Grasshopper installation guide

Rhino + Grasshopper #

The Grasshopper built into Rhino is responsible for expanding AXISVM to facilitate the external parametric design. To use a third-party software, you must first install a module that connects the two programs.

The necessary addition is called “GrasshopperToAXISVM,” which is available from Rhino’s official extensions page.

It can be downloaded from here: https://www.food4rhino.com/en/app/grasshoppertoaxisvm

Installing the plugin #

The GrasshopperToAXISVM add-on is compatible with Rhino 6 and Rhino 7 as well.

AXISVM X6R1 or newer version is supported, but for full functionality and best performance use AXISVM X7R2.

The add-on works only on Windows operating system.

The Grasshopper Components folder must contain one single version of this add-on, otherwise, it will not work.

Installation steps #

  1. Download the latest .zip file from the https://www.food4rhino.com/en/app/grasshoppertoaxisvm website
  2. Unzip the *.gha file and the *.dll file
  3. After this, right-click the *.gha file, open the File properties and (if required) check the Unblock option (see image below), then click OK. Perform this for the *.dll file, as well.
  1. Copy both the *.gha and *.dll file into the GH Components folder (…/AppData/Roaming/Grasshopper/Libraries). Reach this directly from file browser or via Grasshopper → File menu → Special Folders → Components Folder
  1. Start (or restart) Rhino and Grasshopper
  2. The AXISVM tab must appear at the Component palettes

If there is no AXISVM COM server registration, or the registered version differs from the version used in the add-on, a message is displayed in the Rhino command history window after Grasshopper is opened.

Notes:

  • If the AXISVM components appear in Grasshopper, but the connection with AXISVM does not work, cross-check the COM server registration. COM server must be registered as administrator, not as user.
  • In case of relevant and significant changes in the AXISVM COM library, the latest .dll file is going to be uploaded to the food4rhino website zipped together with the .gha file. The user must download it and replace the old *.dll in the Grasshopper Components folder with the new one to have the latest updates included.

Problems encountered during installation #

The AXISVM tab does not appear in grasshopper. What can be done?

Check whether AXISVM and the COM server were installed with administrator privileges. Generally, if the software and COM server have been installed only at the user level, the Grasshopper addon does not work.