Introduction

Asterisk for Grasshopper enables users to utilize Asterisk within their parametric design workflow.

Component Set

Asterisk ships with a simple set of tools to connect, write, and read to the Asterisk server.

	Component	Description
	Authenticate	Used to log in to the Asterisk Server
	Get Projects	Retrieve a project from the Asterisk Server
	Create Iteration	All of the inputs required to create an Iteration
	Asterisk Core	Sends / Receives iterations from the Asterisk Server
	Unpack Model	Unpacks the Asterisk model into geometry & data
	Edge Data	Retrieves edges and all of the data on those edges
	Edges By Typology	Dispatches edges into separate streams based on edge type

Process & Use Cases

Batch Uploading Iterations

Users can animate sliders or use brute force iterators (such as Colibri) to send manifold combinations of massing designs and iteration parameters. Utilizing the Asterisk web app, users can analyze and compare the results of their iterations.

Tighter Feedback Loop

Structural wireframes returned from Asterisk can be unpacked into streams of geometry and data, which can be guided and manipulated by downstream processes as soon as server-side computation is complete.

Integrated Toolchain

Grasshopper users can chain Asterisk’s great wireframing engine with other plugins, such as Galapagos, Octopus, Millipede, and Karamba, to glean new understandings of their designs and converge on solutions in the design process.