ContourTool

This definition was written to speed up the process of creating a contour model while limiting the amount of waste generated during the fabrication of the physical model.

An interface was developed within Grasshopper where all of the important settings can be controlled, allowing those who know little about grasshopper to still use the definition. A base surface is supplied to grasshopper, which then scales the surface, cuts the cross sections according to the contour step size, then orients the cross sections to the XY plane.

There are two options for layout of the contours: full sheet or optimized sheets. Full sheet is exactly what it sounds like, the contour at each level is placed on its own sheet. The optimized sheet option staggers which contours to combine onto a single sheet so that instead of a contour using a full sheet its form is a combination of two contours which allows for a lot less material to be consumed in the modeling process.