IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,405,593

Granted Patent B2

US 12,405,593 · App. 17/978,836 · Granted Sep 2, 2025

Computer aided design with geometry filtering to facilitate manufacturing

Inventors: Benjamin McKittrick Weiss (Tualatin, OR); Jesus Rodriguez (Farmington, MI); Ebot Etchu Ndip-Agbor (Portland, OR); Nigel Jed Wesley Morris (Toronto, CA); Adrian Adam Thomas Butscher (Toronto, CA)

Assignee: Autodesk, Inc.

G05B19/4099 B33Y50/02 G05B2219/35134

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Quick Facts

Patent No.: US 12,405,593
App. No.: 17/978,836
Granted: Sep 2, 2025
Kind: B2

External Links

USPTO Patent Center↗ Full Patent PDF↗

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including medium-encoded computer program products, for computer aided design of physical structures using techniques that facilitate manufacturing, include: modifying a three dimensional shape, for which a corresponding physical structure is to be created using a manufacturing process, to produce a modified three dimensional shape; and providing the modified shape of the modeled object for use in manufacturing the physical structure using one or more computer-controlled manufacturing systems that employ the manufacturing process. The modifications can include, for each of two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape along a direction associated with the manufacturing process, extracting a two dimensional profile representation of the three dimensional shape in a current discrete layer, offsetting the two dimensional profile representation by an amount associated with the manufacturing process, and changing a next discrete layer using an offset two dimensional profile representation of the current discrete layer.

Claims (137)

1. A method comprising:

modifying, by a computer aided design program, a three dimensional shape of a modeled object, for which a corresponding physical structure is to be created using a manufacturing process, to produce a modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object, wherein the modifying comprises, for each of two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape along a direction associated with the manufacturing process,

extracting a two dimensional profile representation of the three dimensional shape in a current discrete layer, the two dimensional profile representation lying in a plane that is perpendicular to the direction associated with the manufacturing process,

offsetting the two dimensional profile representation by an amount associated with the manufacturing process to form an offset two dimensional profile representation of the current discrete layer, and

changing a next discrete layer using the offset two dimensional profile representation of the current discrete layer; and

providing, by the computer aided design program, the modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object for use in manufacturing the physical structure using one or more computer-controlled manufacturing systems that employ the manufacturing process.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises an additive manufacturing process, the direction is a build direction of the additive manufacturing process, and the offsetting comprises offsetting the two dimensional profile representation inward by the amount, which is determined in accordance with a maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process.

3. The method of claim 2 , comprising receiving the three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and wherein the modifying comprises preparing the three dimensional shape of the modeled object for the additive manufacturing process.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the three dimensional shape is a generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and the method comprises:

obtaining, by the computer aided design program, a design space for the modeled object, one or more design criteria for the modeled object; and

iteratively varying, by the computer aided design program, a geometry of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object in the design space in accordance with the one or more design criteria, wherein the iteratively varying comprises

performing numerical simulation of the modeled object in accordance with a current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape and at least one of the one or more design criteria to produce a current numerical assessment of the modeled object,

updating the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape based on the current numerical assessment to produce an updated version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object,

doing the modifying on the updated version to form a next version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and

repeating at least the performing, the updating, and the modifying until a predefined number of shape modification iterations have been performed, the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object in the design space satisfies the one or more design criteria, or both.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the changing comprises:

performing a Boolean union of the offset two dimensional profile representation with the next discrete layer to produce a larger sized two dimensional profile for the next discrete layer; and

adding geometry to the next discrete layer based on the larger sized two dimensional profile and a distance between the generatively designed three dimensional shape and a build platform for the additive manufacturing process.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the changing comprises:

computing an exterior skeleton of the next discrete layer;

producing a bridgeable two dimensional profile representation by inflating the exterior skeleton in accordance with a maximum bridging distance for the additive manufacturing process;

subtracting the bridgeable two dimensional profile representation from the offset two dimensional profile representation to produce a bridged two dimensional profile representation;

performing a Boolean union of the bridged two dimensional profile representation with the next discrete layer to produce a larger sized two dimensional profile for the next discrete layer; and

adding geometry to the next discrete layer based on the larger sized two dimensional profile.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the extracting comprises using interpolation to construct the two dimensional profile representation from the three dimensional shape in the current discrete layer.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the iteratively varying comprises optimizing a topology of the three dimensional shape of the modeled object.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the updating comprises, for each location in the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape that has a surface angle which exceeds the maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process:

adjusting an amount of change indicated by the current numerical assessment at the location in accordance with the build direction to lower the generatively designed three dimensional shape, with respect to a build platform for the additive manufacturing process, at the location; and

updating the current version of the three dimensional shape in accordance with the adjusting at each location.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the adjusting is performed in accordance with a scale factor, and the iteratively varying comprises increasing, over multiple iterations of the iteratively varying, the scale factor from zero to a non-zero target value.

11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the amount is set by an allowed overhang angle, and the offsetting comprises reducing, over multiple iterations of the iteratively varying, the allowed overhang angle from a first angle to the maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process.

12. The method of claim 4 , wherein the iteratively varying comprises producing, for each of multiple iterations, the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object by mixing the next version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape from a prior iteration with the updated version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape from the prior iteration, wherein an amount of the next version used in the mixing increases relative to an amount of the updated version, in each of two or more subsequent ones of the multiple iterations.

13. The method of claim 4 , wherein the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object comprises a level-set representation of an implicit surface of the modeled object, and the updating comprises updating the level-set representation in accordance with shape change velocities computed for the implicit surface based on the current numerical assessment.

14. The method of claim 4 , wherein the providing comprises:

generating toolpath specifications for an additive manufacturing machine using the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object; and

manufacturing at least a portion of the physical structure, or a mold for the physical structure, with the additive manufacturing machine using the toolpath specifications.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises a casting or molding process, the direction is a draw direction of the casting or molding process, and the offsetting comprises offsetting the two dimensional profile representation outward by the amount, which is determined in accordance with a minimum draft angle for the casting or molding process.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the amount varies across the two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises a molding process having two or more sides, the draw direction is a first draw direction of two or more draw directions corresponding to the two or more sides, the modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object is an output three dimensional shape of the modeled object, the extracting, offsetting and changing produces a first modified three dimensional shape, and the modifying further comprises:

producing a second modified three dimensional shape by, for each of two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape along a second draw direction of the two or more draw directions,

extracting a second two dimensional profile representation of the three dimensional shape in a second current discrete layer, the second two dimensional profile representation lying in a plane that is perpendicular to the second draw direction,

offsetting the second two dimensional profile representation outward by the amount to form a second offset two dimensional profile representation of the second current discrete layer, and

changing a second next discrete layer using the second offset two dimensional profile representation of the second current discrete layer; and

performing a Boolean intersection of the first modified three dimensional shape and the second modified three dimensional shape to produce the output three dimensional shape of the modeled object.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the providing comprises saving the three dimensional shape of the modeled object to a permanent storage device for use in manufacturing the physical structure using the one or more computer-controlled manufacturing systems.

19. A system comprising:

a non-transitory storage medium having instructions of a computer aided design program stored thereon; and

one or more data processing apparatus configured to run the instructions of the computer aided design program to cause the one or more data processing apparatus to:

modify, by a computer aided design program, a three dimensional shape of a modeled object, for which a corresponding physical structure is to be created using a manufacturing process, to produce a modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object, wherein the modifying comprises, for each of two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape along a direction associated with the manufacturing process,

changing a next discrete layer using the offset two dimensional profile representation of the current discrete layer; and

provide, by the computer aided design program, the modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object for use in manufacturing the physical structure using one or more computer-controlled manufacturing systems that employ the manufacturing process.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium encoding a computer aided design program operable to cause one or more data processing apparatus to perform operations comprising:

changing a next discrete layer using the offset two dimensional profile representation of the current discrete layer; and

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises an additive manufacturing process, the direction is a build direction of the additive manufacturing process, and the offsetting comprises offsetting the two dimensional profile representation inward by the amount, which is determined in accordance with a maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process.

22. The system of claim 21 , wherein the non-transitory storage medium has further instructions that when executed by the one or more data processing apparatus cause the one or more data processing operations to receive the three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and wherein the modifying comprises preparing the three dimensional shape of the modeled object for the additive manufacturing process.

23. The system of claim 21 , wherein the three dimensional shape is a generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and the non-transitory storage medium has further instructions that when executed by the one or more data processing apparatus cause the one or more data processing operations to:

obtain, by the computer aided design program, a design space for the modeled object, one or more design criteria for the modeled object; and

iteratively vary, by the computer aided design program, a geometry of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object in the design space in accordance with the one or more design criteria, wherein the iteratively varying comprises

doing the modifying on the updated version to form a next version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and

24. The system of claim 23 , wherein the changing comprises:

performing a Boolean union of the offset two dimensional profile representation with the next discrete layer to produce a larger sized two dimensional profile for the next discrete layer; and

25. The system of claim 23 , wherein the changing comprises:

computing an exterior skeleton of the next discrete layer;

producing a bridgeable two dimensional profile representation by inflating the exterior skeleton in accordance with a maximum bridging distance for the additive manufacturing process;

subtracting the bridgeable two dimensional profile representation from the offset two dimensional profile representation to produce a bridged two dimensional profile representation;

performing a Boolean union of the bridged two dimensional profile representation with the next discrete layer to produce a larger sized two dimensional profile for the next discrete layer; and

adding geometry to the next discrete layer based on the larger sized two dimensional profile.

26. The system of claim 23 , wherein the extracting comprises using interpolation to construct the two dimensional profile representation from the three dimensional shape in the current discrete layer.

27. The system of claim 23 , wherein the iteratively varying comprises optimizing a topology of the three dimensional shape of the modeled object.

28. The system of claim 27 , wherein the updating comprises, for each location in the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape that has a surface angle which exceeds the maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process:

updating the current version of the three dimensional shape in accordance with the adjusting at each location.

29. The system of claim 28 , wherein the adjusting is performed in accordance with a scale factor, and the iteratively varying comprises increasing, over multiple iterations of the iteratively varying, the scale factor from zero to a non-zero target value.

30. The system of claim 27 , wherein the amount is set by an allowed overhang angle, and the offsetting comprises reducing, over multiple iterations of the iteratively varying, the allowed overhang angle from a first angle to the maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process.

31. The system of claim 23 , wherein the iteratively varying comprises producing, for each of multiple iterations, the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object by mixing the next version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape from a prior iteration with the updated version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape from the prior iteration, wherein an amount of the next version used in the mixing increases relative to an amount of the updated version, in each of two or more subsequent ones of the multiple iterations.

32. The system of claim 23 , wherein the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object comprises a level-set representation of an implicit surface of the modeled object, and the updating comprises updating the level-set representation in accordance with shape change velocities computed for the implicit surface based on the current numerical assessment.

33. The system of claim 23 , wherein the providing comprises:

generating toolpath specifications for an additive manufacturing machine using the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object; and

manufacturing at least a portion of the physical structure, or a mold for the physical structure, with the additive manufacturing machine using the toolpath specifications.

34. The system of claim 19 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises a casting or molding process, the direction is a draw direction of the casting or molding process, and the offsetting comprises offsetting the two dimensional profile representation outward by the amount, which is determined in accordance with a minimum draft angle for the casting or molding process.

35. The system of claim 34 , wherein the amount varies across the two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape.

36. The system of claim 34 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises a molding process having two or more sides, the draw direction is a first draw direction of two or more draw directions corresponding to the two or more sides, the modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object is an output three dimensional shape of the modeled object, the extracting, offsetting and changing produces a first modified three dimensional shape, and the modifying further comprises:

producing a second modified three dimensional shape by, for each of two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape along a second draw direction of the two or more draw directions,

offsetting the second two dimensional profile representation outward by the amount to form a second offset two dimensional profile representation of the second current discrete layer, and

changing a second next discrete layer using the second offset two dimensional profile representation of the second current discrete layer; and

performing a Boolean intersection of the first modified three dimensional shape and the second modified three dimensional shape to produce the output three dimensional shape of the modeled object.

37. The system of claim 19 , wherein the providing comprises saving the three dimensional shape of the modeled object to a permanent storage device for use in manufacturing the physical structure using the one or more computer-controlled manufacturing systems.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises an additive manufacturing process, the direction is a build direction of the additive manufacturing process, and the offsetting comprises offsetting the two dimensional profile representation inward by the amount, which is determined in accordance with a maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38 , wherein the operations comprise receiving the three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and wherein the modifying comprises preparing the three dimensional shape of the modeled object for the additive manufacturing process.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 38 , wherein the three dimensional shape is a generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and the operations comprise:

obtaining, by the computer aided design program, a design space for the modeled object, one or more design criteria for the modeled object; and

doing the modifying on the updated version to form a next version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object, and

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the changing comprises:

performing a Boolean union of the offset two dimensional profile representation with the next discrete layer to produce a larger sized two dimensional profile for the next discrete layer; and

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the changing comprises:

computing an exterior skeleton of the next discrete layer;

producing a bridgeable two dimensional profile representation by inflating the exterior skeleton in accordance with a maximum bridging distance for the additive manufacturing process;

subtracting the bridgeable two dimensional profile representation from the offset two dimensional profile representation to produce a bridged two dimensional profile representation;

performing a Boolean union of the bridged two dimensional profile representation with the next discrete layer to produce a larger sized two dimensional profile for the next discrete layer; and

adding geometry to the next discrete layer based on the larger sized two dimensional profile.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the extracting comprises using interpolation to construct the two dimensional profile representation from the three dimensional shape in the current discrete layer.

44. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the iteratively varying comprises optimizing a topology of the three dimensional shape of the modeled object.

45. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 44 , wherein the updating comprises, for each location in the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape that has a surface angle which exceeds the maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process:

updating the current version of the three dimensional shape in accordance with the adjusting at each location.

46. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 45 , wherein the adjusting is performed in accordance with a scale factor, and the iteratively varying comprises increasing, over multiple iterations of the iteratively varying, the scale factor from zero to a non-zero target value.

47. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 44 , wherein the amount is set by an allowed overhang angle, and the offsetting comprises reducing, over multiple iterations of the iteratively varying, the allowed overhang angle from a first angle to the maximum overhang angle for the additive manufacturing process.

48. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the iteratively varying comprises producing, for each of multiple iterations, the current version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object by mixing the next version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape from a prior iteration with the updated version of the generatively designed three dimensional shape from the prior iteration, wherein an amount of the next version used in the mixing increases relative to an amount of the updated version, in each of two or more subsequent ones of the multiple iterations.

49. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object comprises a level-set representation of an implicit surface of the modeled object, and the updating comprises updating the level-set representation in accordance with shape change velocities computed for the implicit surface based on the current numerical assessment.

50. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the providing comprises:

generating toolpath specifications for an additive manufacturing machine using the generatively designed three dimensional shape of the modeled object; and

manufacturing at least a portion of the physical structure, or a mold for the physical structure, with the additive manufacturing machine using the toolpath specifications.

51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises a casting or molding process, the direction is a draw direction of the casting or molding process, and the offsetting comprises offsetting the two dimensional profile representation outward by the amount, which is determined in accordance with a minimum draft angle for the casting or molding process.

52. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 51 , wherein the amount varies across the two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape.

53. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 51 , wherein the manufacturing process comprises a molding process having two or more sides, the draw direction is a first draw direction of two or more draw directions corresponding to the two or more sides, the modified three dimensional shape of the modeled object is an output three dimensional shape of the modeled object, the extracting, offsetting and changing produces a first modified three dimensional shape, and the modifying further comprises:

producing a second modified three dimensional shape by, for each of two or more discrete layers of the three dimensional shape along a second draw direction of the two or more draw directions,

offsetting the second two dimensional profile representation outward by the amount to form a second offset two dimensional profile representation of the second current discrete layer, and

changing a second next discrete layer using the second offset two dimensional profile representation of the second current discrete layer; and

performing a Boolean intersection of the first modified three dimensional shape and the second modified three dimensional shape to produce the output three dimensional shape of the modeled object.

54. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein the providing comprises saving the three dimensional shape of the modeled object to a permanent storage device for use in manufacturing the physical structure using the one or more computer-controlled manufacturing systems.

Assignments (1)

ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 22, 2022

From: WEISS, BENJAMIN MCKITTRICK; RODRIGUEZ, JESUS; NDIP-AGBOR, EBOT ETCHU; MORRIS, NIGEL JED WESLEY; BUTSCHER, ADRIAN ADAM THOMAS

To: AUTODESK, INC.

Reel/Frame 061859/0549 →

Continuity (2)

Provisional Application 63280530 · Nov 17, 2021

Related Publication 20230152778A1 · May 18, 2023

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