Geometric Representation of Translational Swept Volumes and Its Applications

This paper presents a method for representing the geometries of translational swept volumes of three-dimensional objects which can be constructed by the union of three types of primitive objects: blocks, cylinders, and spheres. The representation method involves three major steps. First, the swept volume of each primitive object is modeled by a boundary representation. Second, based on ray-casting and scan-rendering methods, the boundary representation is converted into a ray in–out classification, which represents the rays entering and exiting from the primitive swept volume. Third, the ray in–out classifications for various primitive swept volumes are combined to represent the swept volume of an object constructed from the primitive objects. Examples are given to illustrate how swept-volume representations can be useful in the context of off-line NC and robot program verifications