SLICING AND/OR TEXTURING FOR THREE-DIMENSIONAL PRINTING

摘要

A method for slicing a three-dimensional model for printing of a corresponding object by a 3D printer, comprises: obtaining the envelope of the object as polygons, then for each region of a predefined work area within the slicing plane:;identifying the closest polygon of said envelope that is positioned above said respective pixel; where no polygon is identified, then marking a corresponding region as a no-print region; if the direction vector of said closest above polygon has a positive component in the Z direction, then marking said corresponding region as a model region; and if the direction vector of said polygon has a negative component in the Z direction, then marking the region as a support region, and printing accordingly. An advantage of the above procedure is that the slicing, and in addition texture mapping, can be efficiently carried out on a graphics card or GPU.

主权项

1. A method for slicing a three-dimensional model for printing of a corresponding object by a 3D printer, the slicing made within a space having a Z axis, the Z axis being perpendicular to a printing plane, the method comprising:
obtaining a representation of an envelope of an object as a collection of planar polygons, each polygon defined by shape, location coordinates and a direction vector that is perpendicular to the respective polygon, said direction vector pointing outwardly of said object and thereby distinguishing an inward face of said polygon from an outward face of said polygon; defining a slicing plane characterized by a Z0 coordinate along the Z axis; and dividing said slicing plane into regions that are within the object, regions that belong to a support structure and regions that are outside the object and not to be printed.