Surface of a Sphere

[Eltron]

I have an interesting modeling question. I need to create a sphere out of a bunch of circular plates. Essentially I have to stick a bunch of these plates of various diameters to the surface of a sphere then remove the spherical form leaving just the plates. Anyone have any suggestions on how to accomplish this?

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[rollupswx]

plates of various diameters

This part of the problem description is confusing as a sphere has only one diameter.
Do you have any pictures, *.sld* or urls?

 

[Eltron]

Yes, a sphere has only one diameter. The plates that I need to attach to the surface of the sphere are differing sizes. Imagine sticking a bunch of CD's to the outside of a beach ball then deflating the beach ball. That's kind of what I'm going for, but the CD's are various diameters. As an update I think I may have an idea how to do it, but I don't think I am going to have time to test it today. I'll keep you posted.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[EEnd]

If you made your plates offset from their origin by the radius of the sphere, then you could mate all of their origins to the assembly's origin. The plates would all then be tangent to the surface of the sphere, without creating the sphere.

As far as mating the plates to each other, I can see several ways of going about it, but I do not know what you are trying to accomplish. If you are trying to have the largest size all touch and then fill in the gaps with smaller ones, I would start with a 20 sided die shape and put the largest on the points.

Eric

 

[berkshire]

Try researching geodesic dome. Then substitute your circular plate for the hexagon or pentagon shapes.
B.E.

You are judged not by what you know, but by what you can do.

 

[Eltron]

Here is the method I used. It isn't exact, and it needs some tweaking. However, I think it is passable.

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[MadMango]

I like EEnd's suggestion. See attached, SW14.

Dan, that's a pretty crazy chandelier!

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of these Forums?

 

[Eltron]

Yeah, it should be a fun one to make. Unfortunately, I can't open the '14 files. If I update to '13 sp5 I should be able to, right?

Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Yes but you won't be able to do anything with it ... or even see the features.