Fujitsu Laboratories and Fujitsu Research and Development Center have developed a technology for retrieving partially similar models from stored 3D CAD models. In the manufacturing industry, for example, new parts designed using CAD models are not designed from scratch. By retrieving and reusing models with similar shapes from the existing models which incorporate prior design know-how, companies are able to shorten design time. Until now, while global shape retrieval has been possible, the inability to retrieve and reuse partially similar shapes has posed a challenge.
With Fujitsu Laboratory’s newly developed technology, 3D CAD models are automatically segmented into distinctive part models, such as protruding parts. Even if the orientation, size or position of the segmented parts differ, as long as the shapes are similar, they are determined to be similar, and can therefore be retrieved.
This newly developed technology makes it possible to efficiently retrieve 3D CAD models containing shapes that are similar to a specified search key from a massive 3D CAD model database. With the new technology, 10,000 3D CAD models were automatically segmented into approximately 100,000 parts, and the 3D CAD models containing similar shapes to a specified search key could be retrieved in roughly three seconds, making it practical for real-world use.
