Digital prototype physical model construction method and system based on real-time 3D engine and electronic equipment

Abstract

The invention discloses a digital prototype physical model construction method and system based on a real-time 3D engine and electronic equipment, and belongs to the technical field of digital twinning. The method comprises the steps of obtaining an original assembly model and a BOM file; carrying out geometric lightweight processing on the model; importing a real-time 3D engine; the BOM is analyzed in the engine, and the parts are instantiated automatically to complete virtual assembly; carrying out design inspection such as interference, accessibility and part missing on the assembly body; and interactive functions such as dynamic sectioning and motion simulation are provided. The corresponding system comprises a data processing module, a lightweight module, an engine integration module, a virtual assembly module, a design inspection module and the like. According to the method, the problems that a traditional CAD model is poor in interactivity and disjointed with engineering data are solved, static data in the design stage are converted into a high-fidelity and interactive immersive virtual prototype, early-stage efficient verification of assemblability and maintainability is achieved, the design review efficiency and quality are remarkably improved, and the development cost and risk are reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the fields of digital twin and computer-aided design technology, and more specifically, to a method, system, and electronic device for constructing a digital prototype physical model based on a real-time 3D engine. Background Technology

[0002] A digital prototype, also known as a digital model or virtual prototype, is a virtual prototype of a product built using computer technology. It simulates the product's geometry, function, and performance and is a crucial component of the digital modeling system. The form of a digital prototype varies depending on the different needs of the product design, manufacturing, and delivery stages. In the product design stage, it is typically necessary to create design requirement models, functional models, performance models, and physical models to digitally describe the product's design. The physical model mainly describes the product's geometric characteristics and physical attributes, and includes two important components: the geometric design model and the Bill of Materials (BOM). The geometric design model refers to a complete assembly model of all structural components, system equipment, and accessories, including two-dimensional drawings and a three-dimensional model. The BOM, on the other hand, contains information on the product's manufacturing requirements, reflecting the product and component attributes and the design relationships between systems / components.

[0003] In traditional product development processes, CAD software (such as UG / NX, CATIA, SolidWorks, etc.) is typically used to build 3D models of products, showcasing their geometry and assembly. However, some extremely complex industrial products, such as aero engines, gas turbines, aircraft, and submarines, consist of a vast number of highly precise, diverse, and interconnected components and subsystems. These require design verification and assembly checks to be performed in virtual space as much as possible to reduce costs and shorten development cycles. Simply performing lightweighting operations in CAD software cannot solve problems such as insufficient model interactivity, difficulties in data integration, and low collaboration efficiency, making it difficult to support immersive, highly flexible design reviews and assembly verification.

[0004] In recent years, real-time 3D engines (such as Unreal Engine, Unity, and MakeReal3D) have been applied in engineering fields such as virtual assembly and virtual testing due to their powerful real-time rendering and physical interaction simulation capabilities. Existing technologies include solutions that utilize Unreal Engine for assembly process simulation or to build digital prototypes for algorithm verification. However, these solutions either focus on process optimization during the manufacturing stage or serve specific algorithm testing, and none have proposed a complete, systematic approach for the product design stage that can deeply integrate design data (CAD geometry and BOM) and achieve physical model construction, automated assembly inspection, and immersive review in a high-fidelity, interactive virtual environment.

[0005] Therefore, how to introduce the advantages of real-time 3D engines into the product design front end, solve the problem of converting static models into dynamic interactive prototypes, and achieve early and efficient verification of assemblability and maintainability in the design phase has become an urgent problem to be solved in this field. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The purpose of this invention is to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art and provide a method, system and electronic device for constructing a digital prototype physical model based on a real-time 3D engine, so as to transform static data in the design stage into a dynamic, interactive and immersive experience, thereby enabling efficient assembly verification and design review in the early stages of design.

[0007] To achieve the above objectives, the present invention adopts the following technical solution: In a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for constructing a digital prototype physical model based on a real-time 3D engine, comprising: Step S1: Obtain the original assembly model generated by professional modeling software and its corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM) file; Step S2: Perform geometric lightweighting on the original assembly model to generate a lightweight assembly model; Step S3: Import the lightweight assembly model into the resource manager of the real-time 3D engine; Step S4: In the real-time 3D engine, the BOM file is parsed, and based on the parsing results and the mapping relationship between the parts in the lightweight assembly model, an instantiated model of each part is generated in the scene of the real-time 3D engine to complete the virtual assembly of the digital prototype. Step S5: In the real-time 3D engine, perform at least one design check on the completed virtual assembly of the digital prototype.

[0008] Preferably, the method further includes step S6: providing interactive operation functions for the digital prototype in the real-time 3D engine, wherein the interactive operation functions include at least one of dynamic section display, component motion simulation, and displaying associated information when clicking on a part.

[0009] Secondly, the present invention provides a digital prototype physical model construction system based on a real-time 3D engine, comprising: The data processing module is used to receive and store the original assembly model generated by professional modeling software and its corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM) file; The lightweight module is used to perform geometric lightweighting on the original assembly model to generate a lightweight assembly model. An engine integration module, which communicates with a real-time 3D engine, is used to import the lightweight assembly model into the resource manager of the real-time 3D engine. The virtual assembly module, deployed in the real-time 3D engine, is used to parse the BOM file and, based on the mapping relationship between the parsing results and the parts in the lightweight assembly model, automatically generate instantiated models of each part in the scene of the real-time 3D engine to complete the virtual assembly of the digital prototype. The design check module, deployed in the real-time 3D engine, is used to perform at least one design check on the digital prototype that has been virtually assembled.

[0010] Preferably, the system further includes an interactive display module, which is deployed in the real-time 3D engine and is used to provide interactive operation functions for the digital prototype. The interactive operation functions include at least one of dynamic sectioning, motion control, and information query.

[0011] Thirdly, the present invention provides an electronic device including a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, wherein the processor executes the computer program to implement the above-described method.

[0012] Beneficial effects: Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows: 1. This invention achieves deep automatic fusion of geometric models and engineering BOM data, ensuring consistency between virtual assembly and real engineering logic, and improving data traceability and assembly accuracy.

[0013] 2. This invention, by leveraging the high-fidelity rendering and physics engine of a real-time 3D engine, provides an immersive visualization and interactive experience that traditional CAD software cannot match, making verification work such as interference inspection and maintenance accessibility simulation more intuitive and efficient.

[0014] 3. This invention enables the virtual discovery and correction of many assembly problems that would otherwise only be found in the physical prototype stage, to be carried out in the digital design stage, which significantly reduces the development cost and cycle.

[0015] 4. The method and system architecture described in this invention are clear. Its data processing, model conversion and engine integration are not tied to the underlying software of a specific brand. Through modular design, it achieves good universality and scalability. Attached Figure Description

[0016] Figure 1 This is an overall flowchart of the digital prototype physical model construction method provided in the embodiments of the present invention; Figure 2 This is a detailed flowchart of virtual assembly based on BOM in an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 The structural block diagram of the digital prototype physical model construction system provided by the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0017] The embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0018] The following specific examples illustrate the implementation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can easily understand other advantages and effects of the present invention from the content disclosed in this specification. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, and not all of them. The present invention can also be implemented or applied through other different specific embodiments, and the details in this specification can also be modified or changed based on different viewpoints and applications without departing from the spirit of the present invention. It should be noted that, in the absence of conflict, the following embodiments and features in the embodiments can be combined with each other. All other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0019] This invention provides a method for constructing a digital prototype physical model based on a real-time 3D engine, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the construction method mainly includes the following steps: Step S1: Obtain the original assembly model and corresponding BOM file This step obtains the original assembly model generated by professional modeling software and its corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM) file.

[0020] Specifically, first, a 3D geometric model of the part is created in professional modeling software (such as UG, SolidWorks, etc.), assigning key information such as material to the part; then, the part is assembled in the professional modeling software to form an original assembly model and generate the corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM). Next, the complete 3D model file of the original assembly (e.g., .stp, .igs format) and the corresponding structured engineering Bill of Materials (BOM) file (e.g., .xml, .csv format) are exported from the professional modeling software. The BOM file should at least contain key information such as part number (ID), name, quantity, and assembly level.

[0021] Step S2: Lightweighting of Part Geometry This step performs geometric lightweighting on the original assembly model to generate a lightweight assembly model.

[0022] Specifically, the original assembly model is imported using professional lightweight simplification software (such as Pixyz Studio or CADdoctor). Then, through automated scripts or manual settings, operations such as removing small features that do not affect the assembly (such as small chamfers or drill holes), reducing the number of facets in the model (such as reducing the number of triangle faces), and cleaning up the topology (such as repairing broken faces and merging duplicate vertices) are performed to geometrically lightweight the model, generating a lightweight assembly model to reduce the model's data size. After processing, it is exported to a lightweight format supported by the real-time 3D engine (such as .fbx or .obj) to avoid lag when importing into the real-time 3D engine for interaction.

[0023] Step S3: Import the lightweight assembly model into the real-time 3D engine and set up resources The lightweight assembly model file is imported into the resource manager of the target real-time 3D engine (such as Unreal Engine, Unity, MakeReal3D, etc.). In the engine's resource manager, the model is decomposed into multiple independent lightweight part static mesh assets. To achieve realistic rendering effects, corresponding material libraries and physical material libraries are established in the engine based on the material selection information of the assembly parts. The material library is used to define the surface rendering attributes (such as color and texture) of the parts in the real-time 3D engine scene, and determines how the light source interacts with the object surface (such as reflectivity). The physical material library is established based on the physical properties of materials such as density and Poisson's ratio, and is used to define the physical properties of the parts, such as density, friction, and elasticity.

[0024] Step S4: Virtual assembly of digital prototype based on BOM in real-time 3D engine This step involves parsing the BOM file in a real-time 3D engine and generating instantiated models of each part in the scene of the real-time 3D engine based on the mapping relationship between the parsing results and the parts in the lightweight assembly model, in order to complete the virtual assembly of the digital prototype.

[0025] Specifically, since a Bill of Materials (BOM) reflects the attributes of a product and its components, as well as the design relationships between systems / components, and includes information such as the number, hierarchy, and other details of all parts required to assemble the product, integrating the BOM into the virtual assembly process allows virtual assembly to possess the same logic and traceability as real engineering. Therefore, as... Figure 2 As shown, this step specifically includes the following steps: Step S41: First, create a structure in the real-time 3D engine, add variables corresponding to the BOM file to the structure, write a parser to read the BOM file generated in step S1, convert it into a data structure (such as a data table) that can be operated internally by the engine, and store it in the structure. Then, parse the BOM file and extract the part identification information, quantity, and assembly hierarchy information contained therein.

[0026] Step S42: Establish a mapping relationship between the parsed part identification information and the corresponding lightweight part static mesh asset in the engine resource manager. In a preferred embodiment, the part number is used as a unique mapping key to establish the mapping relationship; in addition, a unique association identifier is also established with the corresponding part number when the part geometry model is exported. Of course, it is understood that the part number is only one example of part identification information, and the part identification information can also be the part name, code, or a combination thereof, used to uniquely determine the correspondence between BOM entries and geometry models.

[0027] Step S43: Finally, this mapping relationship is traversed using programming or scripting tools (such as C++ / Blueprint visual programming tools in Unreal Engine UE, or C# in Unity Engine). This involves traversing the BOM file and dynamically generating (instantiating) each part's mesh asset in the 3D scene according to the assembly hierarchy in the BOM. This results in an instantiated model for each part. During instantiation, preset materials and physical materials are automatically assigned to the part, and information from the part's BOM file (such as ID and name) is associated with and attached to the instantiated model as metadata. This accurately recreates the entire assembly in the real-time 3D engine scene without the need for manual dragging and positioning. Furthermore, the assembly model exported from professional modeling software contains the spatial position information of each part after assembly. This information remains after being imported into the real-time 3D engine using lightweight software. Therefore, the part instances generated in the real-time 3D engine scene based on the BOM will recreate their positions within the assembly without requiring repositioning. The virtual assembly of the digital prototype is completed through the above process.

[0028] Step S5: Digital Prototype Design Check This step involves performing at least one design check on the completed virtual assembly digital prototype in a real-time 3D engine.

[0029] Specifically, after virtual assembly is completed, the built-in functions of the real-time 3D engine are used for automated checks, including interference checks, accessibility checks, and missing parts checks. This helps structural designers check the assemblability of the product before processing and manufacturing, avoiding assembly problems during the actual assembly process.

[0030] Interference checking aims to ensure that any two parts do not overlap or collide in their spatial positions after assembly, verifying the feasibility of the structural design. This is achieved by detecting overlapping objects in a real-time 3D engine using physical collision detection, highlighting overlapping parts for easy observation. Specifically, collision detection is enabled for each part instance, and appropriate collision boundaries are set. By traversing all part pairs or utilizing the engine's collision lookup system, parts with volume overlap (interference) at their assembly positions are quickly detected and highlighted on the interface.

[0031] In this embodiment of the invention, real-time 3D engine software generally includes collision detection functionality, but the specific operations differ between different software. Taking Unreal Engine (UE) as an example, the specific collision detection operation is as follows: First, configure a collision detection body for each part's corresponding mesh object that can be queried, and enable an overlap-based collision detection mechanism (check "Generate Overlap Events"), allowing the part to participate in the collision query without creating actual physical obstruction (check "Collision Enabled"). Then, by setting the collision detection mode and overlap event response rules for the mesh object, when the collision detection bodies of two parts overlap in spatial position, the system automatically triggers an overlap detection event or performs an overlap query operation, thereby determining that there is a spatial interference relationship between the corresponding parts. It is understood that, in addition to the above-mentioned collision detection function, it can also be implemented by launching a dedicated plugin for object interference checking; in UE, the above operations can also be implemented automatically in batches through C++ or Blueprint visual programming.

[0032] Accessibility check: Its purpose is to ensure that during assembly, maintenance, and repair, hands, tools, or robots can smoothly reach the target part and perform specific operations. Specifically, first, a simplified collision model representing a tool or hand is created in the scene of the real-time 3D engine, simulating the operation of the tool or virtual character, and simulating actions such as reaching, picking up, and rotating the tool. Then, the model is controlled by a script to move along a preset or manually operated path, and collision detection is used in real time to determine whether it can reach and contact the target part or assembly position without obstruction or interference.

[0033] Parts Missing Item Check: Its purpose is to check for missing parts based on the Bill of Materials (BOM) to avoid overlooking critical components, which could lead to quality issues or safety hazards. Specifically, in the real-time 3D engine, programming or scripting tools are used to compare the list of instantiated part models actually existing in the real-time 3D engine scene with the part list obtained from the BOM parsing. This checks whether all parts listed in the BOM are present in the real-time 3D engine scene and whether the part quantities are consistent, thus quickly verifying for missing or incorrect quantities and generating an inspection report. Simultaneously, a UI interface is created to display the inspection results within the real-time 3D engine scene.

[0034] Step S6: Interactive Demonstration of Digital Prototype This step provides interactive operation functions for the digital prototype in the real-time 3D engine. The interactive operation functions include at least one of dynamic section display, component motion simulation, and displaying related information when clicking on a part.

[0035] Specifically, first, a scene matching the physical model of the digital prototype is created in a real-time 3D engine, such as an assembly workshop, test bench, or technology exhibition hall. Then, the physical model of the digital prototype is generated within the scene according to steps S1-S5, and assembly checks are completed. Finally, a virtual environment (such as an assembly workshop or exhibition hall) is constructed for review. Interactive operation functions for the digital prototype are developed using programming or scripting tools. These interactive operation functions may include one or more of the following: Dynamic cross-section display: In a real-time 3D engine, dynamic cross-sectioning of the physical model of a digital prototype can be achieved by cutting materials and setting clipping planes. Simultaneously, the position and orientation of the cutting material or clipping plane can be adjusted in real time based on user input. For example, taking material cross-sectioning as an example, by calculating the distance between each pixel of the material and the cutting plane, pixels on the other side of the plane are masked, thus achieving a real-time cross-section effect. Users can freely move and rotate the cutting plane to observe the internal structure of the digital prototype.

[0036] Component Motion Simulation: Add rotational animation components to rotating parts (such as rotors), allowing real-time speed control via a UI slider. This can be linked with external simulation data to visually display the dynamic state. Specifically, a UI interface is added to the real-time 3D engine scene to set the rotor system speed value. Programming or scripting tools are used to control the rotation of rotor components in the digital prototype physical model in the scene based on this speed value. The speed value can be combined with simulation results from aerodynamics, strength, and thermodynamics, thereby enriching the content displayed on the digital prototype.

[0037] Clicking on a part displays associated information (information query): Create mouse click detection so that when a user clicks on any part in the scene, the UI immediately displays the BOM information, material properties, etc. associated with that part, making it easy for the user to query information.

[0038] This invention also provides a digital prototype physical model construction system based on a real-time 3D engine, corresponding to the above method, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the system includes: The data processing module 301 is used to interface with professional modeling software, receive and store the original assembly model generated by it and its corresponding engineering bill of materials (BOM) file.

[0039] The lightweight module 302 integrates or calls external lightweight software services to perform model optimization tasks, which are used to perform geometric lightweighting on the original assembly model and generate a lightweight assembly model.

[0040] Engine integration module 303 is responsible for communication and data exchange with the real-time 3D engine. It is used to import lightweight assembly models into the resource manager of the real-time 3D engine to complete the import of model resources.

[0041] The virtual assembly module 304, as the core logic unit, runs within the real-time 3D engine. It is used to parse the BOM file and, based on the mapping relationship between the parsing results and the parts in the lightweight assembly model, automatically generate instantiated models of each part in the scene of the real-time 3D engine to complete the virtual assembly of the digital prototype.

[0042] Design inspection module 305, which also runs within the real-time 3D engine, integrates calling logic for various inspection algorithms. It is used to perform at least one design inspection on the completed virtual assembly digital prototype, including interference inspection, accessibility inspection, and part missing inspection.

[0043] The interactive display module 306, deployed in the real-time 3D engine, is responsible for building the user interface and processing interactive events, and is used to provide digital prototypes with at least one interactive operation function among dynamic sectioning, motion control, and information query.

[0044] This invention also provides an electronic device. The electronic device includes at least one processor, a memory, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor. When the processor executes the computer program, it controls the electronic device to perform all the steps of the method described above.

[0045] In one specific implementation, the electronic device can be a workstation, server, or dedicated simulation computer equipped with a high-performance graphics processing unit. Its memory stores the original assembly model file, the Bill of Materials (BOM) file, the lightweighted model resources, asset data of the real-time 3D engine (such as material libraries and scene files), and computer program code implementing the various functional modules of this invention. The processor (CPU) acts as the control core, responsible for scheduling and executing computational tasks such as data processing, model lightweighting scheduling, and BOM parsing and mapping logic. To ensure smooth operation of the real-time 3D engine and achieve high-fidelity rendering and physical simulation, the electronic device typically also includes or is connected to a powerful graphics processing unit (GPU) to accelerate the rendering of 3D graphics, collision detection calculations, and the processing of visual effects such as dynamic sectioning. The computer program is configured to contain an instruction set that implements the functions of the various modules described in this invention, including data processing, lightweighting, engine integration, virtual assembly, design checking, and interactive display.

[0046] In summary, this invention proposes a complete method and system for constructing physical models of digital prototypes by deeply integrating the powerful real-time rendering and interactive capabilities of a real-time 3D engine with core engineering data (geometric models and BOMs) from the product design phase. This method systematically solves the challenge of converting static design data into dynamic interactive prototypes. Therefore, this invention is not only an improvement in technical tools but also a significant innovation in the traditional product design review process. It has significant practical value and broad industrial application prospects for promoting the digital transformation of high-end equipment R&D and improving design quality and efficiency.

[0047] The above description is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and variations can be made to the embodiments of the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for constructing a digital prototype physical model based on a real-time 3D engine, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: Step S1: Obtain the original assembly model generated by professional modeling software and its corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM) file; Step S2: Perform geometric lightweighting on the original assembly model to generate a lightweight assembly model; Step S3: Import the lightweight assembly model into the resource manager of the real-time 3D engine; Step S4: In the real-time 3D engine, the BOM file is parsed, and based on the parsing results and the mapping relationship between the parts in the lightweight assembly model, an instantiated model of each part is generated in the scene of the real-time 3D engine to complete the virtual assembly of the digital prototype. Step S5: In the real-time 3D engine, perform at least one design check on the completed virtual assembly of the digital prototype.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The geometric lightweighting process of the original assembly model in step S2 includes: using professional lightweighting software to perform at least one of the following operations: removing small features that do not affect the assembly, reducing the model's surface area, and cleaning the topology, in order to reduce the amount of model data.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Step S3 further includes: establishing a material library and a physical material library in the real-time 3D engine based on the material selection information of the parts. The material library is used to define the surface rendering attributes of the parts, and the physical material library is used to define the physical attributes of the parts.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, Step S4 specifically includes: Step S41: Parse the BOM file and extract the part identification information, quantity, and assembly hierarchy information contained therein; Step S42: Establish a mapping relationship between the part identification information and the corresponding lightweight part mesh asset in the resource manager; Step S43: Traverse the mapping relationship, and according to the assembly hierarchy, instantiate each part mesh asset in the scene of the real-time 3D engine in sequence, and associate the information in the BOM file with the corresponding instantiated model.

5. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The design check in step S5 includes at least one of interference check, accessibility check, and part missing check. The interference check detects whether any two instantiated part models have spatial overlap at their assembly positions by enabling the physical collision detection function of the real-time 3D engine. The accessibility check is performed by simulating the operating tool or virtual character in the scene of the real-time 3D engine and using collision detection to determine whether it can reach and contact the target part without interference. The missing parts check is performed by comparing the instantiated models of parts existing in the scene of the real-time 3D engine with the list of parts in the BOM file to check for missing parts or inconsistencies in quantity.

6. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method further includes step S6: providing interactive operation functions for the digital prototype in the real-time 3D engine, wherein the interactive operation functions include at least one of dynamic section display, component motion simulation, and displaying associated information when clicking on a part.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that, The dynamic cross-section display is achieved by applying a custom cross-section material or setting a cutting plane to the digital prototype. The cross-section material or cutting plane can be adjusted in real time according to user input in terms of position and orientation.

8. A digital prototype physical model construction system based on a real-time 3D engine, characterized in that, include: The data processing module is used to receive and store the original assembly model generated by professional modeling software and its corresponding Bill of Materials (BOM) file; The lightweight module is used to perform geometric lightweighting on the original assembly model to generate a lightweight assembly model. An engine integration module, which communicates with a real-time 3D engine, is used to import the lightweight assembly model into the resource manager of the real-time 3D engine. The virtual assembly module, deployed in the real-time 3D engine, is used to parse the BOM file and, based on the mapping relationship between the parsing results and the parts in the lightweight assembly model, automatically generate instantiated models of each part in the scene of the real-time 3D engine to complete the virtual assembly of the digital prototype. The design check module, deployed in the real-time 3D engine, is used to perform at least one design check on the digital prototype that has been virtually assembled.

9. The system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The system also includes an interactive display module, which is deployed in the real-time 3D engine and is used to provide interactive operation functions for the digital prototype. The interactive operation functions include at least one of dynamic sectioning, motion control, and information query.

10. An electronic device comprising a memory, a processor, and a computer program stored in the memory and executable on the processor, characterized in that, When the processor executes the computer program, it implements the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

Images