Modeling Deformable Objects for Computer-Aided Sculpting (CAS)Modeling Deformable Objects for Computer-Aided Sculpting (CAS)

Software tools for modeling complex freeform objects require the designer to use sophisticated procedures and complex protocols that do not inherently support the creative design process. Typical tasks include tedious control point manipulation and manual surface patch stitching operations. An interactive computer-aided sculpting (CAS) framework based upon deformable geometric models is described in this paper. The technique exploits the topology and learning algorithm of a self-organizing feature map (SOFM) to generate an adaptive volumetric mesh comprised of hexahedral elements. The pre-ordered lattice of the SOFM maintains the relative connectivity of neighbouring nodes in the mesh as it transforms under external and internal forces. Prior to virtual sculpting, the shape primitive is either retrieved from the object database or created by fitting a deformable mesh to representative surface points. Material and dynamic properties are incorporated into the deformable solid model by treating the surface and interior nodes as point masses connected with a network of springs. Illustrations are provided to demonstrate the virtual sculpting framework