Nesting using rigid body simulation

US9767233B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Autodesk, Inc. · US

Inventors

• Saul Griffith · San Francisco, US
• Martin Wicke · San Francisco, US
• Keith Pasko · San Francisco, US
• Geoffrey Irving · San Francisco, US
• Samuel Eli Calisch · Berkeley, US
• Tucker Gilman · San Francisco, US
• Daniel Benoit · Alameda, US
• Jonathan Bachrach · Chino Hills, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Nov 14, 2016
• Grant date: Sep 19, 2017
• Expiry date: Nov 14, 2036

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y02P90/02
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

Embodiments of the invention provide systems and methods for nesting objects in 2D sheets and 3D volumes. In one embodiment, a nesting application simplifies the shapes of parts and performs a rigid body simulation of the parts dropping into a 2D sheet or 3D volume. In the rigid body simulation, parts begin from random initial positions on one or more sides and drop under the force of gravity into the 2D sheet or 3D volume until coming into contact with another part, a boundary, or the origin of the gravity. The parts may be dropped according to a particular order, such as alternating large and small parts. Further, the simulation may be translation- and/or position-only, meaning the parts do not rotate and/or do not have momentum, respectively. Tighter packing may be achieved by incorporating user inputs and simulating jittering of the parts using random forces.