Solid reconstruction from orthographic opaque views using incremental extrusion

The reconstruction of 3-D solids from 2-D projections is an important research topic in reverse engineering. The reconstruction can be grouped into two categories: single-view approach and multiple-view approach. Each approach can be classified as wireframe, BRep or CSG. However, not many CSG approaches have been reported in the literature. The methods are also restricted to uniform-thickness objects or require user interaction. The method proposed in this paper employs the CSG approach. A 3-D solid computer model is reconstructed from 2-D line drawings of six orthographic opaque views, viz. top, front, left, right, bottom and rear views. Firstly, the six views are grouped into three pairs. For each pair of views, segmented areas from one of the two views (called g-view) is incrementally extruded according to the information in the neighbouring view (called d-view). Extrusion primitive solids are generated during the incremental extrusion. All primitive solids are then unioned into an extrusion solid. Finally, all extrusion solids are intersected to give a unique 3-D solution object.