Free-Hand Sketched Solid Models and Their Modification

Summary

With the solid modelling technique described in this paper, the user simply sketches the desired component in oblique projection with an electronic pen on a graphics tablet. The software can transform the sketch into a solid model representation in a continuous automatic process. Several methods have also been devised by the present investigators to interactively modify the size and the shape of the solid model, as desired. The sketching approach permits the designer to easily create an initial representation and to subsequently obtain a complete computer solid model. Modelling time can thus be reduced and less computer memory is needed for creating solid model representations. The free-hand sketching technique may even be used by novices to create solid models because there are no graphics commands to remember. Furthermore, this technique offers the most obvious merit when non-standard components need to be modelled. Thus, the utilization and productivity of expensive CADCAM systems may be increased.