Rotational and helical surface approximation for reverse engineering (Q1265393)

The authors indicate a method to represent given data sets by a helicoidal surface, together with a criterion that shows whether such a representation is reasonable or not. The main tool is the theorem that the normals of a surface generate a linear complex if and only if the surface is contained in a cylinder, a surface of revolution, or a helicoidal surface. They develop all the necessary formulas for computing the approximate normals of a given surface and from this the data of a possible best approximating helicoidal surface (for which one needs only the axis and the motion that transforms the surface in itself.) Examples are given and some practical problems are addressed.