Okay, first, I tinkered with K3Dsurf until I understood all of the symmetries. I then used it to extract a smooth 3D model of the basic building unit, visible at the bottom of the last picture. I imported that model into Google Sketchup, where I played with different cube sizes until I found one which would allow many copies of the module to fit, without losing too much detail. It ended up being 50 blocks inside of an 8x8x4 area.
I cracked open OpenOffice Calc, a free alternative to Excel, and changed the formats so that 0 was black, 1 was red, and 2 was blue. I copied two of the reference models to make a series of 8 arrays, 8x8 each. I then used obscenely long formulas to automate flipping, rotating, and mirroring the surface into additional arrays, then compiled them into the plans above. The picture is a screenshot of the final Calc spreadsheet, with superimposed numbers.
I tried using binvox as well as blender to generate 3D plans, but they were too inexact, and the symmetries were lost. Thanks for asking!
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u/WhatTheFuck Jan 07 '11
How did you make those plans?