Unit 2 (Detail)
Unit 2 (Detail)
Unit 2 (Detail)
Curves: Methods of defining Point, Line and Circle, Curve representation - Cartesian and Parametric
space, Analytical and Synthetic curves, Parametric equation of line, circle, ellipse, Continuity (C0, C1 &
C2), Synthetic Curves - Hermit Cubic Spline, Bezier, B-Spline Curve, Non-Uniform Rational B-Spline
curves (NURBS) Surfaces: Surface representation, Types of Surfaces, Bezier, B-Spline, NURBS
Surface, Coons patch surface, Surface Modeling.
Reverse Engineering: Introduction, Point Cloud Data (PCD), PCD file formats, Quality issues in PCD,
Requirements for conversion of surface models into solid models, Applications of PCD.
Wireframe Modeling:
A wire-frame model is a visual representation of a three-dimensional (3D) physical object used
in 3D computer graphics. It is created by specifying each edge of the physical object where two
mathematically continuous smooth surfaces
meet, or by connecting an object's
constituent vertices using
(straight) lines or curves.
In simple words it is a model created by
joining finite set of points, forming pairs
(linear or curvature) of these points for
visualization and analysis.
The object is projected into screen
space and rendered by drawing lines at the
location of each edge.
A wire-frame model allows for the
visualization of the underlying design
structure of a 3D model compared to
Traditional two-dimensional views and drawings/renderings which can be created by the
appropriate rotation of the object, and the selection of hidden line removal via cutting planes.
Since wire-frame renderings are relatively simple and fast to calculate, they are often used in
cases where a relatively high screen frame rate is needed (for instance, when working with a
particularly complex 3D model, or in real-time systems that model exterior phenomena).
When greater graphical detail is desired, surface textures can be added automatically after the
completion of the initial rendering of the wire frame. This allows a designer to quickly review
solids, or rotates objects to different views without the long delays associated with more
realistic rendering, or even the processing of faces and simple flat shading.
To define a wire frame model, certain rules and constraints are form to minimize the possibility
of any errors in object presentation. The four major rules or constraints, which must be satisfied
for any wire frame model, are:
a) Each point must be well defined in three dimensional spaces.
b) Each edge must be associated with just two endpoints.
c) The edges must form a closed loop.
d) No faces should be self-intersecting.
It is observed that in spite of the above constraints being fulfilled, three dimensional wire frames
still fail in two major areas: lack of validity and ambiguity. The object fulfills all the above
mentioned requirements. However despite this, it faced the problem of lack of validity.
Wire frame models may also generate ambiguous objects. It is possible to create a wire frame
which can be interpreted to represent more than one real object.
Geometrical Curves:
All existing CAD/CAM systems provide users with curve entities, which can be divided into analytic
and synthetic entities. Analytic entities are points, lines, arcs and circles, fillets and chambers, and
conics (ellipses, parabolas and hyperbolas). Synthetic entities include various types of spline (cubic
spline and B-spline) and Bezier curves.
Methods of defining points
Methods of defining lines:
Defining points Horizontal (Parallel to X or Y Axis)
B spline curve with given set of data points with B spline curve with given set of data points with
curve interpolation curve extrapolation
Curve Representation
Continuity (C0, C1 & C2)
Introduction to Surfaces:
Shape design and the representation of complex objects such as car, ship, and airplane bodies as well as
castings cannot be achieved utilizing the curves covered in earlier. In such cases, surfaces must be
utilized to describe objects precisely and accurately. We create surfaces, and then we use them to cut
and trim solid features and primitives to obtain the models of the complex objects. Surface creation
usually begins with data points or curves. Surface creation on CAD/CAM systems usually requires
curves as a start. A surface might require two boundary curves, as in the case of a ruled surface that we
cover in this chapter. All curves covered in Chapter 6 can be used to generate surfaces. In order to
visualize surfaces on computer screen, a mesh, say in n in size, is usually displayed. The mesh size is
controllable by the user. It shows their underlying theory and how to use them in geometric modeling.
Surface Entities
During surface creation on a CAD/CAM system, you should follow the modeling guidelines and
strategies. Moreover, you should be careful when selecting curves to create surfaces. Selecting the
mismatching ends of curves results in twisted surfaces. The figure shows how the wrong ruled surface is
created if its defining curves are selected near the wrong ends. The +‘s in the figure indicate the
selection locations. In such a case, the user deletes the surface and re-creates it by selecting the matching
ends. As a general rule, a CAD system uses the midpoint of a curve to interpret the user’s click on a
curve. If the click is on the right half of the curve, its right end point is selected, and vice versa.
Visualization of a surface is aided by the addition of artificial fairing lines (called mesh), which
crisscross the surface and so break it up into a network of interconnected patches. The default setting of
a CAD system does not display a surface mesh the surface is displayed with its four boundary curves
only. In such a case, the mesh size is 2 x 2. (All surfaces that we create define rectangular patches.) We
can change the default mesh size. CAD systems provide users with a menu that allows them to specify
the mesh size. Figure, shows surfaces of revolutions with mesh sizes of 4 x 4 and 20 x 20. It should be
mentioned that a finer mesh size for a surface does not improve its mathematical representation; it only
improves its visualization. Finally, some CAD/CAM systems do not permit their users to delete curves
used to create surfaces unless the latter are deleted first.
As with curves, CAD/CAM systems provide designers with both analytic and synthetic surface entities.
Analytic entities include plane surface, ruled surface, and surface of revolution and tabulated cylinder.
Synthetic entities include bicubic Hermite spline surface, B-spline surface, rectangular and triangular
Bezier patches, rectangular and triangular Coons patches, and NURBS (nonuniform B-splines).
The mathematical properties of some of these entities are covered in this chapter. Following are
descriptions of major surfaces:
1. Plane surface: It is the simplest surface. It requires three non-coincident points to define an infinite
plane. The plane surface can be used to generate cross sections by intersecting a solid with it.
2. Ruled (lofted) surface: It is a linear surface. It interpolates linearly between two boundary curves that
define the surface (rails). Rails can be any curves, this surface is ideal for representing surfaces that
do not have any twists or kinks.
8. Fillet surface: It is a B-spline surface that blends two surfaces together as shown in Figure.
The two original surfaces may or may not be trimmed.
9. Offset surface: Existing surfaces can be offset to create new ones identical in shape hut with
different dimensions. It is a useful surface to use to speed up surface creation. For example, to
create a hollow cylinder, the outer or inner cylinder can he created using a cylinder command
and the other one can he created by an offset command. The offset surface command becomes
very efficient to use if the original surface is a composite one. Figure, shows an offset surface.
A plane surface defined by three points A plane surface define by point and two directions
Hermite Bicubic Surface
The parametric bicubic surface patch connects four corner data points and utilizes bicubic equation.
Therefore, sixteen vector conditions (or 48 scalar conditions) are required to find the coefficients of the
equation. When these coefficients are the four corner data points, the eight tangent vectors at the corner
points (two at each point in the u and v directions), and the four twist vectors at the corner points, a
Hermite bicubic surface patch results. The bicubic equation can be written as:
NURBS:
Reverse Engineering:
• Reverse engineering, also called back engineering, is the process by which a man-made object is
deconstructed to reveal its designs, architecture, code or to extract knowledge from the object;
similar to scientific research, the only difference being that scientific research is about a natural
phenomenon.
• Reverse engineering is applicable in the fields of computer engineering, mechanical engineering,
electronic engineering, software engineering, chemical engineering, and systems biology.
• We cannot start from the very beginning to develop a new product every time. We need to
optimize the resources available in our hands and reduce the production time keeping in view the
customers’ requirements. For such cases, RE is an efficient approach to significantly reduce the
product development cycle. For example: Impeller Pump Design.
• Advantages:
1. Cost saving for developing new products.
2. Lesser maintenance cost.
3. Quality improvement.
RE Process:
1) Digitization of the object/ Data Capturing (using CMM, scanners etc.)
2) Processing of measured data.
3) Creation of CAD model
4) Prototype
Applications:
1) Manufacturing Engineering
a) To create 3D virtual model of an existing physical part for use in 3D CAD, CAM,
CAE or other software.
b) To make a digital 3D record of own products
c) To assess competitors products
d) To analyze the working of a product
e) To identify potential patent infringement etc.
2) Software Engineering
a) To extract design & implementation information
b) To detect and neutralize viruses and malware Chemical Engineering
c) To determine chemical composition
d) To substitute or improve recipes to stimulate or improve the products performance.
3) Film-Entertainment Industry
a) Animated objects are imparted motion using the reverse engineered human skeletons.
4) Medical Field
a) Applications in orthopedic, dental & reconstructive surgery
b) Imaging, modeling and replication (as a physical model) of a patients bone structure
c) Models can be viewed & physically handled before surgery, benefiting in evaluation
of the procedure & implant fit in difficult cases
d) Less risk to the patient and reduced cost through saving in theatre time.
e) Medical Field Applications like Hip Replacement.
Disadvantages:
a) The large amount of surface data generated from the fast 3D digitizers is not easily
modeled by current CAD/CAM systems. Inadequate data reduction methods are not
only time consuming, but lose surface characteristic points.
b) Consequently, the reconstructed surfaces could lose their true shape in the design
cycle. The time required for reprocessing in this case would be unacceptable to the
manufacturing industry and thereby be unusable for further steps.
Reverse engineering in CAD
Reverse engineering typically involves any number of these steps:
a) Point cloud manipulation (filtering, smoothing, decimation, etc.)
b) Mesh generation and optimization
c) Mesh healing and repair
d) Generation of parametric model from mesh
Point cloud data:
A point cloud is a set of data points in space. Point clouds are generally produced by 3D scanners, which
measure many points on the external surfaces of objects around them. As the output of 3D scanning
processes, point clouds are used for many purposes, including to create 3D CAD models for
manufactured parts, for metrology and quality inspection, and for a multitude of visualization,
animation, rendering and mass customization applications. Point clouds are often aligned with 3D
models or with other point clouds, a process known as point set registration. For industrial metrology or
inspection using industrial computed tomography, the point cloud of a manufactured part can be aligned
to an existing model and compared to check for differences. Geometric dimensions and tolerances can
also be extracted directly from the point cloud. While point clouds can be directly rendered and
inspected, point clouds are often converted to polygon mesh or triangle mesh models, NURBS surface
models, or CAD models through a process commonly referred to as surface reconstruction. There are
many techniques for converting a point cloud to a 3D surface. Some approaches, like Delaunay
triangulation, alpha shapes, and ball pivoting, build a network of triangles over the existing vertices of
the point cloud, while other approaches convert the point cloud into a volumetric distance field and
reconstruct the implicit surface so defined through a marching cubes algorithm. In geographic
information systems, point clouds are one of the sources used to make digital elevation model of the
terrain. They are also used to generate 3D models of urban environments. Drones are often used to
collect a series of RGB images which can be later processed on a Computer Vision Algorithm platform
such as on AgiSoft Photoscan or Pix4D or DroneDeploy to create RGB point clouds from where
distances and volumetric estimations can be made. Point clouds can also be used to represent volumetric
data, as is sometimes done in medical imaging. Using point clouds, multi-sampling and data
compression can be achieved.