Ray Casting Parallel Processing for 3D Object Inside-Outside Determination
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current 3D manufacturing processes, such as stereolithography and filament deposition, face challenges in efficiently transforming 3D data into 2D manufacturing information due to high computation time, limited spatial resolution, and complex synchronization requirements, which hinder parallel processing and result in significant computation time and reduced precision.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that determine whether points are inside or outside a 3D object by using a process that iterates in parallel over elementary surfaces and working points, employing a counter system to synchronize operations and optimize layer processing, allowing for SIMD parallelism and reducing computation time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional scanline fill algorithm is used to transform 3D information into 2D cross-sectional information, then manufacturing information can be obtained for each layer, but computation time increases significantly and spatial resolution is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the 3D object into multiple elementary surfaces and processes each surface independently through parallel ray-casting operations. By dividing the complex 3D-to-2D transformation into smaller, manageable surface-level operations, the system achieves both high spatial resolution and reduced computation time through parallel processing capability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional iterative scanline fill algorithm with a direct ray-casting mathematical approach. This substitution eliminates the need for sequential pixel-by-pixel processing and boundary crossing detection, achieving faster computation while maintaining or improving spatial resolution through direct geometric calculations
2Productivity
If complex synchronization mechanisms are implemented to handle parallel processing of layers, then processing efficiency can be improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary segmentation of the 3D object into elementary surfaces before processing begins. This pre-processing step organizes the data structure so that subsequent parallel ray-casting operations can proceed independently for each surface without requiring complex synchronization, as the independence is established in advance
Solution Approach 2:
Each elementary surface independently performs its own ray-casting calculations to generate 2D cross-sectional information without needing to coordinate with other surfaces. The system achieves parallel processing efficiency through this self-service approach, where each surface unit autonomously completes its transformation task without external synchronization overhead
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method for producing a product, in which the following steps are performed for each working point (11, 30) for which it is to be determined whether the point is inside or outside an object typically corresponding to the product to be produced or to a part (layer, slice) of the product to be produced, namely: determining at least one line (12) from between a line passing through the working point (11; 30) with which is associated a counter dedicated solely to the working point and a line passing through an image (31) of the working point with which image is associated a counter dedicated solely to this image of the working point; on each of the elementary surfaces, (i) searching for an intersection between the elementary surface (15) and one of the lines from the line (12) passing through the working point (11; 30) and the line passing through the image of the working point (31) and (ii) modifying the counter if the intersection exists, steps (i) and (ii) being performed in a repeated manner; and determining whether the working point is inside or outside the object as a function of the counter dedicated solely to the working point (11; 30). The invention is suitable for use in rapid prototyping and stereolithography.