A flexible interface between two-dimensional representation and three-dimensional representation

An approach is presented to reconstructing an object from its engineering drawing by recognizing the 2-D features on the drawing and using volume sweeping. Important features on the drawing like symmetry, ear, rib, hole pattern and cross section are recognized. Nonexact projections are removed first, then primitives are constructed by sweep volume according to the cross section. The final object is the Boolean set of these sweep volumes. A prototype program is implemented according to this approach. Some selected examples are shown to demonstrate the processes. Limitations are discussed, and short-term improvements and long-term goals are suggested.<>