Solid modelling system with logic to discard redundant primitives
First Claim
1. A solid modelling system for generating a spatial representation of an object defined in terms of solid geometric primitives combined by a logical expression including one or more combinatorial logical operators, comprising:
- object definition means including a structure comprising a plurality of linked nodes for said primitives and for said operators;
first logic means for traversing at least certain of the nodes generating a table comprising a bitmap representing the logical expression or the part thereof defined at the operator nodes encountered during the traversal; and
second logic means for testing the bitmap for logical redundancies indicative of redundant geometric primitives.
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Abstract
A solid modelling system for generating a spatial representation of an object defined by a structure having a plurality of linked nodes representing the object in terms of solid geometric primitives combined by a logical expression, which is adapted to recognize redundant primitives automatically. Bitmap generation logic (BGL) is provided for traversing at least certain of the nodes in the structure for generating a bitmap representing the part of the logical expression defined in the traversed nodes and redundant primitive logic (RPL) is provided for testing the bitmap for logical redundancies indicative of redundant geometric primitives. Each bit in the bitmap is representative of a respective one of the constituents of the primitives, a constituent being the volume formed by the intersection of primitives or their complements, and, in order to test for the redundancy of a primitive u, the RPL tests for equivalence of the corresponding utrue and ufalse constituents in the bitmap. The BGL additinally generates a table of pointers to the primitives encountered during the traversal and the RPL deletes from the table a pointer to a primitive which is found to be redundant. Node generation logic (NGL) is provided for replacing the nodes traversed by the first logic by a single truth table node which comprises the modified bitmap produced by the RPL and pointers to nodes defining the remaining primitives. Logic may also be provided for processing a relevance map indicative of geometric information in combination with the bitmap.
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10 Claims
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1. A solid modelling system for generating a spatial representation of an object defined in terms of solid geometric primitives combined by a logical expression including one or more combinatorial logical operators, comprising:
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object definition means including a structure comprising a plurality of linked nodes for said primitives and for said operators; first logic means for traversing at least certain of the nodes generating a table comprising a bitmap representing the logical expression or the part thereof defined at the operator nodes encountered during the traversal; and second logic means for testing the bitmap for logical redundancies indicative of redundant geometric primitives. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification