While Grasshopper is extremely strong at defining geometrically complex operations, it is less optimized for processes that incorporate live sensor feedback or branching data paths, due to its fundamentally acyclic, directed graph.
In our research at Creative Robotics we have integrated KUKA|prc into the game engine Unity and its included Unity Visual Scripting system, that features an accessible integration of state machines.
As Unity cannot cover the same scope of geometrical operations as Rhino, we still utilize Rhino and Grasshopper via Rhino.Compute for pathplanning, while depending on UVS’ state machine for controlling the process flow.
About
This proof-of-concepts provides an initial integration that is not yet complete but has been used for active robot installations. It provides input on how to create robot programs through Unity’s Visual Scripting, utilizing Script Graphs to define the logic and State Graphs to define more complex process flows. Geometrically complex path-planning algorithms can be defined via Grasshopper and called via the Rhino.Compute interface.
The demonstrator contains three modes, the first one simply has the robot moving along a predefined path, the second one allows you to guide the robot with your mouse pointer, and the third mode generates toolpaths and geometry via Rhino.Compute. Rhino.Compute is opened initially in the background. In order to work, you need a licensed copy of Rhino with KUKA|prc for GH installed.
For more informations, please also refer to our paper “Braumann, J., Gollob, E., & Singline, K. (2022). Visual Programming for Interactive Robotic Fabrication Processes – Process flow definition in robotic fabrication”, available as Open Access through CuminCAD.
Please do provide feedback via johannes@robotsinarchitecture.org or the Robots in Architecture forum at forum.robotsinarchitecture.org!
Download
Please download the following file if you want to try out the software on your Windows-PC (note that you need a licensed version of Rhino for Rhino.Compute to run):
You can download the full Unity project from here:
Please note that this is for educational purposes only, we do not recommend running any code on an actual robot and do not accept any liability for using this experimental software. Commercial use is not allowed.