JP3396414B2 - Proximity part search method and search device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention CAD (Computer Aided Design), CAM (Computer Aid) are used to model and use an object composed of a plurality of parts arranged in a space in a computer.
ed Manufacturing), CAE (Computer Aided Enginieerin
The present invention relates to a search technique in g), CG (Computer Graphics), etc., and particularly to a proximity component search method and a search device for searching for a proximity component of a designated target component.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of observing the situation of a specific target part and its surroundings among a plurality of three-dimensionally displayed parts, especially when a large number of parts are dense, A method is used in which a cross-section is taken on a plane including the plane and is displayed.

Similarly, when a large number of parts are arranged, there is a method of dividing the three-dimensional space into a grid shape and displaying only the parts within the specified grid.

On the other hand, as a process similar to the process of searching for and displaying the close parts of a certain specific target part, there is an interference check between the parts, and it is possible to check the parts that interfere in the three-dimensional space.

[0005] In addition, as an application technique of CG, there are walkthrough and flythrough which are viewed from a moving point in a space where a plurality of parts exist.

[0006]

However, it is necessary to take cross sections from all directions in order to view the target component and the components close to the target component in the three-dimensional space by the cross section display. In other words, even if it seems that there is not enough space between parts when viewed from one direction, there may be enough space when viewed from another direction. Becomes complicated and work efficiency deteriorates.

[0007] Also, in the area designation by grid division, basically, like the above-mentioned cross-section display, the appearance changes depending on the grid division method, so strictly speaking, it is necessary to divide by a grid of an arbitrary size. As with the cross-sectional view, the operation of specifying the division becomes complicated.

On the other hand, in a general interference check, the process checks the interference between the target part and all other parts in a brute force manner, and therefore the processing time becomes long depending on the number of parts.

Also, in the walkthrough, at present, in order to realize high-speed display, it is necessary to reduce the number of polygons such as simplification of the shape.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a method for searching for a proximity component that quickly and reliably searches for a proximity component with respect to a target component by a simple operation even when a large number of components are arranged in a three-dimensional space. To provide a device.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a proximity component close to a designated target component from a plurality of components constituting a target modeled in a computer. In the near component search method for searching, a direction vector between the respective parts and a distance between the parts indicating the magnitude of the direction vector are calculated based on the arrangement data of the respective parts stored in advance, and the calculated parts are calculated. Parts having a distance smaller than a preset first proximity determination distance are associated with each other as a first proximity component, and each first proximity component is a direction vector between the first proximity components and The proximity unit is stored together with the inter-component distance as proximity component configuration data, and based on the designated target component and a second proximity determination distance and a layout direction that designates the proximity range of the target component, the proximity unit. From the first proximity component stored in the configuration data, the distance to the target component is smaller than the second proximity determination distance, and the direction vector to the target component matches the arrangement direction. The parts to be searched are searched as the second adjacent parts.

Another feature of the present invention is a proximity component search apparatus for searching for a proximity component in proximity to a designated target component from a plurality of components constituting an object modeled in a computer, Storage means for storing the arrangement data and shape data of each part in advance, and based on the arrangement data, the direction vector between the parts and the direction vector of the direction vector.
Calculating the inter-component distance indicating the size relationship with the small parts to each other than the first proximity determination distance the calculated issued the inter-component <br/> distance is set in advance as the first proximity part, each a first proximity unit products, the direction between said respective first proximity part between vectors
A second part for designating the target part and the specific code of the target part and the proximity range of the target part, together with the rule and the distance between the parts Of the first proximity component of the proximity component configuration data on the basis of the operating means for inputting the proximity determination distance, and the input specific code of the target component and the second proximity determination distance and the arrangement direction. Therefore, the distance to the target part is smaller than the second proximity determination distance , and the direction vector to the target part is
Based on the component shape data stored in the storage unit, a component matching the arrangement direction, a proximity component configuration search means for searching as a second proximity component, the specific code of the searched second proximity component, Display means for displaying the shape of the target component and the shape of the second proximity component that is close to the target component.

According to the present invention, the storage means stores in advance the layout data and the shape data of each part constituting the modeled object in the computer. The proximity component configuration generation means, based on the arrangement data, the direction vector between each component and
An inter-part distance indicating the magnitude of the direction vector is calculated, and parts having the calculated inter- part distance smaller than a preset first proximity determination distance are associated with each other as a first proximity part, a first proximity unit products, together with a direction vector and the inter-component distance between the respective first proximity between parts, stored in the storage means as a proximity component configuration data.

[0014] Operation unit inputs the second proximity determination range that specifies a particular code及beauty pair range proximity elephant components specified Target parts the target component. Proximity component configuration search means,
Based on the input specific code of the target component, the second proximity determination distance, and the disposition direction , the distance to the target component from the first proximity component of the proximity component configuration data is the second proximity determination distance. At a smaller distance and with a direction
The part whose cutout coincides with the arrangement direction is searched as the second adjacent part. The display means displays the shape of the target component and the shape of the second proximity component adjacent to the target component based on the retrieved specific code of the second proximity component and the component shape data stored in the storage means. .

As a result, even if a large number of parts constituting a modeled object are placed in a computer used for CAD, CAM, CAE, CG, etc. in a three-dimensional space, they can be designated by a simple operation. It is possible to quickly and surely search for a close component to the target component.

[0016]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, a proximity component search method and a search device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a proximity component search apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the proximity component search device includes a proximity component configuration generation unit 10,
Storage means 11, operation means 12, and proximity component configuration search means 13
And display means 14.

The proximity component configuration generating means 10 uses the component arrangement data 111 and the component shape data 112, which are obtained in advance by a CAD system, a measuring device or the like and are stored in the storage means 11,
The distance between the respective components is calculated, and the components having the distance between the components smaller than the first designated proximity determination distance are associated with each other as the first neighboring components, and the first neighboring components are linked with each other. It is stored in the storage means 11 as the adjacent component configuration data 113 together with the distance.

In general, in CAD data, the component shape data 112 and the component arrangement data 111 are often not distinguished from each other, so the component shape data 112 and the component arrangement data 111 may be treated as one piece of data, or the processing may be performed. In order to increase the speed of the component layout data 111, the component layout data 111 may be a schematic shape of the component represented by a sphere, a bounding box, or the like, and the result of conversion into the layout coordinates thereof.

The operation means 12 uses the target part ID code 121 for specifying the part, such as the part number of the specified target part, and the second proximity determination distance for designating the proximity range of the target part, and the proximity part search means. Output to 13.

The proximity component configuration retrieving means 13 uses the target component ID code 121 and the second proximity determination distance output from the operating means 12 as retrieval conditions to retrieve the second proximity to the target component from the proximity component configuration data 113. Search for parts.

The display means 14 determines the target part based on the close part ID code 131 of the second close part searched by the close part configuration search means 13 and the part shape data 112 stored in the storage means 11. Display nearby part shapes. Here, the adjacent part ID code 131 is a part number of the second adjacent part,
It is an ID code that identifies a nearby component.

Next, the search operation of the proximity component search apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the search process of the near component search apparatus of FIG. First, step 201
At, the first designated proximity determination distance D is fetched from the data file or the like stored in the storage means 11.

Next, with respect to all the parts to be searched, which are registered in the database of the storage means 11, part placement data (including part shape data if necessary) for calculating the distance between the two parts. ) Read 111 (Step 20)
2) Calculate the inter-part distance d (step 203), compare the inter-part distance d and the size of the first proximity determination distance D (step 204), and if D ≧ d, between these two parts A link indicating "proximity" is placed, and the attribute of this link is the distance between parts.
The d is stored (step 205).

When the total number of parts is n, the processes of steps 202 to 205 are repeated nC2 = n (n-1) / 2 times because two parts are selected from them.

Next, at step 206, the proximity component ID code 131 such as the component number for specifying the target component designated by the operation means 12 is fetched by the interaction with the user. Similarly, the second proximity determination distance Du input by the operation means 12 is fetched by the interaction with the user (step 207).
However, Du ≦ D. If the second proximity determination distance is not specified, Du = D.

Next, the target part specified in step 206 is fetched from the adjacent part configuration data created in step 205 (step 208), and the link attribute data is for each part linked to the target part. The inter-component distance d is read (step 209), the inter-component distance d and the second proximity determination distance Du are compared (step 210),
If Du ≧ d, this component is regarded as the second adjacent component, and the component ID code such as the component number and the component shape corresponding to the component ID code are displayed (step 211).

The processes of steps 209 to 211 are repeated a maximum of (n-1) times when the total number of parts is n. actually,
Since the search target has been screened by the determination of the first adjacent component, the process is completed in a number significantly smaller than (n-1) times.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 are views for explaining the structure of the adjacent parts.

FIG. 3 shows a part A30 existing in the three-dimensional space.
It is a figure showing the proximity component with respect to. Here, for the sake of simplification, each part 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 is represented by a sphere, but in the actual processing, the shape data of the part is not used as it is, and the sphere containing the part is included. By using the and bounding boxes, it is possible to speed up geometric operations such as distance calculation between components.

In FIG. 3, 35, 36, 37 and 38 represent the shortest distance between the component A30 and each component. When the shortest distances 35, 36, 37, 38 are smaller than the preset first proximity determination distance D, it is regarded as "close to" the component A30. In Figure 3,
Since the shortest distance Dad37 between the component A30 and the component D33 is larger than the first proximity determination distance D, the component D33 is determined not to be the first proximity component of the target component A30. Part B31, Part C32,
The component E34 is determined to be the first proximity component because each shortest distance is smaller than the proximity determination distance D.

Note that if the first proximity determination distance D is increased, the size of the proximity component configuration data 131 increases, so instead of specifying the first proximity determination distance D in advance,
The first proximity determination distance D may be adjusted so that the upper limit of the proximity component configuration data is specified and the upper limit of the size is not exceeded during the creation of the proximity component configuration data.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the configuration of adjacent parts for the part A in FIG. Each part and the close relationship between them are represented by an object 40 and a link 41. Here, the link 41 is a bidirectional link.
Furthermore, the shortest distance between each component is represented by the link attribute 42 corresponding to each link 41.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the first proximity component and the proximity component configuration from the component A are shown for simplification of the description, but in reality, the proximity component configuration for all components. To build.

An example in which a direction attribute is used as a link attribute instead of the shortest distance between parts in FIGS.
6 and 7.

In FIG. 6, for example, the parts A60 to B
The direction vector Vab65 at the point that is the shortest distance to 61, the shortest distance | Vab | that is the size thereof is obtained, and if the shortest distance | Vab | is less than or equal to the predetermined first proximity determination distance D, Component B61 is the first adjacent component to component A60. The above processing is also performed on the other components 62, 63, 64.

FIG. 7 is a graph showing the configuration of adjacent parts for the part A of FIG. Similar to FIG. 4, the respective parts and the close relationship between them are represented by the object 70 and the link 71. Here, the link 71 is a bidirectional link.

Further, the direction vector between each part is expressed by the link attribute 72 corresponding to each link 71. In the case of FIG. 4, the distance that is the link attribute 42 has the same value regardless of the direction of the link 41, but in the case of FIG.
Since 72 is a direction vector, the direction of the direction vector of the link attribute 72 is reversed depending on the direction of the link 71.

By means of the method shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the subsequent near-parts configuration searching means 13 searches for near-parts with the condition of the part placement direction, for example, searching for "close-parts above the part X". Will be possible.

Incidentally, in FIGS. 6 and 7, FIGS.
Similarly to the above, for the sake of simplification of the description, the proximity component from the component A and the proximity component configuration are shown, but in reality, the proximity component configuration for all the components is constructed.

FIG. 5 and FIG. 8 show the final adjacent part configuration when the operation part 12 specifies the part A and the second proximity determination distance Du in the adjacent part configuration search means 13. It is the figure which showed.

In FIG. 5, a part A which is a target part is searched for in the graph of the first adjacent part configuration shown in FIG.
Next, part B, part C, and part E linked to part A
The distances Dab, Dac, Dae which are the link attributes of are read. The sizes of these distances and the second proximity determination distance Du are compared, and the parts (parts B and C in FIG. 5) having distances smaller than Du (Dab, Dac in FIG. 5) are targeted parts. The second proximity component 53 of A50, that is, the final proximity component.

Similar to FIG. 5, FIG. 8 is a graph showing the configuration of the first proximity component shown in FIG. 7, and the second proximity component configuration after being sifted by the second proximity determination. There is.

FIG. 9 shows an example of an operation screen for searching for near parts and displaying near parts. In the parts configuration view 91, a desired part 93 (part A in the figure) is designated by a pointing device such as a mouse.

After that, in the component shape view 90, the shape of the adjacent component 94 with respect to the target component 93 is displayed. further,
A slider 95 is used to specify a distance (second proximity determination distance) Du that indicates the degree of proximity of the component to be searched. Note that, for example, the maximum value of the slider 95 is set to D so that the second proximity determination distance Du does not exceed the first proximity determination distance D when the proximity component configuration data is created.

The target part ID code 121 and the second proximity determination distance Du of the target part 93 are sent to the near part configuration search means 13, and the list of the near part ID code 131 is returned as the search result, and the display means 14 is displayed. Is the target part on the part shape view 90.
The proximity component 94 is displayed corresponding to 93. Here, in order to distinguish between the target component 93 and its neighboring component 94, different display colors, blinking, or other display effects may be used for the target component 93 and the neighboring component 94.

FIG. 10 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to the generation of a view with viewpoint movement such as walk-through or fly-through. First, the part closest to the viewpoint 1000 is obtained, and this is set as the target part 103.

The close parts of the target part 103 are retrieved from the already created close part configuration data 113 and taken out, and their shapes are displayed. The actual display is the shape of the proximity component 104 within the field of view 102 from the viewpoint 1000.

Whether or not the proximity component 104 is within the range of the field of view 102 is determined by the inner product value of the unit line-of-sight vector 101 and the direction vector from the viewpoint 1000 to each proximity component 104 within the range of -1 to 1. , It is determined whether the value is equal to or more than a preset value. In FIG. 10, the proximity component 104 having an inner product value of 0 or more is set in the field of view 102.

When the viewpoint 1000 is moving, the closest target part 103 among the searched near parts is set as the next target part 103. Take out the neighboring parts of the target part 103,
Repeat the process.

With the above method, even when the viewpoint moves, it is possible to quickly search for and display a nearby component within the field of view.

FIG. 11 shows a realization configuration of a proximity component search apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Computer 150
Display 151, keyboard 152, mouse connected to
Using 153, the target component is designated, the distance indicating the degree of proximity (second proximity determination distance) is input, search processing is performed, and the proximity component that is the search result is displayed.

In the smallest-scale embodiment, the data necessary for this embodiment, such as the CAD data, such as the component shape data 112, the component placement data 111, the proximity component configuration data 113, and the proximity component ID code 131, are as follows: All computer 150
It is saved in the secondary storage such as internal hard disk or attached hard disk.

FIG. 12 shows an embodiment in which the devices and data shown in FIG. 11 are distributed on a network. Parts shape data 112 and parts layout data 111 are network
It is stored in the database of “arrangement data collection and management device” 121 or “CAD system and CAD data management device” 123 connected to 120.

The proximity component search device 93 is connected to the network 120.
These data are searched for via the to create the adjacent part configuration data 113. The proximity component configuration data 113 is stored in a secondary storage such as a hard disk in the proximity component search device 123. Alternatively, it may be stored in a secondary storage of another data management device 124 connected to the network 120.

Finally, the proximity component search device 123 searches the proximity component configuration data 113 and displays the search result on the display of the proximity component search device 123.

[0058]

According to the present invention, even if a large number of parts are arranged in a three-dimensional space, a search for a close part to a designated target part can be performed quickly and reliably with a simple operation. Therefore, the work efficiency of CAD, CAM, CAE, CG, etc. can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional configuration block diagram of a proximity component search device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart diagram of an operation process of the proximity component search device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first proximity component regarding a component A existing in a three-dimensional space.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of adjacent components related to the component A of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a second proximity component that has been sieved by the second proximity determination from the configuration of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a first proximity component with an arrangement direction regarding a component A existing in a three-dimensional space.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a proximity component with an arrangement direction regarding the component A of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a second proximity component that has been sieved by the second proximity determination from the configuration of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an example of an operation screen for near component search and near component display in the near component search device of FIG.

FIG. 10 is an example in which the present invention is applied to generation of a view with a viewpoint shift.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an implementation configuration of a proximity component search device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an example of a case where a near component search device and each device are distributed on a network.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 ... Proximity component configuration generation means, 11 ... Storage means, 12 ... Operation means, 13 Proximity component configuration search means, 14 ... Display means, 112 ... Component shape data, 111 ... Component placement data, 113 ... Proximity component configuration data, 121 … Target part data, 131… Proximity part data

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --- Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-8-161367 (JP, A) JP-A-6-28442 (JP, A) JP-A-6-149904 (JP, A) JP-A-6- 290254 (JP, A) (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/50

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A proximity component search method for searching a proximity component close to a designated target component from a plurality of components constituting a modeled object in a computer, wherein each of the components stored in advance Based on the placement data of
A component-to-component distance that indicates the direction vector between the components and the magnitude of the direction vector is calculated, and the calculated components-to-components distance is smaller than a preset first proximity determination distance. Related to each other as close parts, the first close parts are stored as close part configuration data together with a direction vector between the first close parts and a distance between parts, and the specified target parts are stored. Based on the second proximity determination distance and the arrangement direction that specify the proximity range of the target component, the distance to the target component from the first proximity components stored in the proximity component configuration data. Is a distance smaller than the second proximity determination distance, and a component whose direction vector with respect to the target component matches the arrangement direction is searched as a second proximity component. 2. The first proximity determination distance according to claim 1, wherein the first proximity determination distance is adjusted so as not to exceed an upper limit of the size of the proximity component configuration data during creation of the proximity component configuration data. How to search for nearby parts. 3. A proximity component close to a designated target component is searched from a plurality of components constituting a target modeled in the computer using an operation screen of a display connected to the computer. In the proximity part search method, the direction vector between the parts and the vector
And the part configuration of the object stored together with the inter-part distance are displayed on the operation screen, and then the target part is specified from among the displayed part configurations by a pointing device connected to the computer, And the distance and the arrangement method that indicate the degree of proximity of the component to the target component
Direction is specified on the operation screen, the distance is smaller than the specified distance , and the direction vector with respect to the target component is the arrangement.
A method of searching a proximity component, wherein a component matching the direction is searched as a proximity component, and the shape of the searched proximity component is displayed on the operation screen in association with the shape of the target component. 4. A proximity component search device that searches for a proximity component that is close to a specified target component from a plurality of components that make up a modeled object in a computer, and the placement data and shape of each component. Based on the storage means for storing data in advance and the arrangement data,
The direction distance and the distance between the components indicating the magnitude of the direction vector are calculated, and the calculated distance between the components is smaller than the preset first proximity determination distance. association as a part, close component wherein each first proximity part products, which stored with the direction vector and the inter-component distance between the respective <br/> first proximity between parts, in the storage means as a proximity component configuration data Configuration generating means, operation means for inputting a second proximity determination distance for designating the target component, designating a specific code of the target component, and designating a proximity range of the target component;
Based on the input specific code of the target component and the second proximity determination distance and arrangement direction , the distance to the target component is the second from the first proximity components of the proximity component configuration data. in smaller distance than the proximity determining distance, and before
A close part configuration search means for searching, as a second close part, a part whose direction vector with respect to the target part matches the arrangement direction, the specified code of the searched second close part, and the storage. And a display unit that displays the shape of the target component and the shape of the second proximity component that is close to the target component based on the component shape data stored in the unit. . 5. A computer-readable recording medium in which a processing program for searching for a proximity component close to a designated target component from a plurality of components constituting a modeled target in a computer is recorded. Then, the processing program is configured to store the direction vector between the parts and the direction vector based on the arrangement data of the parts stored in advance.
A component distance indicating the size of the torque is calculated, and the calculated component distances are associated with each other as a first proximity component, the components being smaller than a preset first proximity determination distance, and each of the first proximity components. one of the proximal part article, respective first with direction vectors and the inter-component distance between adjacent components to each other, and allowed to save as a proximity component configuration data, the specified target component
Based on the second proximity determination distance and the arrangement direction that specify the proximity range of the target component and the target component, from among the respective first proximity components stored in the proximity component configuration data, The distance is smaller than the second proximity determination distance , and the direction vector with respect to the target component is the arrangement.
A computer-readable recording medium recording a proximity component search processing program, wherein a component matching a direction is searched as a second proximity component.