From Inspiration to Creation - Extraction and Reuse of Shape Characteristics to Support Product Design

该奖项为开发计算技术提供资金，以允许从计算机模型中识别和重复使用产品的特征形状标识。开发的算法将提取体现在几何形状中的样式信息，并使其元素可用于未来的产品。这将使用一种保持身份的分层形状抽象技术来实现，该技术允许3D模型用涉及一套基础和细节几何形状的逐渐简单的变体来表示。所识别的特征将用作由体积、表面和曲线组成的可操纵形状表示。该算法将在一个几何设计软件中实现和部署，该软件允许以创新的方式组装、转移和混合解密的几何图形，以促进创造新的产品形式。如果成功，这项研究的结果将导致新的计算机辅助设计方法，使过去的设计灵感能够为未来的设计提供信息。开发的技术将帮助设计师同时研究大量模型，以揭示历史趋势并进行未来预测。它还将使公司更有效地建立品牌标识，从而提高产品系列之间的风格一致性。使用新方法计算的形状知识将允许开发定量指标来测量设计之间的相似性强度。这种能力将推进未来搜索算法的边界，允许基于类比的描述符来促进3D形状检索。该奖项的成果还将通过让专家更好地向他人说明他们的思维过程，并定量指导和评估学员来加强设计教育。

This award provides funding for the development of a computational technique to allow the identification and reuse of the characteristic shape identities of products from their computer models. The developed algorithms will extract styling information embodied in the geometry and make its elements available for use in future products. This will be accomplished using an identity-preserving hierarchical shape abstraction technique that allows 3D models to be represented with progressively simpler variants involving a suite of base and detail geometries. The identified characteristics will serve as manipulable shape representations comprised of volumes, surfaces, and curves. The algorithm will be implemented and deployed in a geometric design software that allows individual pieces of the deciphered geometries to be assembled, transferred, and blended in innovative ways to facilitate the creation of novel product forms.If successful, the results of this research will lead to new computer-aided design methods that enable inspirational past designs to inform future designs. The developed techniques will help designers concurrently study large groups of models to reveal historical trends and make future projections. It will also allow companies establish brand identities much more effectively, thereby enhancing style consistency across product families. The shape knowledge computed using the new approach will allow the development of quantitative metrics to measure the strength of analogy between designs. This capability will advance the boundaries of future search algorithms, allowing analogy-based descriptors to facilitate 3D shape retrieval. The outcomes of this award will also enhance design education by allowing experts to better illustrate their thought processes to others, and to quantitatively guide and assess trainees.