Geodesic dome

Hello Rhino Wizards,

I’m trying to model a geodesic dome and all the tutorials on youtube make a sphere and then cover it in triangular patterns whereas I am trying to get an accurate and specifically sized one.

I basically have to create pentagons, hexagons and half hexagons and join them together at a certain angle to create slightly 3D/relief versions of them and I am looking for commands to help me do this. I’ve seen OrientOnSrf and I think this will help me join the triangles together when I have them at the desired angle.

For more detail imagine a pentagon and on each side there is a triangle that needs to be angled from the base (joining the pent) so that each of the 5 isolated points of the triangle meet a certain distance above the pentagon to create an open polysurface.

Is there a command to join all the edges adjacent to the isolated point while keeping the edge attached to the pentagon on one axis ?

I just had an epiphany about it: create the pentagon and attach the triangles at their longer edges, create a vertical line from the middle and then 3D rotate from the base until the triangle points are intersecting with the vertical line??

I’ll try it now but if there any any easier ways, feel free to school me!!

Edit: the end point of the triangle can’t seem to snap onto the line, any reason for this?

Hi -

Have you taken a look at the RhinoPolyhedra plug-in that you can install from the PackageManager?
-wim

Thanks for the link, nooby question but how do I actually open it within Rhino?

Hi @maxwelljamesbarr
If you have installed it via the packagemanager, just type Polyhedron in the command line.
-Jakob

All the info you need is here: Polygon Sphere

I thought so, however when I type this the option does not come up

@maxwelljamesbarr
Go to the “Installed” tab and check if it actually installed (and maybe a restart as well?).


-Jakob

If you’re asking about a general manual way to orient polygons in 3d so they meet along edges, you can do this by intersecting circles like this: