Apparatus and methods for modifying a model of an object to enforce compliance with a manufacturing constraint
View Patent ↗The invention provides an apparatus and methods for automatically modifying a computer model of an object to comply with a manufacturing constraint for production of the object. In one embodiment, the invention uses a voxel-based approach to automatically modify an arbitrarily-shaped model at any stage of the design process. For example, a method of the invention automatically modifies a model of a molded object to comply with a draft angle requirement.
1. A method for automatically modifying a model of a three-dimensional object for compliance with a manufacturing constraint, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) representing a model of an arbitrarily-shaped three-dimensional object with an array of voxel values; and
(b) automatically modifying the array of voxel values according to a manufacturing constraint, wherein the manufacturing constraint comprises a molding constraint.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing constraint comprises a draft angle specification.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the draft angle specification is user-provided.
4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the manufacturing constraint further comprises at least one of a parting curve and a parting direction.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the manufacturing constraint comprises a plurality of parting curves.
6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the manufacturing constraint comprises at least one non-planar parting curve.
7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the manufacturing constraint further comprises a mask volume indicating a portion of the model to remain unmodified.
8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of the steps of:
(c) saving the modified array of voxel values to a data storage medium;
(d) displaying the model on a visual display following step (b);
(e) transmitting a copy of the modified array of voxel values over a network;
(f) providing a printed representation of the model following step (b); and
(g) creating a physical three-dimensional representation of the model following step (b).
9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
(c) graphically rendering the model.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising the step of:
(d) haptically rendering the model.
11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
(c) generating a surface mesh corresponding to the modified array of voxel values.
12. The method of claim 11 , wherein step (c) comprises using a marching cubes algorithm.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) is initiated by a user command.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises a post-processing step.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises adding virtual material to the model.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the step of adding virtual material to the model comprises modifying the array of voxel values representing the model to increase a volume encompassed by the model.
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises removing virtual material from the model.
18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the step of removing virtual material from the model comprises modifying the array of voxel values representing the model to decrease a volume encompassed by the model.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises:
(i) adding virtual material to the model; and
(ii) removing virtual material from the model to preserve a given parting curve.
20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of automatically determining at least one of a parting curve and a parting direction.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein step (b) comprises modifying voxel values corresponding to each of a plurality of slices of the model.
22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the slices are contiguous.
23. The method of claim 22 , wherein step (b) comprises sequentially modifying the slices of the model.
24. The method of claim 21 , wherein step (b) comprises determining a limit slice for use as a template in modifying voxel values corresponding to a given slice of the model.
25. The method of claim 24 , wherein step (b) comprises modifying the limit slice using at least one of:
(i) a previously-modified slice; and
(ii) an offset value.
26. The method of claim 24 , wherein the limit slice comprises distance field values indicating distances from an edge of a limit volume, and wherein the distance field values are related to voxel values.
27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array of voxel values comprises one-byte integers.
28. The method of claim 1 , wherein the array of voxel values consists essentially of one-byte integers.
29. An apparatus for automatically modifying a model of a three-dimensional object to enforce compliance with a manufacturing constraint, the apparatus comprising:
(a) a memory for storing code that defines a set of instructions; and
(b) a processor adapted to execute the set of instructions to:
(i) represent a model of an arbitrarily-shaped three-dimensional object with an array of voxel values; and
(ii) modify the array of voxel values according to a manufacturing constraint, wherein the manufacturing constraint comprises a molding constraint.
30. The apparatus of claim 29 , further comprising:
(c) a graphical user interface device in communication with the processor.
31. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the graphical user interface device comprises a haptic/graphical user interface device.
32. The apparatus of claim 29 , further comprising at least one of:
(c) a data storage medium for storing the modified array of voxel values;
(d) a visual display for displaying the modified model;
(e) a network for transmitting a copy of the modified array of voxel values;
(f) a printer for providing a printed representation of the modified model; and
(g) a three-dimensional printer for creating a physical three-dimensional representation of the modified model.
33. The apparatus of claim 29 , wherein the processor is adapted to execute the set of instructions to provide a haptic/graphical user interface element.
34. A method for automatically determining a modification of a model of a three-dimensional object for compliance with a specified draft angle, the method comprising the steps of:
(a) representing a model of an arbitrarily-shaped three-dimensional object with an array of voxel values; and
(b) automatically determining a modification of the array of voxel values for compliance with a draft angle.
35. The method of claim 34 , wherein the draft angle is user-specified.
36. The method of claim 34 , wherein step (b) comprises determining a modification for compliance with the draft angle and at least one of a parting curve and a parting direction.
37. The method of claim 34 , wherein step (b) comprises determining a modification subject to a mask volume, wherein the mask volume indicates a portion of the model to remain unmodified.
38. The method of claim 34 , further comprising the step of:
(c) modifying the model according to the automatically determined modification of the array of voxel values.
39. The method of claim 38 , further comprising at least one of the steps of:
(d) saving a representation of the modified model to a data storage medium;
(e) displaying the modified model on a visual display;
(f) transmitting a copy of the modified model over a network;
(g) providing a printed representation of the modified model; and
(h) creating a physical three-dimensional representation of the modified model.
40. The method of claim 38 , further comprising the step of:
(d) graphically rendering the modified model.
41. The method of claim 40 , further comprising the step of:
(e) haptically rendering the modified model.
42. The method of claim 34 , wherein step (b) comprises determining a modification of the array of voxel values corresponding to each of a plurality of slices of the model.
43. The method of claim 42 , wherein the slices are contiguous.
44. The method of claim 43 , wherein step (b) comprises determining a modification of each of the slices of the model in a step-wise manner.
45. The method of claim 42 , wherein step (b) comprises determining a limit slice for use as a template in determining a modification of voxel values corresponding to a given slice of the model.
46. The method of claim 45 , wherein step (b) comprises modifying the limit slice using an offset value.
47. The method of claim 45 , wherein the limit slice comprises distance field values indicating distances from an edge of a limit volume, and wherein the distance field values are related to voxel values.
48. The method of claim 34 , wherein the array of voxel values consists essentially of one-byte integers.