I have been working on a definition for Rhino's Grasshopper plugin that would create a notched "waffle" structural system for any given surface. With this definition, you can specify the number of struts in the X & Y axis as well as the strut depth and the notch thickness (or the strut material thickness). The waffle system has a few components that define the strut labels and has a slider to control the label size to keep the model organized. Finally, the definition orients the strut curves to the X-Y axis so that the curves can be easily output directly to a CNC mill or laser cutter.
Also, if you are able to use this definition to create a waffle structure of your own (either laser cut or CNC milled), please email me some images and I will post the work on this website. Good luck.
Source File:
Waffle_Structural_System.gh (size: 25k - file updated by GH user msieurju on 11.05.11 to work with Grasshopper v0.8.0052 or higher. I'd like to express my thanks for the udpate.)
Note: This software and its documents are in the public domain and are furnished "as is". The author, Andrew Payne, makes no warranty, expressed or implied, as to the usefulness of the software and documentation for any purpose. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/us/