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Our goal in publishing Dome Designer is tomake it possible for you to successfully build geodesicdomes. We want to help you succeed in dome building. If you havequestions, be they about the capabilities of Dome Designer orthe details of some construction-related problem you run into,we will endeavor to get the answers you need. Please read overthe Frequently Asked Questions below, as chances are you willfind the answer to your question. If you don't find it, though,please contact us and let us know whatis on your mind! And thank you for your interest in Dome Designer.
We have built many domes using Dome Designer.In its initial phases of development, we used Dome Designer internallyas a design tool for the design of individual domes which we designedand built from start to finish, and the software itself was notavailable to the public. Having realized the tremendous advantagesof geodesic domes in terms of cost, weight and strength, we feltit would be extremely valuable to many people to take the lidoff of this professional design package and sell it, rather thanjust selling kits and fully constructed domes.
In "Mathematical Model" mode, DomeDesigner provides ten digits of accuracy, or about one part inten billion. This is accurate enough for the most precise calculations.When calculating parameters for real domes that you intend tobuild, such accuracy merely introduces unneeded complexity intothe design. As such, when making calculations in other modes,Dome Designer calculates to an accuracy of 1/16" when usingEnglish units, and to an accuracy of 1 mm when using Metric units.Generally, materials cannot be cut, and holes cannot be drilledmore accurately than that.
In many areas, building code requirements stronglydiscourage and even forbid the construction of domes for housingbecause architects are generally not trained to do the extremelycomplex structural calculations which building departments wantin order to approve a geodesic home. Since Dome Designer doesnot (at this time) do structural engineering calculations, wedo not recommend our software as a home design program. This doesnot mean that you could not or cannot design a dome that wouldbe perfectly safe and strong using Dome Designer. It only meansthat Dome Designer doesn't give you the kind of data necessaryto get your design through the building inspector. It might bethe only building left standing after a Class 5 hurricane hits,but if they won't let you build it, that won't do much good.
Most building departments have different -and lower - standards for buildings like garages, tool sheds,work areas, green houses and barns. As such, they are much morelikely to give you the go-ahead on a building of this type thanthey would on a house. Whatever you intend to build, you shouldcheck with your building department about their codes and theapproval process before you build. These vary from state tostate and county to county, so there is really no way we can helpyou there.
Secondly, a little wisdom is in order: A houseis a big project. If you are going to build a house, you wantit to be beautiful and strong. If you haven't built houses before,or if you haven't built domes before, you should really startwith something smaller first. Get some valuable construction experienceand dome experience, and then go for the house. Also, there area large number of men who are fascinated by the idea of a domehome, but their wives hate the idea. If you are in that position,then unless you are seeking occasion for a divorce, build yourselfa fantastic and futuristic workshop or garage, and then wait foryour wife to fall in love with it. Listen to her, and don't tryto drive her into a dome for the sake of saving money or something.
Since we are often in the field during theday, we ask that you contact us by email. (Clickhere to contact us.) We will get back with you, generallywithin 24 hours. We will support you, our customer, and do whateverit takes to make sure you are happy with our product and thatit will work correctly for you.
We have experience in designing domes and wewill be happy to offer advice on your problems through our email-basedsupport system. If you have more involved problems we will behappy to quote you a price for consulting. Simply contact us!
Yes, we do custom design work on anything havingto do with geodesic domes. Simply contact us for a quote!
Dome Designer is the brainchild of Dr. MarkA. Ludwig. Dr. Ludwig studied physics at the Massachusetts Instituteof Technology (MIT) and the California Institute of Technlogy(Caltech). He became interested in geodesic domes in the 1990swhen a friend - exasperated that no architect could tackle sucha complex problem - asked Dr Ludwig to do some structural engineeringcalculations for a dome he had built. Impressed with the highstrength, light weight, and low cost possible with domes, Dr.Ludwig began experimenting with them. Bringing together a teamof builders and software developers, DomeDesigner.com was born.
Absolutely! We have planned to introduce manyexciting capabilities in future releases of Dome Designer. Makesure you keep your contact information up to date with us so wecan notify you when an upgrade is available! If you move or changeyour email address, contact us anddon't forget!
Many people ask us about extending the capabilitiesof Dome Designer in a variety of ways. We are continually workingto make Dome Designer do more for you. However, we only sell softwarethat will produce proven designs. We want to makesure that you can really build what you design. What this meansis that, when we extend the capabilities of Dome Designer, thosenew capabilities are tested in the field by designing and buildingreal domes. This process is slow and expensive, but rest assuredwe are working hard for you. In future releases of Dome Designer,you can expect to see many new capabilities. We will be introducingdifferent shapes for domes, like elliptical domes. We will beintroducing new breakdown methods and some really fascinatingsecret developments that have only become possible with moderncomputers. We will be making it possible to do detailed engineeringcalcuations so you can find out how strong a hurricane your domewill stand up under, and so you will be able to hand a grumpybuilding inspector the data he insists on to approve dome homedesigns.