3D model retrieval from mechanical drawings analysis

Indexed by SCOPUS Abstract — Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) techniques provide effective solutions for automating the whole product development chain process. Designers, engineers, manufacturing professionals and researchers can now leverage solid modeling data and multi-physics analysis in ways that were inconceivable just few years ago. Among CAE techniques, Computer Aided Design (CAD) has been the most effective in providing methodologies capable of compressing product design and manufacturing cycles, assuring faster turnaround time between design and simulation and improving product quality. Designers and manufacture companies reap the rewards of 3D CAD modelling; as a consequence, research is unceasingly stimulated to look forward. On one hand, research aims to improve capabilities of existing CAD methods and tools; on the other hand novel approaches are extensively investigated with the ambition of carrying out innovative CAD techniques capable of lighting sparking design innovation and creativity. This is particularly true for mechanical design: fast and robust 3D retrieval from 2D drawings that was considered future trend few years ago, is now a key target for commercial software houses like Dassault Systems® and Autodesk® as well as a vigorous focus from an academic outlook. Unfortunately, even if a number of works have been carried out during the last decades, these are mainly described by a conceptual point of view. To derive an orderly procedure covering the necessary steps for retrieving 3D models from mechanical drawings could provide a dramatic boost to researchers and practitioners that introduce this issue on their research. Therefore, the main aim of the present work is to carry out a systematic clear and concise step-by-step procedure for 3D retrieval starting from wireframe models. Since the intent is to afford an as clear as possible, guided, procedure for 3D reconstruction, mathematical description is limited to the simplest case of polyhedral objects. The proposed procedures, inspired by state of the art works, can be effectively contribute to speed-up the possible implementation of methodologies confronting the 3D reconstruction problem.