What is (are) the best way(s) to construct an octet truss with a minimal amount of faces?
![[Image: truss.gif]](http://www.grunch.net/synergetics/images/truss.gif)
Geometrically, it is a regular tetra- and octahedron pair repeated to desired length with cylindrical struts. I am unsure how to approach.
One way would be to start with the available primitives.
Quick example.
Create primitive > Octahedron. (rotate around Y axis 45deg)
Create primitive > Tetrahedron (with options) > Edge length 2.828427 (same edge length as default Octahedron. Rotate around Y axis 60 deg)
Using "Put on" put Tetraherdon onto Octahedron
(Tetrahedron hidden), inset each face of Octahedron.
"Intrude" + object "cleanup" (make sure cleanup "Length tolerance" is large enough to desolve/weld the intrude faces, and creates a square cross section)
Repeat those operations on the Tetrahedron.
From those 2 objects, you can then duplicate and align as needed.
There are possibly other, maybe better ways to create that, but that is what first comes to mind.
Thanks Stem---this is a very elegant solution and a good starting point!