of this framework for design is demonstrated by a user-friendly software implementation, which has been used to design and build a freeform, thin-tile masonry vault.
Real-time physics simulation has been extensively used in computer games, but its potential has yet to be fully realised in design and education. We present an interactive 3D physics engine with a wide variety of applications.
In common with traditional FEM, the use of a local element stiffness matrix is retained. However, unlike typical non-linear FEM routines elements forces, moments and inertia are appropriately lumped at nodes following the dynamic relaxation method. A semi-implicit time integration scheme updates linear and angular momentum, and subsequently the local coordinate frames of the nodes. A co-rotational approach is used to compute the resultant field of displacements in global coordinates including the effect of large deformations. The results obtained compare well against established commercial software.
We demonstrate that the method presented allows the making of interactive structural models that can be used in teaching to develop an intuitive understanding of structural behaviour. We also show that the same interactive physics framework allows real-time optimization that can be used for geometric and structural design applications.
Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) is a new approach to modeling systems comprised of autonomous, interacting agents. ABMS promises to have far-reaching effects on the way that businesses use computers to support decision-making and researchers use electronic laboratories to support their research. Some have gone so far as to contend that ABMS ¿is a third way of doing science,¿ in addition to traditional deductive and inductive reasoning (Axelrod 1997). Computational advances have made possible a growing number of agent-based models across a variety of application domains. Applications range from modeling agent behavior in the stock market, supply chains, and consumer markets, to predicting the spread of epidemics, the threat of bio-warfare, and the factors responsible for the fall of ancient civilizations. This tutorial describes the theoretical and practical foundations of ABMS, identifies toolkits and methods for developing agent models, and illustrates the development of a simple agent-based model.
Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) is a new approach to modeling systems comprised of autonomous, interacting agents. ABMS promises to have far reaching effects on the way that businesses use computers to support decision making and researchers use electronic laboratories to support their research. Some have gone so far as to contend that ABMS is a third way of doing science besides deductive and inductive reasoning. Computational advances have made possible a growing number of agent-based applications in a variety of fields. Applications range from modeling agent behavior in the stock market and supply chains, to predicting the spread of epidemics and the threat of biowarfare, from modeling consumer behavior to understanding the fall of ancient civilizations, to name a few. This tutorial describes the theoretical and practical foundations of ABMS, identifies toolkits and methods for developing ABMS models, and provides some thoughts on the relationship between ABMS and traditional modeling techniques.
Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) is a new approach to modeling systems comprised of autonomous, interacting agents. Computational advances have made possible a growing number of agent-based models across a variety of application domains. Applications range from modeling agent behavior in the stock market, supply chains, and consumer markets, to predicting the spread of epidemics, mitigating the threat of bio-warfare, and understanding the factors that may be responsible for the fall of ancient civilizations. Such progress suggests the potential of ABMS to have far-reaching effects on the way that businesses use computers to support decision-making and researchers use agent-based models as electronic laboratories. Some contend that ABMS ¿is a third way of doing science¿ and could augment traditional deductive and inductive reasoning as discovery methods. This brief tutorial introduces agent-based modeling by describing the foundations of ABMS, discussing some illustrative applications, and addressing toolkits and methods for developing agent-based models.
Rapidly increasing demands to enhance speed and safety for on-site and site-specific construction drive the need to develop collaborative and autonomous systems. Such systems generally involve the use of retrofitted gantry and robot arm systems, which have size constraints and are computationally complex to use in collaboration with other machines. This paper describes an alternative multi-robot system built from the ground up to enable collaborative and site-specific construction. The strategy simplifies design workflows while simultaneously maintaining structural, environmental, and robot dynamic constraints. This system of ‘swarm fabricators’ enables robotic agents to operate in parallel, digitally fabricating independent tubular forms. Each robot controls its position allowing the system to effectively ‘grow’ a large-scale woven architecture. The robots fabricate by pulling fiber and resin from ground-based storage and winding a composite around their own bodies. Additional sections of a composite tube are appended upon each other, starting from a base. The system relies on an environmentally informed flocking-based strategy to design the structure and inform the robots’ trajectories.
This paper presents research on the use of multi-agent systems (MAS) in architectural design with the goal of both improving and partially automating the design process as well as the design outcomes in terms of geometry and environmental performance. The work is based upon research on agent based modeling and simulation techniques (ABMS), and the combination of analytical and optimization methods with geometric modeling and user centered design. The motivation is to render more accessible the exploration of the generative aspect of bottom up design techniques when coupled with optimization and performance criteria. The objective of the work is to develop and test a design methodology, which enables designers to explore larger sets of informed solutions by coupling design requirements and generative design techniques with validated simulations (i.e., environmental analysis) based partly on the inclusion of user light preferences early in the design process. The development of the proposed methodology and the implementation of the design system for a building façade are described, while the robustness and validity of the framework is initially tested by applying it to the generation and optimization of façade panel configurations of an office building. The results show that the MAS for design system can generate unique design configurations that perform environmentally (daylight factor analysis) better than a façade with normative façade shading.
In this thesis I consider the relationship between the design of software and the design of flexible parametric models.
There is growing evidence that parametric models employed in practice lack the flexibility to accommodate certain design changes. When a designer attempts to change a model’s geometry (by modifying the model’s underlying functions and parameters) they occasionally end up breaking the model. The designer is then left with a dilemma: spend time building a new model, or abandon the changes and revise the old model. Similar dilemmas exist in software engineering. Despite these shared concerns, Robert Woodbury (2010, 66) states that there is currently “little explicit connection” between the practice of software engineering and the practice of parametric modelling.
In this thesis I consider, using a reflective practice methodology, how software engineering may inform parametric modelling. Across three case studies I take aspects of the software engineering body of knowledge (language paradigms; structured programming; and interactive programming) and apply them to the design of parametric models for the Sagrada Família, the Dermoid pavilion, and the Responsive Acoustic Surface. In doing so I establish three new parametric modelling methods.
The contribution of this research is to show there are connections between the practice of software engineering and the practice of parametric modelling. These include the following:
Shared challenges: Both practices involve unexpected changes occurring within the rigid logic of computation.
Shared research methods: Research methods from software engineering apply to the study of parametric modelling.
Shared practices: The software engineering body of knowledge seems to offer a proven pathway for improving the practice of parametric modelling.
These connections signal that software engineering is an underrepresented and important precedent for architects using parametric models; a finding that has implications for how parametric modelling is taught, how parametric models are integrated with practice, and for how researchers study and discuss parametric modelling.
Advances in computation challenge established design approaches in architecture through a much deeper integration of form generation and materialisation. Tobias Schwinn, Research Associate at the Institute for Computational Design (ICD), University of Stuttgart, and Guest-Editor Achim Menges, Director of the ICD, introduce how the potentials and constraints of robotic fabrication can now be explored as generative drivers in agent-based design. This enables architectural innovation in unison with fabricability, structural capacity and spatial performance, as demonstrated by the Landesgartenschau Exhibition Hall in Schwäbisch Gmu"nd, Germany, the world's first building with a robotically fabricated segmented timber shell as its primary structure.
Bringing together experts from research and practice, Shell Structures for Architecture: Form Finding and Optimization presents contemporary design methods for shell and gridshell structures, covering form-finding and structural optimization techniques. It introduces architecture and engineering practitioners and students to structural shells and provides computational techniques to develop complex curved structural surfaces, in the form of mathematics, computer algorithms, and design case studies.
An increasing number of architectural design practices harness the power of parametric design tools. The aim of these tools is to facilitate and control complex building geometries. Parametric design programs such as Grasshopper (GH) for Rhino or Generative Components popularized this approach by providing easy-to-use visual programming environments that integrate with computer-aided design (CAD) packages. A logical next step consists in connecting parametric designs to applications that evaluate non-geometric aspects such as building physics or structural performance. This brings about new opportunities of collaboration between architects and engineers in the early stages of building design. The ease of testing alternatives by tweaking a set of parameters also opens the door for the application of generic optimization algorithms. Karamba is a finite element program geared towards interactive use in the parametric design environment GH. Being a GH plug-in, it seamlessly integrates with the diverse habitat of other third party programs available for GH. These range from building physics applications to genetic optimization engines. In the author's company, Karamba is used in early-stage design, form-finding, and structural optimization. “White Noise”, a mobile exhibition pavilion for the Salzburg Biennale, serves as a case study that shows how Karamba can be used to optimize the structural performance of intricate building geometries.
A trained architect, who works with the Specialist Modelling Group (SMG) at Foster + Partners, Daniel Piker is also the developer of the Kangaroo plug-in for Rhinoceros® and Grasshopper®. He explains how Kangaroo has been devised to simulate aspects of the behaviour of real-world materials and objects in order to modify designs in response to engineering analyses, engendering an intuitive sense of the material world.
Presents a multi-agent system (MAS) for collaborative design in the construction sector. The system is intended to form a basis for integrating the often distributed cross-functional activities that characterise collaborative design in construction. The MAS supports interaction and negotiation between the different agents that represent various participants that are usually engaged in a typical collaborative project design. The system is composed of different agents that provide services within the MAS environment. While some of the support services are provided by the agent platform, task agents that represent various functional disciplines undertake the real design activities. Describes details of the MAS, which simulates and demonstrates peer-to-peer interaction, communication and negotiation between the design agents in a collaborative design space. Also highlights important issues in MAS development and makes recommendations on how to improve collaborative design in construction using the MAS paradigm.
Social insects--ants, bees, termites, and wasps--can be viewed as powerful problem-solving systems with sophisticated collective intelligence. Composed of simple interacting agents, this intelligence lies in the networks of interactions among individuals and between individuals and the environment. A fascinating subject, social insects are also a powerful metaphor for artificial intelligence, and the problems they solve--finding food, dividing labor among nestmates, building nests, responding to external challenges--have important counterparts in engineering and computer science. This book provides a detailed look at models of social insect behavior and how to apply these models in the design of complex systems. The book shows how these models replace an emphasis on control, preprogramming, and centralization with designs featuring autonomy, emergence, and distributed functioning. These designs are proving immensely flexible and robust, able to adapt quickly to changing environments and to continue functioning even when individual elements fail. In particular, these designs are an exciting approach to the tremendous growth of complexity in software and information. Swarm Intelligence draws on up-to-date research from biology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, robotics, operations research, and computer graphics, and each chapter is organized around a particular biological example, which is then used to develop an algorithm, a multiagent system, or a group of robots. The book will be an invaluable resource for a broad range of disciplines.
Data-Driven Documents (D3) is a novel representation-transparent approach to visualization for the web. Rather than hide the underlying scenegraph within a toolkit-specific abstraction, D3 enables direct inspection and manipulation of a native representation: the standard document object model (DOM). With D3, designers selectively bind input data to arbitrary document elements, applying dynamic transforms to both generate and modify content. We show how representational transparency improves expressiveness and better integrates with developer tools than prior approaches, while offering comparable notational efficiency and retaining powerful declarative components. Immediate evaluation of operators further simplifies debugging and allows iterative development. Additionally, we demonstrate how D3 transforms naturally enable animation and interaction with dramatic performance improvements over intermediate representations.
Collective Construction by Termite-Inspired Robots (2014) Behavioral Form Finding: A Multi Agent Systems Framework 13
- K H Petersen
Petersen, K.H.: Collective Construction by Termite-Inspired Robots (2014)
Behavioral Form Finding: A Multi Agent Systems Framework
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