Approximating Free-form Geometry with Height Fields for Manufacturing

Philipp Herholz1 Wojciech Matusik2 Marc Alexa1

Technische Universität Berlin1 MIT CSAIL2


Abstract We consider the problem of manufacturing free-form geometry with classical manufacturing techniques, such as mold casting or 3-axis milling. We determine a set of constraints that are necessary for manufacturability and then decompose and, if necessary, deform the shape to satisfy the constraints per segment. We show that many objects can be generated from a small number of (mold-)pieces if some deformation is acceptable. We provide examples of actual molds and the resulting manufactured objects.


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Results Several multi-piece molds were generated using our method. Based on the segmented input meshes (first column), the meshes were deformed (second column, scale distortion color coded) and mold pieces were fabricated using CNC milling (last column). These molds where assembled and filled with liquid resin to produce physical replicas (right center column).

@Article{Herholz:2015:AGH, journal = {Computer Graphics Forum (Proc. of Eurographics)}, title = {{Approximating Free-form Geometry with Height Fields for Manufacturing}}, author = {Philipp Herholz and Wojciech Matusik and Marc Alexa}, pages = {239-251}, volume= {34}, number= {2}, year = {2015}, DOI = {10.1111/cgf.12556}, }