Independent geometry experiment
One sequence. Two panel counts.
Build the requested shapes first, then measure their edges, flatness and joint closure. This test does not use the designer’s base-course matching rule.
12 panels around
Drag a model to rotate; scroll or pinch to zoom. Red panels mark measured failing courses. Bright red lines connect separated joint corners or outline unexpected open ends. There is no exploded offset or exaggerated gap. Choose All courses to inspect the apex.
What is actually being tested?
Each model has regular circular corner rings, alternating half-sector staggering, and the same number of panels in every course. Shapes 1–5 are constructed separately for each panel count, with the same edge and vertical step. Repeated shape numbers reuse the exact rigid dimensions within that model; they are not replacements with a matching label.
Re-solve shape 5 constructs a new fifth panel whose diagonals bisect at the required joint. It keeps the edge length and shapes 1–4, then recalculates the neighboring vertical steps. The test checks the rest of the assembly too: fixing one panel must not leave a gap at another panel. The original fifth shape remains available for comparison.
Fit every joint accepts the reversible 4 → 5 → 4 connection and recalculates all five templates outward from the center. It tests whether the resulting top and bottom corners actually meet at a point. The 12-around assembly has matching flat panels but open ends; those corners are not snapped together or hidden by added caps.
The complete shell tests both poles as well as the middle joint. Closing the top and bottom does not by itself prove that the middle panels fit. In the seven-course version, the final triangles must be exact halves of shape 3.
Geometric closure only. Results do not include material thickness, joinery, load capacity, non-circular or asymmetric layouts. No experimental model is saved to your design or used for cutting plans.
Course-by-course measurements and test method
The flat-panel test places three corners, completes each rigid rhombus, and compares coordinates on both sides of every shared edge. The joined-corner test fixes all shared vertices, checks edge lengths, and measures the fourth corner’s distance from the plane through the other three. Diagnostic tolerance is 0.000001 mm or 0.000001% of edge length, whichever is larger—not a shop tolerance.
| Panels around | Course | Shape | Horizontal diagonal / base cut | Flat-panel joint gap | Joined fourth-corner error |
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