| 摘要 |
Methods and systems for defining adaptive support structures for three dimensional (3D) printing are disclosed. An exemplary method detects an area of a 3D model needing support and generates contact points for the area. The method creates a set of virtual supports that extend downward from respective contact points and then identifies connections between the virtual supports in the set, the connections satisfying connection constraints. Next, a virtual support in the set is selected to be a trunk based on comparing connectivity levels of virtual supports in the set, the connectivity level of each of the virtual supports determined by a number of connections between the respective virtual support and other virtual supports. The method then defines a support structure originating from the contact points and including the trunk, at least one virtual support connected to the trunk, and connections between the trunk and the at least one virtual support. |
| 主权项 |
1. A method comprising:
detecting, by a computing device, at least one area of a three dimensional (3D) model that needs to be supported in a 3D printing of the 3D model; generating, by the computing device, contact points for the at least one area; creating a set of virtual supports, each virtual support in the set extending downward from a respective one of the contact points; identifying connections between the virtual supports in the set, the connections satisfying one or more connection constraints; selecting a virtual support in the set to be a trunk, the selecting based on comparing connectivity levels of the virtual supports in the set, the connectivity level of each of the virtual supports in the set determined based on a number of connections between the respective virtual support and other virtual supports in the set; defining a support structure originating from the contact points and extending downward towards a surface, wherein the support structure includes the trunk, at least one virtual support connected to the trunk, and connections between the trunk and the at least one virtual support. |
