Automatic Generation of Building Instructions for Building Block Models
A computer-implemented method of generating building instructions for a building block model, comprising: retrieving a digital representation of the building block model; wherein said digital representation is indicative of a sequential construction order in which a plurality of virtual building blocks have been positioned in response to user commands during a computer-implemented virtual construction process, said virtual construction process resulting in a virtual building block model; and generating graphical representations of at least a first and a second part-model of respective first and second subsets of said plurality of virtual building blocks; wherein the second subset includes the first subset and a predetermined number of additional virtual building blocks of said plurality of virtual building blocks; and wherein the additional virtual building blocks are subsequent to all virtual building blocks in the first subset with respect to a sequential instruction order derived from the sequential construction order.
1 . A computer-implemented method of generating building instructions for a building block model, the model including a plurality of building blocks; the method comprising
a) retrieving a digital representation of the building block model; wherein said digital representation is indicative of a sequential construction order in which a plurality of virtual building blocks have been positioned in response to user commands during a computer-implemented virtual construction process, said virtual construction process resulting in a virtual building block model; and
b) generating graphical representations of at least a first and a second part model of respective first and second subsets of said plurality of virtual building blocks; wherein the second subset includes the first subset and a predetermined number of additional virtual building blocks of said plurality of virtual building blocks; and wherein the additional virtual building blocks are subsequent to all virtual building blocks in the first subset with respect to a sequential instruction order derived from the sequential construction order.
2 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the digital representation comprises a sequence of data records, each representing one of the plurality of building blocks; and wherein said sequence represents the sequential construction order in which the virtual building blocks where positioned during the model generation.
3 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the digital representation comprises a plurality of data records, each representing one of the plurality of building blocks; and wherein each data record includes a data item indicative of a position of the corresponding virtual building block in said sequential construction order in which the virtual building blocks where positioned during the model generation.
4 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the sequential instruction order is identical to the sequential construction order.
5 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising modifying the sequential construction order according to a predetermined sorting criterion to obtain the sequential instruction order.
6 . A method according to claim 5 , wherein the digital representation includes respective position coordinates of each of the virtual building blocks with respect to a predetermined coordinate system; and wherein said sorting criterion includes said position coordinates along at least one predetermined direction.
7 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising generating the digital representation of the building block model by means of a computer-implemented construction environment for interactively constructing a virtual building block model, wherein the generating includes:
positioning a plurality of virtual building blocks in respective positions relative to another, resulting in a virtual building block model, wherein the virtual building blocks are positioned in a sequential construction order in response to user commands;
storing the digital representation of said virtual building block model including information about said sequential construction order.
8 . A method according to claim 7 , wherein the computer-implemented construction environment is configured to enforce a predetermined set of restrictions imposed on the placement of building blocks with respect to each other.
9 . A method according to claim 8 , wherein the computer-implemented construction environment is configured to retrieve connectivity information of the corresponding connection elements of the virtual building blocks indicative of whether the connection elements of two building blocks positioned in a predetermined proximity from each other provide a connection between the two building blocks.
10 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second subsets constitutes an uninterrupted part-sequence of virtual building blocks from the stored sequential instruction order.
11 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein generating graphical representations comprises generating a sequence of graphical representations of a corresponding sequence of part-models including an initial part-model, a sequence of incremental part-models, and a complete model; wherein each of the incremental part-models includes all virtual building blocks of the immediately preceding incremental part-model of the sequence and a predetermined number of additional virtual building blocks from the plurality of building blocks; and wherein the complete model comprises all of the plurality of virtual building blocks.
12 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising providing a user interface facilitating a user-controlled manipulation of the generated graphical representations.
13 . A method according claim 12 , wherein the user-interface provides at least one of the operations zoom and rotate.
14 . A method according to claim 12 , wherein the user interface provides functionality for viewing selected ones of the generated graphical representations.
15 . A method according to claim 14 , wherein the user interface provides functionality for viewing a sequence of graphical representations of part-models where each graphical representation is displayed for a predetermined period of time before the next graphical representation is automatically displayed.
16 . A method according to claim 12 , wherein the user interface further provides functionality for least one of printing at least one of the graphical representations and storing at least one of the graphical representations in a predetermined file format.
17 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined number is user-selectable.
18 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined number is between 1 and 6, preferably between 2 and 4.
19 . A method according to claim 1 , further comprising presenting the second graphical representation of the model together with a graphical representation of the additional building blocks which distinguish the second part model from the first part model.
20 . A method according to claim 1 , wherein the sequential construction order is indicative of a sequential order of construction operations in response to user commands, wherein the construction operations include one or more repositioning operations in which one or more previously added building blocks are repositioned within the virtual building block model.
21 . (canceled)
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24 . (canceled)
25 . (canceled)
26 . A computer readable medium comprising program code means adapted to cause a data processing system to
a) retrieve a digital representation of a building block model; wherein said digital representation is indicative of a sequential construction order in which a plurality of virtual building blocks have been positioned in response to user commands during a computer-implemented virtual construction process, said virtual construction process resulting in a virtual building block model; and
b) generate graphical representations of at least a first and a second part model of respective first and second subsets of said plurality of virtual building blocks; wherein the second subset includes the first subset and a predetermined number of additional virtual building blocks of said plurality of virtual building blocks; and wherein the additional virtual building blocks are subsequent to all virtual building blocks in the first subset with respect to a sequential instruction order derived from the sequential construction order.
27 . A computer readable medium according to claim 26 further comprising a component for performing the step of generating a digital representation of the building block model by means of a computer-implemented construction environment for interactively constructing a virtual building block model.