Point Cloud

[Freddy]

I got about 2500 points in a point cloud. Some follow a grid, but most are random. I had hoped to use a spline in Autocad then loft the splines, but I have too many random points that I need to get the most accurate surface. Any other solutions?

Software I have to work with:

Inventor 9
Mechanical Desktop 2005
Autocad 2005
Esprit 2003
Rhino 3

or what else would work best?

Thanks

[Graham S]

I don't think there are any easy solutions, that is why you have to be careful about how you digitize.

Graham

[turmite]

Freddy I am not 100% sure but I think you can use Rhino, select the cloud, select the drape command and it will give you a surface....or something like it.

Again I have never done this but I have read somewhere that is what the drape command is for. Should be worth a try. I would also go to the Rhino newsgroup and pose the question about how to do it.

Mike

[Graham S]

I don't think you can drape over a point cloud in Rhino, I couldn't anyway. But like Mike says it can't hurt to ask.

Graham

[GWheeler]

Datacad (www.datacad.com) has a "Dropmesh" command in the 3d polygon menu. It drops a user-defined grid on a set of points or lines. A little like dropping a wet blanket on a bunch of objects. It attempts to model terrain and such but the perimeters of stiffness etcetera can be adjusted. I've used it for architectural models as Datacad is set up for architects and such.

I've got a web page at
http://g.wheeler.home.att.net/cnc.html
that explains some of the process, although it hasn't been worked on for about a year, you can probably figure it out.

Autoc*** can probably do the same.

Gary