Interactive Breakline Extrapolation on 3D Surfaces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 3D visualization and graphical rendering technologies face challenges in automatically extrapolating breaklines over surfaces, requiring users to input multiple points manually, which is labor-intensive and inefficient, especially for large areas like terrain models in geospatial and Earthworks applications.
Innovation Solution
The system automatically extrapolates next points in a breakline by receiving user input of two points on a surface, computing a series of points in an arc, identifying the best line segment sample based on a goal, and extending the rendered line, allowing for dynamic updating of the goal and stop conditions such as distance or surface boundary, using a combination of user input and computational methods to generate perpendicular angles and probe locations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If users manually input multiple points to define breaklines, then the breakline rendering accuracy is maintained, but the user labor and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system automatically extrapolates breaklines by analyzing the surface geometry and computing potential line segment samples based on user-defined goals, enabling the system to perform the measurement task itself rather than requiring continuous manual user input for each point
Solution Approach 2:
The system pre-computes a series of points in an arc around the current breakline endpoint and evaluates potential line segment samples before final selection, preparing multiple candidate solutions in advance to guide the automated extrapolation process
2Productivity
If the system automatically extrapolates breaklines with minimal user input, then user labor is reduced, but the complexity of the computational process increases
Solution Approach 1:
The extrapolation process is divided into distinct computational stages: generating arc points around the endpoint, computing potential line segment samples for each arc point, evaluating samples against the goal criterion, and selecting the best sample. This segmentation makes the complex automated process more manageable and controllable
Solution Approach 2:
The system introduces intermediate computational structures including arc points as candidate positions and potential line segment samples as evaluation targets, which mediate between the user's simple point input and the final automated breakline extrapolation
3Measurement precision
If the system computes multiple potential line segment samples to ensure accuracy, then the breakline precision improves, but the computational time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system computes a limited series of arc points around the endpoint rather than exhaustively searching all possible positions, and evaluates potential line segment samples only at these discrete locations. This partial action provides sufficient precision for practical purposes while avoiding excessive computational overhead
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, devices, and non-transitory media of the various embodiments may provide for extrapolating a breakline for a user in a graphical application, such as an Earthworks rendering application. Various embodiments may enable a breakline to be extrapolated and rendered on a surface from two or more points selected by a user on that surface. In various embodiments, the surface may be any type directional surface, such as a triangle mesh, pointcloud, heightmap, fusions of such surfaces, etc.