3D Wire Harness Flattening via Optimal Viewing Angle
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current mechanical flattening programs for converting 3D wire harness data to 2D are slow and error-prone, often resulting in overlapping nodes and branches that hinder visualization, as they fail to optimize the viewing angle and simply remove the Z component of the 3D data.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that automatically compute an optimal viewing angle by rotating the 3D data to minimize node and branch overlap, using techniques such as determining a plane that minimizes the average distance from nodes and projecting the data into 2D, thereby reducing overlaps and improving visualization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If mechanical flattening programs are used to convert 3D wire harness data to 2D, then the conversion process is completed, but the process is very slow and error-prone with overlapping nodes and branches
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a new dimension (the optimal viewing angle in 3D space) to solve the 2D flattening problem. Instead of simply removing the Z component, the system rotates the 3D wire harness data around the Y-axis to find an optimal angle that minimizes overlaps when projected to 2D, thereby improving both accuracy and visual clarity without sacrificing conversion speed
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of viewing angle from a fixed value to an optimized variable. By computing the optimal viewing angle that minimizes node and branch overlaps, the system transforms the flattening process from a simple coordinate removal to an optimized projection that maintains structural clarity and reduces errors in the 2D representation
2Speed
If the Z component is simply removed to flatten 3D data to 2D, then the conversion is fast, but there are many overlapping nodes and branches that hamper visualization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs a preliminary rotation of the 3D wire harness data around the Y-axis before the final 2D projection. This preliminary action of finding the optimal viewing angle prevents overlaps from occurring in the first place, rather than trying to resolve them after projection, thereby maintaining both speed and visualization quality
3Reliability
If manual adjustment of overlapping nodes is performed, then visualization quality improves, but the process is slow and does not provide ideal results
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements an automated system that computes the optimal viewing angle and performs the rotation automatically without requiring manual intervention. The system serves itself by algorithmically determining the best projection angle that minimizes overlaps, eliminating the need for slow manual adjustment while providing ideal results consistently
Data Source
AI summary
A method and system are described that allow conversion of a three- dimensional representation of a wire harness to a two-dimensional representation. In one aspect, an optimal viewing angle of the three- dimensional representation is automatically computed such that overlap of nodes and/or branches is minimized. Using the optimal viewing angle, the three-dimensional representation is converted to two dimensions. In another aspect, the optimal viewing angle is obtained through rotation of the three-dimensional data. One technique for performing such a rotation is by determining a plane associated with the viewing angle, the plane being such that the average distance from nodes in the wire harness to the plane is a minimum.