Evolutionary Design Optimization Using Extended Direct Manipulation Of Free Form Deformations

Abstract

An improved optimization of a design, based on direct manipulations of the object points of a design where the number and modifications of control points is kept as minimal as possible while the targeted movement of object points is realized.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Further aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent when reading the following detailed description in connection with the annexed drawing, in which

FIG. 1 shows the principle of constraint deformation: A 3D curve is computed from the original 2D curve, and projected twice to obtain two different deformed 2D curves.

FIG. 2 shows the principle of Free Form Deformation.

FIG. 3 shows the principle of EFFD: undisplaced (left) and modified (right) control points of an arbitrary control volume in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows the Example of a B-spline-mesh and a T-mesh in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 shows examples for T-spline simplification in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows (left) knot lines for blending function and (right) T-mesh in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows (left) a simplified configuration of a design object and a grid comprising object and control points and (right) the same configuration with a chosen target point and derived control points in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 shows a flowchart of a method for optimizing a design according to the invention in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for optimizing a design, comprising the steps: representing the design, using a model and a grid, wherein the model includes object points, the grid comprising control points, and wherein the representation of the grid is variable and adaptive;modifying the design using direct manipulation of the object points; andadapting the grid based on the object points to optimize the design.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adaptation of the grid based on the object points increases or decreases the number of control points in the grid.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the adaptation step uses an evolutionary algorithm.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the adaptation step uses a local search method.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the adaptation step uses a stochastic optimization algorithm.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the adaptation step uses a local search method.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the local search method is a least squares method.

8. A computer-based system for optimizing a design, comprising: design representation means for representing the design, using a model and a grid, wherein the model includes object points, the grid comprising control points, and wherein the representation of the grid is variable and adaptive;modifying means for modifying the design using direct manipulation of the object points; andadaptation means for adapting the grid based on the object points to optimize the design.

9. A computer software program product embodied on a computer readable medium for performing the method of claim 1 when run on a computing device.