Input method of boundary solid by sketching (Q1110263)

The paper presents a sketching method by which a boundary solid model is defined with a tablet. The ambiguities caused by the inverse projection of data from 2D space into a 3D space are removed mainly by geometrical information of connected adjacent faces, but partly also by the projection direction (viewing direction) when ambiguity still remains. The system transforms 2D data into 3D data face by face, referring to the geometry of connected faces that were transformed before. If there is only one or no adjacent face, the viewing direction is referred to. Topologically, this sketching process is interpreted as a sequence of Euler operations, and, consequently, topological consistency holds at any stage of the drawing process. In principle, curved shapes cannot be input directly by this method. They are obtained, however, by rounding desired edges of a polyhedron.