Triangular mesh generation employing a boundary expansion technique

This paper presents a triangulation method for modelling very large sets of cloud data. The three-dimensional (3D) data sets are produced by a machine vision system and/or coordinate measuring machine (CMM). The algorithm is suitable for processing the data collected from objects composed of free form surface patches especially with interior holes. This is accomplished from the 3D data sets in two steps. Firstly, the original cloud data is reduced into a simplified data set employing a data reduction technique (voxel binning method), in which the error between the cloud data and the meshed surface is used to control the data reduction. Secondly, the triangulation process starts with a randomly selected seed triangle. The triangular mesh extends outward by continuously linking suitable external points to it along the boundary edges of the meshed area. A complex free form surface with interior holes can be triangulated in one computing session without manually dividing it into several simple patches. The error-based data reduction parameters are extracted from the cloud data set, by a series of local surface patches, and the required spatial error between the final triangulation and the cloud data. Experimental results are given to illustrate the efficacy of the technique for rapidly constructing a geometric model from 3D digitised cloud data.