Inspired by this thread at www.percutio.com we’ve created some exciting new nodes for Maya. The images below are a first preview of what has been called the Generizer and will be implemented into the next release of SmartDuplicate. This node is a first step towards generative modeling with Maya which allows for the easy creation of structures, sub-structures, sub-sub-… 
I guess you know where that leads to.
The base model (light blue) for the example below is a NURBS surface. The first stacking object (an orange pipe) is another NURBS surface that’s being translated, scaled and bent according to the base model’s parametric surface. In this case each patch accommodates exactly one duplicate of the pipe. And finally, one of the pipes is the base model for the second stacking object (a white cube) which is a polygonal mesh and has been deformed accordingly.
Since NURBS surfaces are parametric by their nature, stacking them on top of each other can be continued until you’re satisfied or you’re machine collapes or whatever comes first - it will be entirely your “problem”. However, polygonal meshes can only be used as the last stacking object.
Of course, everything you see below has a construction history - and so do the generizer nodes - changing the base models and the stacked objects will therefore result in immediate visible feedback on all duplicated objects.
The second image demonstrates the overlap-free modeling that comes with this approach.
