Automatic construction of curvilinear solids from wireframe views (Q1110250)

An algorithm is presented that finds all solids that fit with a set of two or three bidimensional drafting views, a problem that has many applications in CADCAM. The views are orthogonal projections of the wireframe, and hidden parts are not removed. The solids must be bounded by planar, cylindrical, conical or toroidal surfaces. Axes of cylindrical, conical or toroidal surfaces must be parallel to the directions of projections and must intersect in straight lines or circles. The algorithm first builds an intermediate three-dimensional wireframe, then a heuristic is used to find edges between tangent surfaces that are usually not drawn. Faces are then built from this wireframe and the algorithm sorts them to construct a solid.