Geometric and Solid Modeling

摘要

Solid modelling is rapidly emerging as a central area of research and de- velopment in such diverse applications as engineering and product design, computer-aided manufacturing, electronic prototyping, on-line robot programming, and motion planning. All these applications require representing the shapes of solid physical objects, and such representations and basic operations on them can be provided by solid modelling. As a eld, solid modelling spans several disciplines, including mathemat- ics, computer science, and engineering. In consequence, it is a broad subject that must accommodate a diversity of viewpoints and has to meet a diversity of goals. Sometimes, this diversity of goals can lead to con icting demands. Current thinking on the subject views the proper resolution of these con- icts to be application-dependent. That is, it is no longer thought realistic to envision a comprehensive solid-modelling system that satis es the needs of all potential users. Rather, as it is argued, we should concentrate on constructing a software environment in which many tools for geometric and solid computation are available and can be combined with ease as appropriate for the speci c application under consideration.