Back in 2008 I started working on a sand table that was inspired by Bruce's work. I didn't complete it then, but last fall I resumed work on it.
During my new build I discovered Jeff's Sandify project (thread) and his work is great! But before discovering Sandify I had already built some patterns using Processing.
Rather than try to learn Sandify's Node + React framework I'm going to focus on building patterns using the tools I already know ( https://p5js.org ). Unfortunately that does mean some redundant work. Perhaps someone with the inclination could cross-pollinate the projects.
So far my pattern output is designed for G-code and not Theta-Rho - I have an open issue on my github repo for that. I'd be happy to merge any pull requests if anyone has enough interest to do that.
The project is on Github at https://markroland.github.io/sand-table-pattern-maker .
Two patterns that I am particularly proud of are a Cycloid generator and a Golden Angle spiral generator.
Hey @markr - Welcome to our community!
It's great to see another tool being built for creating algorithmic tracks. I took a quick look at your stuff, and it's really interesting. I'm guessing there are people here who can help with the g-code to theta-rho format conversion (please? 🙂
Bruce
Thanks @bruce for taking a look! I think my theta-rho conversion is pretty close. I probably just need some more consideration at the boundary conditions of when theta completes a full rotation.
Code for that is at https://github.com/markroland/sand-table-pattern-maker/blob/e1393884600371e32e3a2eeaa198454dec185c11/thetaRho.js#L37 in case anyone sees this and has already figured this out.
I just wanted to post that I'm still working on developing patterns on this project. I think I'm up to around 30 patterns now. After a lot of pattern development I'm turning some of my attention to the interface element of the tool, including, hopefully the ability to export as .thr files.
I see that Sandify is still going strong, too, which is great!
P.S. I've enjoyed the YouTube videos as well!
I just published a release that now exports patterns as Theta-Rho .thr files. Online at https://markroland.github.io/sand-table-pattern-maker/?pattern=spiral. Be sure to select "Polar" for the Format at the top of the page.
If anyone is up for testing it out or providing feedback I'd be happy to hear it.
Hey Mark,
This looks great! I just to a very quick "tour" and there are some really interesting features. I haven't yet checked to see if the thr files are scaled properly or conformal (start and end at rho 0 or 1), but will report my findings soon. Thanks very much for sharing it!
Bruce
Thanks for trying it out @bruce - that means a lot to me! I'm glad you chose that pattern because that's one of my original designs.
I've normalized the radius and kept theta incremental, but not all patterns will necessarily end in the center or edge. Options for that could be added with pretty minimal effort.
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