ErgoRithm
A parametric shoe design. One Grasshopper definition turns a foot scan into a last, a lattice midsole and a Voronoi sock upper, each driven by sliders.
RenderRhino, January 2023.
01 · The definition
From scan to shoe.
Instead of modelling one shoe, I built the steps that make a shoe from any foot scan.
Change the scan or move a slider, and the last, the sole lattice and the patterns follow.
The scan is my own foot. As a working student I made ergonomic models for PhD research, so using a 3D scan for a project of my own was a rewarding next step.
- 01Scan to last
A foot scan goes in; the definition builds a last around it.
- 02Outline
The outline curve is adjusted by hand in Rhino, the one manual step.
- 03Lattice midsole
A lattice grows from the base of the last.
- 04Sock upper
A sock wraps the last, with seams at the top and bottom.
- 05Patterns
Voronoi patterns for the sock and for the top and bottom of the sole.
- 06Heel, toe, laces
Heel, toe and lace strip, each generated with its own pattern.
02 · Variations
One definition, many shoes.
The same definition, rendered with different lattice and pattern settings.
Lattice midsole, white
03 · Outcome
It ran on my own foot.
The definition worked on the scan of my own foot. The test print failed on the printer’s hardware, not the G-code, so this shoe stayed digital. The idea of a shoe made by a printer came back three years later in Technomule.
CourseComputational Design for Digital Fabrication, TU Delft, with Dr. Wolf Song
ToolsRhino, Grasshopper
InputA scan of my own foot
Year2023
More work
The moment before something is madeAfter Michelangelo, The Creation of Adam, Sistine Chapel, 1508 to 1512