Object reconstruction by incorporating geometric constraints in reverse engineering

This paper deals with the constrained reconstruction of 3D geometric models of objects from range data. It describes a new technique of global shape i mprovement based upon feature positions and geometric constraints. It sugge sts a general incremental framework whereby constraints can be added and in tegrated in the model reconstruction process, resulting in an optimal trade -off between minimization of the shape fitting error and the constraint tol erances. After defining sets of constraints for planar and special case qua dric surface classes based on feature coincidence, position and shape, the paper shows through application on synthetic model that our scheme is well behaved. The approach is then validated through experiments on different re al parts. This work is the first to give such a large framework for the int egration of geometric relationships in object modelling. The technique is e xpected to have a great impact in reverse engineering applications and manu factured object modelling where the majority of parts are designed with int ended feature relationships. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.