I would like to call my tool - Walk of “Frame”. It is essentially a tool that creates structural framing for a parametric curved walkway. For this, I will be building upon my submission for Module 3: Give me Shelter.

Note: Since I had some challenges for my submission for Module 3 in finding an adaptive component that followed a sinusoidal profile, I would like to simplify the model to have a framing member that has a simple curved profile. These profiles will be connected by cross-bracings to hold them up together.

Architects and Engineers that are trying to compare different curved walkways based on the kind of profile they expect the walkway to follow and compare the various design options based on evaluators such as deflections of the framing elements, member forces/stresses, the aesthetic value of the overall structure and the overall cost of construction.

Unlike buildings, walkways are small-scale structures that generally have a quick turnaround between when the original design is conceptualized and the actual construction takes place. To aid this quick process - Walk of “Frame” - can be used to get an overall understanding of the structural behavior and cost of the structure for the various parametric walkways generated and choose the option that best satisfies the constraints of the project - structural and construction costs.

The user will first draw a spline curve on REVIT. He/She will then select that element as an input and feed in other inputs as mentioned in the previous section. The Dynamo script will read in these inputs and generate a curved walkway framed model in REVIT. The Dynamo script will also interface with ROBOT to conduct structural analysis on the walkway structure (in response to the roof line load).