Rigid Body Simulation for Nesting Non-Box Parts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for nesting parts in 2D sheets and 3D volumes are inefficient, particularly for non-box-like shapes, leading to material waste as they do not effectively maximize material usage and minimize waste.
Innovation Solution
A method using rigid body simulations to optimize part placement, where parts are simulated as dropping into a 2D or 3D geometry of the material, allowing for efficient packing by simplifying shapes, using physics-based models, and incorporating user inputs to achieve tighter packing densities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If traditional bounding box arrangement methods are used, then the nesting process is simple and fast, but material waste increases significantly for non-box-like parts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional geometric algorithms with a physics-based rigid body simulation system. Parts are modeled as rigid bodies that interact through physical forces (gravity, collision, friction) during a dropping simulation, allowing complex non-box-like shapes to be nested efficiently without requiring complex geometric intersection calculations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of the nesting problem by transitioning from static geometric placement to dynamic physics-based simulation. Key parameters include introducing gravity acceleration, collision detection thresholds, friction coefficients, and iteration counts, which enable adaptive optimization of material utilization.
2Loss of substance
If rigid body simulation is used to optimize part placement, then material utilization improves, but computational time and processing complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-defining part geometries as rigid body models with predefined physical properties (mass, moment of inertia, friction coefficients) before the simulation. This preprocessing enables the simulation to focus only on dynamic placement optimization rather than calculating all physical properties during runtime, reducing computational overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by allowing the simulation to terminate early when convergence criteria are met (e.g., maximum iterations reached, no further improvement in material utilization). This prevents unnecessary computational expenditure while still achieving satisfactory nesting results for most practical cases.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach significantly reduces material waste by achieving more efficient packing of parts within the available material, allowing for better utilization of materials in manufacturing processes.
Implementation Method 1
performing a rigid body simulation of the parts dropping into the 2D sheet or 3D volume
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for nesting objects in 2D sheets and 3D volumes. In one embodiment, a nesting application simplifies the shapes of parts and performs a rigid body simulation of the parts dropping into a 2D sheet or 3D volume. In the rigid body simulation, parts begin from random initial positions on one or more sides and drop under the force of gravity into the 2D sheet or 3D volume until coming into contact with another part, a boundary, or the origin of the gravity. The parts may be dropped according to a particular order, such as alternating large and small parts. Further, the simulation may be translation- and/or position-only, meaning the parts do not rotate and/or do not have momentum, respectively. Tighter packing may be achieved by incorporating user inputs and simulating jittering of the parts using random forces.