A slicing algorithm based on virtual edge for 3D printing

Virtual edge method for point cloud slicing in 3D printing is a very common algorithm due to the advantage of low computational complexity. However, this approach is not robust to density variations. To overcome this shortcoming, in this paper, a concept of column neighborhood is introduced to estimate whether the virtual edge model should be used in certain situations. Concretely, based on the technic of generating a set of multiple contours, we present an improved algorithm for high resolution point cloud slicing. To deal with multiple contours, a classify method based on convex hull is proposed, which reduces considerable calculations and separates each module from the others. At the last step, a method based on minimum angle is proposed to generate a single contour for each class. This algorithm is verified to be efficient by testing on kinds of typical benchmarks.

2018 3rd International Conference on Electrical, Automation and Mechanical Engineering (EAME 2018)