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    Prism problem

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    • GaieusG
      Gaieus
      last edited by

      @didier bur said:

      This is called a tetrahedron:
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetrahedron

      Oh yes, and there is a "ready made" one in the shapes library - but how do we make one (without maths)?!
      😄

      Gai...

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      • J
        Jim
        last edited by

        This animation from Wikipedia shows it's really very simple! (Inside a cube.)


        Tetraeder_animation_with_cube.gif

        Hi

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        • R
          remus
          last edited by

          Good find jim.

          Still quite a way out though 😉

          http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/2522211423_ee5c428b5e_o.jpg

          I also tried rotating a copy of the base triangle in to place by the dihedral angle (accurate to 6 decimal places) and that is still quite a way out as well. about 0.7% if i remeber correctly.

          http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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          • GaieusG
            Gaieus
            last edited by

            Gee Jim,

            That's indeed very simple! 😲

            Gai...

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            • Wo3DanW
              Wo3Dan
              last edited by

              Unfortunately I have not found a solution for this problem in general (i.e. rotate/snap by pure construction), see attachment below.
              For special cases like the one presented here by fruitjelly (a tetrahedron) there always seem to be good workarounds. So next question: How would you solve the rotation in the attached model to get the one and only edge AB?
              (We had this discussion before about creating the perfect buckyball but that's also a special case)


              RotateSnapProblem.skp

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              • GaieusG
                Gaieus
                last edited by

                Ah, Wodan,

                I remember this challange. I even have a "no-solution" version of this among my models at the WareHouse: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=8075be6a6da45be3d2f8fef8fa52eceb

                Actually the exact same problem as here...

                Gai...

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                • F
                  fruitjelly
                  last edited by

                  Jim's image so far best illustrates the easiest way to for that shape. Then again, if ultimately, we want a equilateral triangle with for example 1m on each side.... We have to use maths, such as pythagoras theorem, but the weird never ending figures simply will not produce an accurate shape.

                  So do you guys think its ok to say that, as far as complicated geometry are concerned (especially with arcs and curves), sketchup ain't that useful when dealing with accuracy.

                  Modeling this tetrahedron had been a real pain, but turns out the solution is a damn cube....

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                  • jujuJ
                    juju
                    last edited by

                    It's a known fact that SU accuracy isn't the best around, but then again it isn't meant for creating geometry smaller than the feet of a dust mite.

                    Save the Earth, it's the only planet with chocolate.

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                    • AnssiA
                      Anssi
                      last edited by

                      @fruitjelly said:

                      Then again, if ultimately, we want a equilateral triangle with for example 1m on each side.... We have to use maths...

                      No we don't - we use the Tape measure tool. Make a triangle of any size, measure the side, and type the length you want, and press Enter. SU asks if you eant to resize the model, click OK, and you are done. If you have other things in your model that you don't want resized, group the triangle, and do the trick inside the group.

                      Anssi

                      securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos rem difficillimam adsecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset

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                      • R
                        remus
                        last edited by

                        Even the cube method isnt entirely accurate, see my previous post.

                        http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                        • jeff hammondJ
                          jeff hammond
                          last edited by

                          @remus said:

                          Even the cube method isnt entirely accurate, see my previous post.

                          really? i did the cube method 3 times and it always worked out perfectly.. every edge was the same length.. or maybe i'm not understanding something?

                          dotdotdot

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                          • R
                            remus
                            last edited by

                            Hmmm, perhaps i made a mistake when i did it, i'll give it a go when i get home.

                            http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                            • V
                              Voder Vocoder
                              last edited by

                              As long as we're looking things up on Wikipedia, we can see that it gives the dihedral (included angle between two adjacent faces) of a tetrahedron as 70.528779°. That gives us the following very simple construction:

                              http://saveimage.eu/showoriginal-35/tet.jpg

                              ~Voder

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                              • jeff hammondJ
                                jeff hammond
                                last edited by

                                @voder vocoder said:

                                As long as we're looking things up on Wikipedia, we can see that it gives the dihedral (included angle between two adjacent faces) of a tetrahedron as 70.528779°.

                                i think the challenge is to build the shape entirely using sketchup tools and locks.. the cube method makes this possible.. your solution uses math (albeit you went straight for the answer but 70.52....deg is a solution for an equation)..
                                here's an easy method for drawing an equilateral triangle without entering any numbers... [edit] - using this same method should work for for the entire shape but i'm having weird snap to problems.. i'll mess around with it tomorrow.. goodnight..


                                triangle.skp

                                dotdotdot

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                                • R
                                  remus
                                  last edited by

                                  I must have been doing something weird when i tried that cube method originally, works like a charm now.

                                  http://remusrendering.wordpress.com/

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                                  • Wo3DanW
                                    Wo3Dan
                                    last edited by

                                    @remus said:

                                    I must have been doing something weird when i tried that cube method originally, works like a charm now.

                                    Okay Remus, a beer or two now for you or anyone else with %(#FF0000)[a correct method 💭 with only SU, no math, to solve the problem attached to my previous post. No trial and error though,] I did that already.

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                                    • V
                                      Voder Vocoder
                                      last edited by

                                      Wo3Dan, by what means did you place the guide point? What do you mean by "this could be endpoint A"?

                                      ~Voder

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                                      • BepB
                                        Bep
                                        last edited by

                                        Jims wikipedia way to contruct the piramide. 👍construct piramide.skp

                                        greeting,

                                        Bep van Malde

                                        "History is written by the winners"

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                                        • Wo3DanW
                                          Wo3Dan
                                          last edited by

                                          @voder vocoder said:

                                          Wo3Dan, by what means did you place the guide point? What do you mean by "this could be endpoint A"?

                                          ~Voder

                                          Voder, interested in the beer, right?!! 👊
                                          I just placed a guidepoint (A’) on the vertical line, measured A’B and moved A’ up and/or down till I got the right length AB= 2102,833625??? mm From now on A’ is called A.
                                          So this was done by trial and error, so to speak. And A is “only” accurate 6 decimals. Thereby it could be THE point A, the one I'm after.

                                          I want the red and yellow plane dimensions unchanged after rotation while they now have a common edge length AB=2102,833625xxx mm

                                          But to be honest, I’m not really interested in being this precise. What I’m after is a decent
                                          way to do a rotation/snap in any situation, something SU unfortunately seems to lack.
                                          So a rotate/snap solely for the reason of better/easier 3D constructing.
                                          Not everything is as regular as a tetrahedron.

                                          Wo3Dan

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                                          • jeff hammondJ
                                            jeff hammond
                                            last edited by

                                            @unknownuser said:

                                            But to be honest, I’m not really interested in being this precise.

                                            if you don't need super precision, you can use a heavily divided radius and it will get you pretty damn close if not right on the money..
                                            2000 segments per circle here and the radii do in fact intersect..


                                            RotateSnapProblem_jh.skp

                                            dotdotdot

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