Zome constructibility and the omnitruncated dodecaplex

On January 25th 2019, Benoit Charbonneau and a team of volunteers attempted to construct a three-dimensional shadow of the omnitruncated dodecaplex, a four-dimensional geometric shape, built using Zometool pieces. Over the course of 14 hours, volunteers built and supported the prototype structure, which was ultimately disassembled as it could not support its own weight.

Building up on previous work of Prof Charbonneau and Spencer Whitehead, the intern will work with Prof Charbonneau to study polytopes in higher dimensions and their projections, and when projections are Zome constructible. When they are and are quite large, like the omnitruncated dodecaplex, one would need to determine how to break up the construction so that the model supports itself and doesn’t collapse. During this project, the intern will study complex geometrical structures, implement the library for their modelling, and analyze physical forces so that the constructed model is stable.

Faculty Supervisor:

Benoit Charbonneau

Student:

Partner:

National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Discipline:

Mathematics

Sector:

Construction; Education; Other

University:

University of Waterloo

Program: